All of these may affect how a customer will feel in their presence. It’s about adapting style and approach because what works with one customer might not work with the next, regardless of their gender.
FTA: What can women bring to the protection industry?
GdE: We already bring a lot and having more women across the protection industry, in a variety of roles, will continue to bring fresh thinking, a new perspective and perhaps more of an empathetic view.
We need to do more to offer women returning to work after career breaks better opportunities to re-join the workforce, particularly at senior levels, so we can capture their knowledge, skills and experience from their previous workplaces, and also from their career break.
This would send a great message and sets a precedent that says women can have a career as well as pursue other interests or life moments like having a child, caring for an elderly relative, travelling, returning to education and so on, and then return to work without being penalised or judged for having a career break.
FTA: In five years from now, how would you like the market to have changed?
GdE: Be more inclusive, accessible and flexible. I don’t want to have to answer questions around how women can be better represented in the financial services industry, or how to target and reach women with important protection messages.
I don’t want to be having gender-specific conversations because there isn’t fair representation in product design, access to advice and how we target and communicate with our customers.
But vitally, I want every family, or independent adult, to know where to go to find out information on how to protect their lifestyle if they become too ill or injured to work.
And when they do decide to find out more about how to protect themselves and their family, that their journey is easy to understand and hassle free, so they can get some protection in place.
Georgia d’Esterre is head of marketing at protection provider Guardian and is part of the Women in Protection executive committee
carmen.reichman@ft.com
