Celebrating a sense of belonging
Sovereign was the first insurance company in New Zealand to receive the Rainbow Tick in 2015 and it has been recertified every year since. Sovereign CEO Nick Stanhope discusses why they took the opportunity and what it means for their staff and customers.
Why did Sovereign decide to work with Rainbow Tick?
It’s not just a box ticking exercise; it’s a continual improvement programme that ensures we are successful in providing a safe and inclusive workforce.
Rainbow Tick has a lot of visibility across New Zealand and by achieving it we are openly showing our support for the LGBTI community and demonstrating our commitment to diversity.
What has changed at Sovereign since your evaluation?
We integrated the gender neutral “MX” salutation and “X” gender reference into both our customer and people systems two years ago. This means that people who don’t want to be identified as either gender can select this option. Premiums are calculated in part by gender, so this wasn’t a simple change to implement but it was a very important step in making insurance more accessible.
Other examples include establishing a committee of Diversity Champions, running unconscious bias workshops, reporting on diversity at board level, creating some gender neutral toilets, openly celebrating and supporting our Pride network. We have also introduced imagery into our marketing material that represents the Rainbow community.
How did your non Rainbow staff react?
When it comes to the Rainbow Tick, awareness is very high across staff and it is incorporated into our strategic plan, complaints process and other key business policies. This year we showed our support for Pride Week company-wide by rolling out rainbow signatures and holding a celebration on the Friday afternoon, complete with best dressed competition. Sadly, my favourite bright shirt (pictured) was no competition for the incredible rainbow costumes that staff designed and wore that day. So it is fair to say that our Rainbow Tick is something we are very proud of.
Do you think staff learned a lot – does anything specific jump out?
Particularly through the introduction of gender neutral options for our customers, which required process and system changes, I hope staff have learned that sometimes doing the right thing is not the easiest option – but we will do it anyway.
For a small percent of the population, LGBTI issues remain a controversial topic of conversation and I am very proud of how staff have learned to manage these views from people outside of Sovereign who may not agree.
Most importantly of all, I hope that all staff have learned the importance of being true to themselves in the workplace and looking for ways to include those who may not have the courage or ability to speak up for themselves.
What benefits are you seeing for both your staff and your customers?
It is very important that people feel a sense of belonging at work – they are more engaged and productive and we want people to enjoy coming to work. Belonging means feeling accepted, appreciated and part of a team; it is a human need and increases health and happiness.
From a customer perspective, having a staff base that is reflective of the people we serve makes sense – the more awareness we have of the challenges and opportunities our customers face the better we can take care of them when they need us the most.
We also extend our support into the community by working with organisations like Youthline which provides specialised support to young people, including those within the LGBTI community who are at higher risk of suicide.
Do your LGBTI staff have input into any initiatives you are undertaking?
Working closely with the Unity Group, our People and Culture department led by Angela Busby implement initiatives with support from across the company.
Our Unity Group is a network of staff who identify with the LGBTI community as well as LGBTI allies.
Can you lay out the business case for doing the evaluation and putting policies in place?
Our demographic and diversity statistics are carefully monitored and reported at board level.
In part, these statistics make our Rainbow Tick evaluation easier because we already have the data on hand and can do a year-on-year comparison.
There is an administrative requirement of around two day’s work to support recertification each year, but it is a fantastic process to go through. It helps you really examine what you are doing right and could do better.
I recall a comment from our recent focus group, which reinforces to me that we’re getting things right: “When I came out to my management and leadership team they were supportive – not positive or negative – it just is normal, which is great.”