Insurance and reinsurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London says that it has made “notable progress” towards building a more inclusive working environment over 2020.
In particular, the results of its 2020 annual culture survey highlight improvements in the experience of women working in the Lloyd’s market over the past 18 months.
However, the survey also pointed to areas for ongoing and concentrated focus, including continued focus on wellbeing across the market and improving the experience of Black and Minority Ethnic talent as a top priority.
Lloyd’s push for more inclusivity in its marketplace was triggered by reports of sexual harassment back in 2019. The culture survey shows that 8% of people witnessed sexual harassment in the Lloyd’s market in 2019, but that number fell to 4% in 2020.
Overall, women’s perceptions were found to have improved by 7 points on average across all characteristics, with men’s scores up 3 points.
While women’s perceptions still lag men’s in several areas, Lloyd’s say the gap has closed substantially in nearly all of the criteria measured.
Lloyd’s also reported a 5 point improvement in the percentage of respondents who would feel comfortable raising concerns about behaviour in the Lloyd’s market, at 50% in 2020, versus 45% previously.
In addition, fewer respondents said that working in their organisation had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing, down from 23% to 15%, but there was no change in respondents who felt under excessive pressure to perform at work, at 40%.
The number of respondents who do not believe senior leaders in their organisation take responsibility, especially when things go wrong notably decreased from 22% to 15%, and the proportion who said that people in their organisation turned a blind eye to inappropriate behaviour fell to 15%.
But Lloyd’s also found that Black and Minority Ethnic respondents were less likely to raise concerns relating to discrimination, had a higher level of disagreement about whether their colleagues act in an honest and ethical way, and a higher level of distrust in senior leaders.
“The results of our second annual culture survey show good progress in our efforts to sponsor gender parity and to our commitment as leaders to make needed and valued change,” said Lloyd’s CEO John Neal.
“Though we are encouraged by the results of the survey, the feedback from our Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues has reinforced our commitment to address the inequalities and lived experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues across the market,” Neal added.
“We can feel confident in our ability to make change quickly and are more determined than ever to create an inclusive and inspiring culture for all.”
Looking ahead, Lloyd’s is planning additional measures for 2021 to help change its working culture, which include tracking progess against the gender target and the setting a market target for ethnicity in Q2, supported by the launch of a long-term ethnicity action plan.
