Mumbai: Forging its commitment to creating an employee-first culture, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance today appointed Anup Seth as its first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer. He, along with a council of senior leaders, will drive the conversation of a progressive work culture based on meritocracy and wellbeing. Anup Seth will carry out his new responsibilities in addition to his role as the Chief Distribution Officer of the company.
Commenting on this appointment, Vikas Bansal, Chief Human Resource Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, “We pride ourselves on being a new-age company. Creating a workplace that is attuned to the realities of today is fundamental to that goal. This marks the beginning of our journey towards an inclusive workplace that can facilitate professional growth without compromising on the individuality and aspirations of our employees.”
The life insurer has created a Diversity and Inclusion framework to build an equitable, culturally progressive, safe, and supportive workplace. The goal of this framework will be to make way for an environment that is accepting of all individuals irrespective of their gender, age, disabilities, political beliefs, language, religion, and sexual orientation.
Anup Seth, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, “Diversity and Inclusion is key to building a workplace that invites and retains talent; it is critical to sustain employee wellbeing. While there has been an invisible focus on it over the years, we want to bring it to the fore now and start a healthy discourse on what it means for us as a company. As a life insurer, we cater to a diverse set of customers who have varied needs. Aside from building an equitable workplace, we believe that Diversity and Inclusion can also help us gain a meaningful insight into the challenges our customers face and the solutions they seek from us.”
In the immediate future, the life insurer will focus on improving its gender ratio through the ranks and nurture leadership potential among its female employees. Currently, 27% of the workforce accounts for female employees and the life insurer aims to bring this number to 35% in the next 3 years.
Similarly, it will also focus on creating employment opportunities for those with disabilities (mental and physical). The life insurer has identified roles across functions that can be effectively carried out by differently-abled individuals and expects a 5% annual incremental growth in this cohort over the next 5 years.
“Diversity and Inclusion is a slow journey; it will require a constant and consistent effort over the years. While women and differently-abled individuals form the focus in the first 12-18 months, we will expand the scope to include LGBTQ and ageism in the medium-term,” Bansal added.
To drive the agenda of inclusion, the life insurer intends on instituting an audit mechanism called Bias Interrupters. Acknowledging that bias exists in every workplace, the company will use this mechanism to objectively identify and correct biases that threaten to imbalance employee wellbeing.
