As firms now look at their ethnicity gap pay, Tali Shlomo highlights one initiative that is enabling people of all backgrounds to achieve their full potential
Recently proposed requirements for companies to report on ethnicity pay gaps have started discussions on the broader subject of equality in business. The government has stated that it is consulting on the need for businesses to report on the ethnicity pay gap and how this would work in practice.
Since 2017, the CII made the decision to report our gender pay gap, even though we fell beneath the government's minimum size for reporting. This was because we felt it both an opportunity for us to learn what more we can do to ensure we have policies and practices in place that are equitable and fair for our colleagues; and because it is the right thing to demonstrate leadership to the wider profession.
The government is now proposing mandatory reporting of companies' ethnicity pay gap in addition to their gender pay gap. We believe it remains the right thing to lead in this; understanding and publishing our own data in advance of the requirement so we can help other employers with lessons learned and, as with gender, learn how we can use our data to ensure we have policies and practices in place that are equitable and fair for our colleagues.
IMPACTFUL INITIATIVE
As the CII and the wider profession continue their diversity and inclusion journey, there are many examples of initiatives that support us in achieving a profession that is inclusive, enabling people to achieve their full potential.
The Afro-Caribbean Insurance Association (ACIA) was founded by Junior Garba, ACII, and Godwin Sosi, Cert CII, in 2018 -- two Lloyd's underwriting professionals uniting behind their ambition to highlight and improve on the underrepresentation of black professionals in the insurance profession. The ACIA was formed to boost black and ethnic representation and empower Afro-Caribbeans in the insurance profession, by way of increasing cultural competence in the London market and making the insurance profession a more attractive destination for young black professionals.
The ACIA's work is split out into four key segments:
- Research and study
- Internships and work experience
- Networking and events
- Scholarship programme.
The ACIA implements an expansive network across its members, Afro-Caribbean insurance professionals, diversity thought leaders, corporate sponsors, relationships with overseas insurance associations and relationships with educational institutions. The ACIA believes that the key to having an impact on the profession lies in attracting, retaining and developing talent.
As part of the ACIA's objective of attracting more Afro-Caribbean talent into the London insurance market, it is creating access to opportunities for young professionals through internships/work experience, mentorship and scholarships. The ACIA will therefore be launching a scholarship programme in 2019 (Year 1) in partnership with CASS Business School, which will see one to two students selected by the ACIA to be fully funded for study on the MSc Insurance and Risk Management course at CASS Business School.
All scholars will be assigned a mentor from the ACIA to keep track of their progress and to also advise them on postgraduate careers in insurance. Scholars will be referred via the ACIA for graduate scheme opportunities in the London insurance market and will also be given application help.
For more information on the ACIA, please visit www.acia.co and also follow the Afro-Caribbean Insurance Association on Twitter and Instagram @ACIALDN
Tali Shlomo is people engagement director at the CII