“We need the industry to collaborate and come together on this. We can do all the work that we want but if we’re doing it in isolation, it isn’t going to make a meaningful degree of change.”
In her role as head of diversity and inclusion at RSA UK&I, Gemma Jackson is seizing the opportunity at hand to change the conversation around domestic abuse and the role of the workplace in protecting the people who are its lifeblood. It’s a topic that became increasingly urgent during COVID, she said, a period which saw increased calls to helplines, reflecting how sensitive this issue is to eternal market conditions.
“We recognised that there was a bit of a gap in terms of internal resources, so we started by looking at how we could formulate some guidance for our people and leaders on how to support colleagues who are impacted by domestic abuse in any of the many forms it can take,” she said. “We started by creating some guidance to upskill our leaders which ignited more interest in the discussion which led to us bringing together a network of ‘domestic abuse awareness champions’.
“Our 20+ champions serve our people – from both a remote and site-based perspective – by helping them access resources and signpost guidance. It’s very much employee-led, we highlight our content and resources, but the emphasis is on listening to the employees and providing them with a space to come to us to share their concerns, either for themselves or for a colleague. We meet on a quarterly basis to share anonymised updates on trends we’re seeing and how our people are engaging with the available resources.”
From there, Jackson and her team threw their energy into finding new ways to provide practical help and support to their RSA colleagues, which included partnering with a number of third-party organisations, among them the Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA). EIDA had a domestic abuse policy template (written by Sharon Livermore) which formed the basis of RSA’s own handbook which includes paid leave for individuals accessing support services.
Meanwhile, the network of champions works on a multitude of streams, delivering training to leaders on how to recognise signs of abuse, and how to signpost guidance sensitively – as trained by Women’s Aid. The evolution of advocacy within RSA has spanned in multiple directions, she said, with addressing perpetrator behaviour, access to financial aid, and supporting individuals from the LGBTQ+ community, particular areas of emphasis at the moment.
“We’re also looking at the support we can provide across our sites to help people access immediate relief,” she said. “Another of the things we did with the initial guidance we created was translate it into a toolkit we can share with our broker partners and our peers. I work closely with my ABI peers and others across the sector on how we can work together in this space.
“There might be a lot of competition for business in the market but actually insurance is a really nice environment to be part of when it comes to sharing research, sharing templates and sharing best practices. That’s how you shape an industry into becoming a more inclusive space, and a better place to work for employees. And some people are doing really great work in this space, which is wonderful to see.”
In addition, Jackson has been leading the charge on increasing engagement with the government on the subject of handling domestic abuse. She and some of her market peers have joined roundtables discussing how the government can start to shape their domestic violence policies more prominently and how organisations with the size, scale and reach of RSA can support smaller businesses in accessing resources.
Exploring how RSA’s colleagues have engaged with the programme, she noted that, unlike some other topics on the DE&I agenda, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t been impacted by domestic abuse in some way, shape or form. It’s a topic that tends to bring people together, she said, united by a common ambition to look after each other, and this has been reflected in the engagement she has seen with the policies, procedures and supports rolled out by RSA.
“Since we’ve opened up these conversations, we’ve seen an uptick in disclosures,” she said. “And while that’s obviously not a good thing, it’s a measure of the success of the process because it shows our programme is fluid enough for people to feel comfortable disclosing their concerns. The attendance at our awareness sessions is always high, our training sessions are always oversubscribed. And because there’s so much nuance to this conversation and there’s no end to it, it’s bringing in different people to the conversation all the time.”
Jackson has a powerful message for other insurance businesses that want to find ways to support their people on this subject but who don’t know where to get started – “the storytelling piece is extremely important.” RSA often has individuals share their personal stories, she said, which always generates a high level of engagement and encourages others to feel more comfortable and confident in doing the same.
“Like a lot of our employee resource groups, this programme is built on the backs of people who understand the subject matter,” she said. “…. That’s why the storytelling piece is so important because this conversation has to be truly authentic.
“[…] What really struck me about Sharon Livermore’s story – which helped inform our policy – was that she showcased that this is a workplace issue. If you don’t live through it, you can’t quite understand the linkage between domestic abuse and its impact on the workplace, on the uptick in absences, on the dip in performances, on the social exclusion that comes with it. There are so many different factors that will impact the workplace so it’s about getting the right people sharing the right messages.”
There are so many incredible organisations out there moving the dial on discussions about domestic abuse, Jackson said, and she would strongly encourage any insurance businesses looking to educate themselves further to reach out to the likes of EIDA, Women’s Aid, Refuge and Respect. The wider industry needs to get involved in order to enact real change.
“We want people in our sector to see the types of support we offer as standard,” she said. “Our policy around domestic abuse support shouldn’t be market-leading or exceptional. The truth is that it’s part of our employee proposition to care for our people. It’s ingrained in the values of this industry that we should be looking after the people who work in our respective organisations. It’s such a complex issue and I know first-hand it can be really challenging to step up and lead the conversation.
“It does require some really brave, courageous people to share their stories and put themselves out there within the safety net of their businesses. Because that’s how we get to where we need to be much faster.”
