Andrew Parker, head of people & culture at LifeSearch, speaks to Health & Protection about wanting to see a truer representation of UK demography for marketing of protection products, the benefits of working in a diverse business and the importance of creating an environment where everyone can comfortably truly be who they are.
What have been your own experiences with regard to attitudes towards LGBT communities in the sector?
I’ve always felt there’s been a lack of visibility in our industry for many minority groups. Protection has long been a place where white, middle-aged men in sombre suits led the way.
Role models for LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities or people with disability have, for much of my now 20 years in the industry, been very few and far between.
Other than perhaps in some of the industry’s historic underwriting stances towards gay men in particular, I’ve never experienced a negative attitude nor one of outright discrimination – more that if you belonged to any other demographic group, you weren’t going to meet, see or hear from many people like you.
How have attitudes evolved in the sector?
I have seen the industry evolve in that there is greater representation of more groups of people, be that higher up in leadership structures, represented more strongly in employee demographics, more visible in marketing and more present at industry events, forums and panels. I don’t think the age of the white, middle-aged man in sombre suits is past us but the industry is becoming more diverse and better balanced.
What is the sector doing well and where does it need to up its game?
The sector seems more focused on recruitment and developing into leadership people from different backgrounds. There are several industry taskforces and working parties leading on this which is great to see.
I’d like to see firms showing a truer representation of the UK demography in their marketing and how our industry is presented overall. Life insurance for example, is not just for a married couple with 2.4 children and a mortgage.
Huge numbers of people have financial protection needs for whatever family looks like to them. I don’t know yet that every part of our industry has understood that or how to connect with people or family setups that perhaps they see as atypical.
Do you feel encouraged and enabled to bring your whole self to work?
It became clear to me soon after joining LifeSearch that this is a business where I, and anyone, can fully be themselves. I’ve never been discriminated against in any way. Indeed, I’ve been promoted five times.
Our business is rich with people from all walks of life. We celebrate them and their communities and work hard to keep our business as diverse as possible. I’m really pleased with the results from our recent diversity survey which evidences this.
With two of our business values being tolerance and care and with colleagues coached on how to support our values, we’ve created an environment where everyone can comfortably truly be who they are.