“By permitting folks to take management of their very own roles (and careers) we’re constructing the subsequent era of leaders,” says Gordon Watson, who talks about psychological well being, range, and his 30-year profession within the insurance coverage trade, completely with HRO’s Bridgette Corridor.
Q1: For those that don’t consider insurance coverage as rewarding, what drew you to the trade once you had been deciding in your profession?
I’ve been blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit and had the chance to work in many alternative markets. I’ve discovered insurance coverage deeply rewarding due to the alternatives I’ve had, and the distinction I’ve been in a position to make to staff, distributors, and, in fact, prospects.
Insurance coverage is about offering a security web that lets you deal with your self and people you’re keen on, once you they usually want it essentially the most. By pooling the assets of our prospects, we will create life and well being merchandise for people who wouldn’t be capable of afford the kind of healthcare or post-life help for his or her household that they want in the event that they had been going it alone. In the meantime, lowering accidents, enhancing well being, and serving to organisations higher put together for financial dangers all enhance the profitability of insurers.
To me, insurance coverage is the final word shared worth trade, the place social impression is integral to financial success. As outlined by Michael Porter and Mark Kramer of their influential Harvard Enterprise Assessment article, printed in 2011, shared worth is a enterprise technique that creates a aggressive benefit by aligning revenue and objective.
In 2017, I based Shared Worth Mission Hong Kong (SVPHK) with a number of different enterprise leaders within the area. SVPHK is a non-profit membership organisation appearing as a catalyst for shared worth within the Higher Bay Space.
AXA’s work spans a number of areas, from danger prevention to addressing the wants of underserved prospects and investing in help techniques that assist with prevention and safety. I can consider no higher trade to be in – creating shared worth and giving peace of thoughts.
Q2: In your function at AXA you oversee a really various set of markets. What are among the challenges and benefits in main such disparate groups?
I’ve been lucky to work in many alternative markets all through my profession. I started in New York after I was solely 21. A few years later I used to be posted to Nairobi in Kenya for 3 years after which again to New York. From there I moved to Dubai earlier than shifting again to New York once more. I then went to dwell in Japan, South Korea, and now in Hong Kong, in my present function.
So, I see working with such a various group as an enormous benefit. As CEO of Asia and Africa, I take care of folks of many alternative nationalities, languages and native cultures, however all of us want to come back collectively as ONE AXA. We’ve all kinds of expertise, and may convey this collectively to deal with challenges and points from many alternative facets.
Talking of range, I even have the privilege to work alongside a gaggle of proficient feminine executives who lead AXA Asia as purposeful heads and market CEOs. We’re proud to have achieved gender parity in our administration group, with girls comprising greater than 50% of our senior executives within the area. This allows us to have leaders with various views, entice the very best expertise to our firm, and, critically, mirror the range of our prospects so we will higher meet their wants.
Q3: What are an important points you assume leaders might want to deal with within the subsequent 5 years in relation to firm tradition?
Historical past reveals us that circumstances can utterly change in a single day; the newest being the COVID-19 pandemic. Everybody in an organisation must be agile and transfer rapidly to profit from new alternatives or counter dangers that come up.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the psychological well being of individuals all all over the world, which we have to deal with. A latest WHO-led study estimates that despair and nervousness issues price the worldwide financial system US$1tn every year in misplaced productiveness. With many corporations returning to the office, providing essential help is a prime precedence.
AXA Asia and Africa is fostering psychological well being amongst its personal employees and brokers, and has pledged to take concrete motion to cut back the stigma across the challenge and encourage confidence amongst our inside colleagues. Each worker and agent globally has entry to our worker help programme which helps each psychological and bodily well being. As well as, we’ve got a digital concierge known as Emma by AXA, which helps claims and processes, and presents greater than 25 psychological and bodily well being enablers.
This autumn: What are among the challenges and alternatives in tackling psychological wellbeing in your markets?
Regardless of the size and seriousness of burnout and hovering stress ranges, many individuals nonetheless discover it tough to speak overtly about psychological well being points. In lots of office cultures, there’s nonetheless a stigma hooked up to admitting that you just need assistance.
At AXA we wish to create an area the place folks really feel comfy speaking about psychological well being. Drawing on our experience in well being, I consider AXA is uniquely positioned to bridge the present hole in help, and deal with this urgent societal challenge. Within the latest previous, the main focus of firm well being programmes has been extra targeted on bodily well being. At AXA, we consider an individual can not have true well being if their psychological wellbeing is just not being addressed as properly.
Our inside well being and wellness programme is known as ‘Wholesome You’ which gives a variety of companies to help psychological and bodily well being. Whereas this runs all yr spherical, we’ve got particular focus months, and in August and September, we’re internet hosting a collection of well being days throughout our areas, the place all staff and brokers can have a chance to take part in interactive periods about stress discount and participate in international webinars about common well being points. We’re additionally providing self-administered digital check-ups and ongoing entry to our new on-line well being studying platform. Some markets are providing in-office therapeutic massage companies to cut back work-caused pressure.
