GC’s Carter: D&I agenda is “critical” for future industry success

Any organisation that “genuinely” adopts a true D&I culture, will be more successful, said Vicky Carter, chairman of global capital solutions, international at Guy Carpenter.

Speaking to The Insurer ahead of her participation on the Dive In Festival panel, ‘Lessons from a pandemic: Then, Now and the Future of Diversity and Inclusion’, Carter said the adoption of a meaningful D&I agenda will result in both “innovation and creativity” and a more successful outlook.

However, as a key industry ambassador for talent and the D&I agenda, Carter is also wary of this still being seen as a “box ticking exercise” for some and emphasises the point about efforts needing to be genuine.

“The D&I agenda is critical – if you want an engaged workforce,” she said in a video interview.

“[D&I] creates a culture, energy and a desire to succeed and I think it’s all about creating equal opportunities for absolutely everybody.

“Workplace equality is at the forefront now of every business, it’s at the forefront of governments, it’s at the forefront of regulators and society today, so companies that don’t focus on it will be at a major disadvantage,” she said.

“The biggest challenge every company has is ‘how do you grow your business successfully’ and that means understanding changing customer dynamics and having the right people in the right places to deliver those changes, so [D&I] is absolutely critical.”

According to Carter, interacting with diverse sets of individuals, whether it’s territorial or through a different skill set, is essential to making better decisions.

“If you are in a better place to make decisions on different ways of operating or different product requirements, that can only lead to success, so it is critical for businesses to adopt it.”

Earlier this year, Lloyd’s of London announced the setting up of an interim target of 35 percent female representation in leadership positions to be achieved by the end of 2023.

But gender quotas can be divisive and for Carter, the issue is “complicated”.

“I don’t think you can transform an industry that has been so far behind in terms of D&I overnight,” she said.

“The industry is getting better, but there’s still a long, long way to go.”

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