Jordan Thomas, co-chair of Aviva Pride and junior product designer at Aviva, speaks to Health & Protection about experiencing the sector as a queer person, working in a pleasant and warm workplace and the importance of displaying the right pronouns.
What have been your own experiences with regard to attitudes towards LGBTQ+ communities in the sector?
I started at Aviva as a graduate in 2021, and it was my first experience of working in both insurance and the corporate sector. Everyone was wonderful during the job application process, but naturally I suspected the realities of life in the job would be somewhat different. How wrong I was.
At the end of my interview call, I asked my future colleagues if they enjoyed working here and I could see their faces light up, which was a big green flag for me. It’s been nearly two years and I feel the exact same way.
How do I summarise what I’ve experienced as a queer person? I have my pronouns proudly on my ID badge, to the envy of friends working in less inclusive spaces. I’ve been interviewed by Stonewall as part of their Young Futures programme, to encourage young people at early stages in their careers.
To my continued surprise, I am also co-chair of Aviva Pride in the UK alongside the fabulous Josi. The fact someone who started on the graduate scheme could have so much opportunity, under two years into the job, has been an absolute joy to experience.
Despite all these milestones though, I really do want to stress the first point. While people can focus on issues that marginalised people face, we are still human beings, and simply working at such a pleasant and warm workspace is the highlight of my day-to-day.
I don’t think any of our achievements or progress could have been made without the positivity and kindness I’ve seen employees show each other at Aviva.
Trying my best to avoid clichés here, but for me, this is somewhere that people do put in the time to know each other, and it makes a huge difference. The fact I’ve felt this way, while being openly non-binary, with pronouns displayed on Microsoft Teams, has shown to me that this sector can be a great place to work for LGBTQ+ people.
How have attitudes evolved in the sector?
At Aviva, we’re seeing meaningful participation in LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion initiatives at a senior level, with chief people officer Danny Harmer and my Pride co-chair Josi both being listed on the 2022 Outstanding LGBT+ Role Model Lists. We’re currently ranked 28th in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2023, and absolutely determined to do even better next year.
Stonewall also noted the hard work of our LGBTQ+ colleague network, and Aviva Pride was given the Highly Commended Network Group award. The amazing Shamini Rajan, inclusion partner at Aviva, was also given an award by Stonewall for being changemaker of the year, and I really can’t thank her enough for all the great work she does for all the Communities at Aviva.
Aviva Pride started 16 years ago as an employee-led initiative in Norwich, and we now have the network running nationally in the UK, but also in our other markets of Ireland and Canada. We also have a Bi Caucus and a Trans and Non-binary Network within Aviva Pride, and it’s fair to say I am always meeting more openly non-binary people at the company as the months go on, which has been fantastic to see.
It’s no surprise to anyone in our community, that the picture right now for LGBTQ+ people in the UK is a challenge – the country has just fallen down the ILGA-Europe Rainbow Europe ranking again, and I know many are finding it a very difficult time to live through.
At Aviva Pride, we are doing all we can to support our LGBTQ+ colleagues, and we still have the determination to do even better, despite our successes. Despite being here a short time, I can see the company continue to make progress, and I’m optimistic for the future.
One of the most recent things to note is that this June, employees have the option of accessing subsidised gender-affirming healthcare on our employee benefits scheme for the first time. It’s fair to say, we have come a long way.
What is the sector doing well?
Personally, I think the sector is doing great on the basics. Companies are trying to be inclusive; they’re thinking about employment practices and taking action to show their support for LGBTQ+ people.
The real issue is that the insurance sector is one of the great, long-running industries of this country and with the best will in the world, things don’t change overnight. There’s a lot of different products we offer, and a lot of customers, plus we are a regulated financial institution – making a mistake is simply not an option. As a designer,
I know Aviva are investing heavily to make our systems more modern and bringing LGBTQ+ people into that process is a challenge we’re always doing our best to meet.
My only advice would really be to keep going, keep listening, and know that even small changes can have a huge impact.
Every time I get a letter from Aviva with the Mx title, it really does make my day.
Being seen is a powerful feeling, and as both an Aviva employee and customer, having that small act of recognition shows me that the company cares and respects who I am. When companies make changes for minority groups, especially small changes, it is often unseen what the real-world impact is.
Are you encouraged to bring your whole self to work?
I’ve mentioned pronouns a few times in this, because as a non-binary person, being given the chance to share pronouns easily has a huge impact.
When Instagram enabled pronouns to be added to people’s bios, it led to a wave of conversations between me and my friends and family. It meant I could come out without needing to sit everyone down for an awkward conversation (which as a gay person, I didn’t want to do twice in my life!) and meant people who didn’t understand could talk to me and learn about what being non-binary means. Just from a single text field being added to a social media bio.
There has obviously been a huge impact as well at Aviva. People can now opt-in to show their pronouns alongside their names on Microsoft Teams, and colleagues can also request pronouns stickers to put on their ID badge. It shows colleagues that we’re not afraid to be out, and more importantly, gives trans and non-binary people so much visibility.
I’ve had conversations with colleagues, just as I did with my friends on Instagram, about what it means, and now I have the confidence of being open as my whole, queer, self to the rest of my team and the company. It’s an incredibly positive feeling that very few people I know can relate to.
On a very practical level, Aviva are also good with toilet access. So far, every building I’ve been to has separate male, female, gender neutral and accessible toilet facilities.
It may seem a weird topic to highlight, but I’ve heard horror stories from friends avoiding the toilets in their workplace altogether because they weren’t gender neutral or simply couldn’t use them as they weren’t accessible for people with disabilities.
These daily things really do matter when it comes to being an inclusive workplace.
When you add everything together, Aviva has made a huge effort to make every colleague feel comfortable and supported to be their whole selves at work, and I really do feel able to be myself here.
While there is progress to aim for, I’m having a great time in my current experience at Aviva and have so much gratitude for the positive impact this job has had on my personal life.