We’ve an initiative known as ‘Stroll and Speak’ the place we encourage our colleagues to take walks and luxuriate in a chat with one another – whether or not it’s about work or different matters. Stroll & Speak V.2 is about to launch, through which we share a powerful message that it’s wholesome to interact in an exercise you get pleasure from to de-stress and free your thoughts after a day’s work.
We’ve been working these programmes for a while and, in truth, after we take a look at a latest worker web promoter rating, AXA Asia got here first out of all AXA entities globally. AXA Asia additionally topped different areas for ‘group connection’ and ‘total temper’.
Q5: Are there another points that you just assume organisations want to handle?
Embracing inclusion and variety are paramount to the success of any organisation. At AXA, all over the world, inclusion and variety are carefully linked to our values – we act for human progress by defending what issues – and to our tradition of respect for workers, prospects, and the communities round us. We at all times purpose to create an atmosphere the place everybody feels they belong, are included, and may thrive.
For instance, we at all times mark Pleasure Month and IDAHOT. This yr, to mark Pleasure Month in June, AXA Asia commissioned a research to raised perceive how corporations can foster LGBTQ+ pleasant working environments via I&D initiatives. We wish to perceive the private experiences of individuals at work who self-identify as LGBTQ+, so we will make sure that AXA can higher meet the wants of our personal folks. The identical applies to the services and products we offer for susceptible communities.
Q6: The pandemic has led to some dramatic shifts within the office. What do you assume the way forward for the office seems like, now that we’ve had this once-in-a-generation seismic occasion?
Previous to the pandemic, AXA initiated its ‘Good Working’ coverage, which we intend to proceed sooner or later. Good Working is all about our groups agreeing on a system of splitting their time between distant working and workplace hours – benefiting from what every working type has to supply, and becoming native entities and jobs specificities and wishes.
Which means we don’t essentially see our colleagues each day, so it’s important that we construct an engaged group. On the identical time, we’re additionally creating a greater work-life steadiness and extra long-term resilience, as we work collectively to guard our sense of group spirit.
Q7: What was the toughest a part of main via the pandemic?
I believe the uncertainty was – and stays – the toughest a part of the pandemic. In Asia, we’ve got been coping with the pandemic since its first outbreak in December 2019, and being versatile with our work construction whereas guaranteeing we keep the very best ranges of hygiene and take care of our colleagues has been very important.
Communications have additionally been key and we’ve got upscaled the amount and sort of communications amongst our staff, brokers, and prospects to make sure they’ve the details and data they should hold themselves protected whereas we endure COVID-19.
These communications range from emails, to infographics, and to webinars explaining the significance of hygiene practices: the place to acquire assist whereas working from dwelling; alerts on interactive and informative occasions happening on-line related to each psychological and bodily well being, and the deserves and implications that staff and prospects want to think about when deciding to have their COVID-19 vaccine.
Q8: What have you ever been doing in your personal psychological wellbeing throughout this time of uncertainty?
I do a wide range of actions to take care of my psychological well being. For instance, I deal with respiration strategies, which I discover extremely helpful. I attempt to empty my thoughts and go for walks regularly. I additionally loosen up by portray.
Q9: What’s the one factor you learnt or piece of recommendation you obtained arising the ranks that you just attempt to cross on to your group?
I’m a agency believer in meritocracy. This allows folks to be in the very best roles. It’s my job and duty, together with the remainder of the management group, to determine folks with totally different strengths and guarantee they’re in the fitting function. I consider this can be a key cause why we’ve got so many ladies in management roles; meritocracy breeds range.
Q10: How would you describe your administration type?
I might say fostering a powerful sense of each empowerment and collaboration. They go hand-in-hand. By permitting folks to take management of their very own roles (and careers) we’re constructing the subsequent era of leaders.
However, in fact, collaboration is important, which is why we maintain so many cross-functional conferences and share the outcomes of various departments’ successes (and failures) so we will all study to excel. This sense of teamwork is exemplified by AXA being a coaching equipment companion and coaching centre companion for Liverpool Soccer Membership. LFC has proven us by instance how empowerment and collegiality result in nice outcomes and a profitable tradition.
Q11: If not this profession, what various profession path would you may have chosen?
It’s truthful to say that I’ve thought of different monetary service alternatives throughout my profession. Nonetheless, after being in insurance coverage for greater than 30 years, I consider I’m in the fitting function. The trade continues to develop and adapt to vary; we solely have to have a look at the use we’re making of AI and insurtech to see this. It’s nice to be a part of an trade the place the wellbeing of our prospects is the primary precedence. Our international objective of ‘appearing for human progress by defending what issues’, says it finest.
An excerpt of this text first appeared within the This autumn version of Human Sources On-line’s North Asia e-magazine. View a copy of the e-magazine here, the place you will discover power-packed options and interviews with leaders from Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, the US, and extra!
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