Driving Positive Change for Gender Identity at Canada Life UK
Interviews
In honor of International Women’s Day, myGwork spoke with Gavin Withers, Head of Talent Acquisition at Canada Life UK, about driving positive change for gender diversity, both within Canada Life and the wider industry in general.
Hi Gavin, thanks for chatting to us. To start with can you share a bit about what Canada Life is doing to support women in the workplace?
We’re proud to be signed up to the ‘Women in Finance Charter’, with a commitment to increasing women in senior leadership roles. We're actively taking new approaches to make a real difference and move faster, and this year we’re excited to be launching some internal development opportunities aimed at helping high-potential colleagues accelerate their careers into leadership roles.
Our Chief Executive became a member of the 30% Club earlier this year to help drive positive change for women in business and increase female representation at the board and executive level.
We recently signed the Wellbeing of Women UK Menopause Workplace Pledge, demonstrating our commitment to supporting women and talking openly, positively, and respectfully about menopause. We launched a dedicated app service last year, which offers a broad range of expert support for women moving through menopause.
We also offer ongoing investment in deviser channels to the talent market, gender-neutral language in our role advertising and campaign messages, and a charter with our agencies to provide diverse shortlists where they are engaged to support. The result is that we’re committed to building and reviewing diverse candidate shortlists for every role.
We invite all candidates to talk to us about any flexible working requests they have. Whilst we see more women than men taking up the opportunity, it is open to both.
We know there’s more to do, but we’re pleased with the positive steps we’re taking to drive and accelerate action.
And how do you think we can eliminate (or mitigate) bias when providing opportunities?
Everyone has lived a life of bias. This is because our framing of certain situations is influenced by our own experiences. What’s important is that we take the time to recognise our own biases so that we can ensure they don’t play a part in the decisions that we make on behalf of the organisation. Last year we launched Bias Awareness learning to all our colleagues across Canada Life, and we’ll continue to do more in this space.
What changes would you like to see in the industry?
There’s still more to be done to increase female representation in the workforce. I think that as a collective force for good, organisations should continue to create and implement ways to grow and nurture female talent across the industry and at all levels. This could include; further investing in emerging talent programmes and schemes at entry level, through to mentorship and development opportunities while in a role, as well as returnship programmes that encourage and support people back to the workplace after a career break.
What are your top tips for hiring managers and senior leaders to improve gender diversity in the workplace?
Be aware of what’s driving their career decisions. Fully understanding what’s important to them is key to establishing the fit and ensuring that they are set for success in the organisation.
Understand the DEI proposition of the organisation. Having a good level of knowledge of all of the various tools, resources and initiatives that the organisation offers will ensure that you are best placed to structure the right training, progression and retention activities for each individual in your team.
