JUST GROUP PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2019
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People and culture continued
backgrounds with different experiences will help us to succeed, innovate and better serve our customers now and into the future. We have rolled out unconscious bias training to the Board and all employees which has created an awareness of bias and the impact it has on decisions we make and how we recruit new employees. We have also delivered a face-to-face session on inclusive leadership to our entire executive and wider leadership population. Our broader leadership and management development programmes reinforce key messages regarding diversity and inclusion. For the second year in a row, we co-hosted a session on inclusion as part of “Dive In”, the festival for diversity and inclusion in insurance and have also registered Just’s support for “inclusive behaviours in insurance.” We have prioritised gender diversity, which is a particular challenge within our industry. In 2019 we reported a gender pay gap of 37.7%. The data shows that this is not an equal pay for equal roles issue, but is due to the relatively lower proportion of females in senior roles within the organisation compared to males. We have signed up to the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter and set a “33 by 23” target to increase the proportion of women in senior leadership roles. We are taking a wide range of actions to progress towards this target, including providing opportunities to support the development of our female talent. Examples include our participation in the industry Actuarial Mentoring Programme, which aims to improve diversity at senior levels of the actuarial profession by helping retain female actuaries for longer, and the 30% Club cross-company mentoring scheme delivered by Women Ahead, which aims to supports the career development and progression of women at all levels. We are proud to participate as a signatory to the Association of British Insurers’ innovative, transparent leave and pay initiative. As part of this we have published our parental leave and pay policies on our Group website. Our support for this initiative demonstrates our commitment to supporting working parents and champions diversity and inclusion. Our commitment and initiatives were recognised in our nomination for a diversity award at the 2019 Women in Pensions conference. As well as supporting the development of our internal female talent, we are also focused on ensuring that we have gender balanced shortlists when hiring into key technical and leadership positions, including Board level roles. We were delighted to announce two new Non-Executive Director appointments. Michelle Cracknell has been appointed to the role of Non-Executive Director of Just Group plc. Until recently Michelle was Chief Executive of the Pensions Advisory Service and has 30 years’ experience focused on the challenges facing consumers in later life and the retirement income market. Mary Kerrigan has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Board of our life company subsidiaries. Mary is an experienced Non-Executive Director and Committee Chair and brings extensive experience within the pensions, life insurance and investment management industries. These appointments further strengthen our leadership capability and reflect our commitment to improving diversity in the boardroom We have continued to undertake activities which focus on the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of our employees. These included sessions on resilience and mental health, encouraging open and honest conversations at all levels and building a culture where employees can bring all of themselves to work. After asking for volunteers, this year we appointed a number of mental health first aiders who attended a two day intensive training course to gain an in-depth understanding of mental health. They were taught practical skills to spot the triggers and early warning signs of mental health issues, learnt enhanced interpersonal skills such as non-judgmental listening, and took a detailed look at the mental health resources that are available. From a charity perspective, a highlight of our year was Just Walk. 83 employees walked either a full or half marathon between London and Reigate, totalling 1,951 miles, and raising over £30,000 for our corporate charity Re-engage (formerly Contact the Elderly). In addition, (supported by our Board diversity policy). Wellbeing and giving something back
I’m really excited to be part of the 30% Club cross-company mentoring scheme. The launch event was energetic and fun and I’m looking forward to working with people from different businesses and industries
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