Diversity: the carrot or the stick?
This was the question that was put to delegates at the latest event organised by the IFoA's member-led Diversity Advisory Group (DAG) - 'The Carrot, the Stick and Strategies for Success: Harnessing the Benefits of Diversity and Inclusion at Work'.
An impressive panel - which included Angela Darlington, group chief risk officer at Aviva; Lord Michael Hastings CBE, global head of corporate citizenship at KPMG; and Suki Sandhu, chief executive and founder of executive talent company Audeliss - shared their personal experiences of diversity and inclusion at work and lessons learned.
Delegates also heard from former IFoA president Nick Salter and DAG chair Chika Aghadiuno, who talked about diversity work they are involved in to help support IFoA members.
'Are you open enough to challenge?' Darlington asked, kicking off the panel debate with a number of thought provoking questions intended for anyone who wants to be a role model for diversity. Lord Hastings added that "Diversity doesn't work without inclusion" and that to be truly inclusive we should stop labeling people and instead seek to understand, embrace and accept them.
Sandhu rounded off the discussion by sharing some practical recruitment strategies, which included the use of anonymous CVs and considering the diversity of your organisation's resourcing team.
The event ended with a Q&A session, which included questions members had submitted in advance. Responses to the questions that were not covered during the session will be available via the IFoA's diversity web pages, which can be accessed at www.actuaries.org.uk/diversity.
Delegate feedback received so far has been extremely positive, with 94.7% of respondents rating the event either 'excellent' (65.8%) or 'good' (28.9%) in a follow-up survey.
The film is now available to view online and an interview with the panelists will feature in the next edition of The Actuary magazine.