A Global Festival

Inclusion@Lloyd’s, the group that provides strategy, governance and practical support across the Lloyd’s market, initiated the global Dive In Festival in 2015 with the aim of pooling resources, widening perspectives and sharing best practice in diversity and inclusion to effect change faster.

This year’s Dive In, the third annual, took place from the 26^th to the 28^th September, with events returning to global locations such as London, New York City, Zurich, Bermuda, and Toronto as well as new cities including Beijing, Perth, Melbourne, Leeds, and Mumbai, and more. In total, more than 7,000 people registered for 80+ events in 17 countries and 32 cities. This makes Dive In unique, as an international, sector-wide, concurrent diversity and inclusion event.

The theme of the Dive In Festival 2017 was the Diversity Dividend, highlighting the business case for a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, driving productivity and innovation across the market.

Dive In is helping insurance get fit for the future, highlighting the business case for diverse and inclusive workplaces and providing practical ideas and inspiration for how to bring about positive change.

Local initiative

In Toronto, the Dive In planning committee was pleased to get the global festival off to a creative start with an art installation in First Canadian Place, titled ‘A Diverse Landscape, 2017’ by local artist Katrina Schaman from September 11^th to September 26^th.

Then at a breakfast keynote on September 28^th, one of Canada’s foremost experts on the topic, Michael Bach, Founder & CEO of Canadian Centre for Diversity & Inclusion, presented on “The Return on Investment of Diversity and Inclusion” to 150+ industry thought leaders.

The following are the definitions that the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion uses:

Diversity: Diversity is about the individual. It is about the variety of unique dimensions, qualities and characteristics we all possess.

Inclusion: Inclusion is about the collective. It is about creating a culture that strives for equity and embraces, respects, accepts and values difference.

Diversity and Inclusion: Diversity and inclusion is about capturing the uniqueness of the individual; creating an environment that values and respects individuals for their talents, skills and abilities to the benefit of the collective.

Best practices for organizations

If you are interested, Inclusion@Lloyd’s produced a short practical guide to provide best practices to help translate awareness into action. It focuses particularly on advice for companies who are at the start of their diversity and inclusion journey, whatever their size. In five logical steps, it looks at how to get started and how to build up activity in a sustainable way with the right support to increase the chances of successful, measurable business outcomes.

National research

The Insurance Institute’s 2017/18 Demographic Research study is currently underway, with the Conference Board of Canada analyzing employer census data and surveying employees in the industry. It is anticipated that when published, the research will be able to provide some insight into the state of the industry’s diversity and inclusion. More about the demographic research appears in this issue of ADVANTAGE Quarterly.