It can be challenging to build a steady pipeline for talent and consider diversity, equity and inclusion principles at the same time. Middle East Insurance Review spoke to Munich Re’s Ms Muna Murad about how promoting a diverse workforce can widen the pool of talent.
By Nadhir Mokhtar
A lack of talent in the Middle East poses a challenge to (re)insurers in the region, especially when it comes to hiring actuaries. Companies are also mindful of ensuring diverse representation in their workforce.
“There are not enough universities in the region that offer (actuarial) specialisation so the talent pipeline is limited. This requires us to be creative in our recruitment efforts and use different approaches than in other countries, such as targeting expats and fresh graduates from other areas of specialisation and then invest in training them. Finding, recruiting and developing the right employees is crucial for business success,” said Munich Re life/health Middle East head of regional human resources Muna Murad speaking to Middle East Insurance Review.
Building a diverse workforce
While there is a general shortage of talent in the region, she said that there is a potential to create gender balance and increase the proportion of women in the industry in the region. Reinsurers can undertake various measures to attract female talent. She shared an example of including at least one female candidate in job interview processes and talent and leadership initiatives such as the Oxford Women Leadership Programme.
She said promoting diversity, equity and inclusion plays a major role in creating a work environment that helps employees perform better.
“Gender is only one aspect … A well-balanced workforce leads to greater diversity of perspective and innovative solutions and in turn this results in higher employee satisfaction and company performance,” she said.
Some markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are dominated by a large foreign workforce. For reinsurers like Munich Re, its employees in the Middle East region come from 39 countries.
“The challenge is to retain employees when they face family issues and they want to return to their home country. But we aim to offer our people in the Middle East flexibility, for example they can work for up to one month a year from other countries. This works well for expats who often need to spend time working in their home country. This helped us reduce the attrition of staff,” said Ms Murad.
Retaining talent in the long term
Reinsurers also face issues when planning a pipeline for talent in the long term. She said employers are focusing on wellbeing and promoting purpose-driven values to secure the long-term commitment of talent and younger candidates.
“Employees also want to balance their family commitments and careers and every individual has unique needs,” she said.
To meet the diversity of employees’ needs, she said a hybrid working model that facilitates work-life balance, helps them to collaborate with colleagues in the region and globally both in-office and remotely from home. M