To help women achieve their full potential in life and to ensure they are financially independent a life insurer can do a lot.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance chief distribution officer and head of diversity council Amit Palta said, “We believe in supporting women in maximising their potential in life, empowering them for their financial independence and autonomy in supporting their families. To accomplish this, it is important that the women are financially well-prepared for the future.
“Focus on gender is a priority and an important area of our equal opportunity and diversity and inclusion policy. Our diversity council comprising of the senior leadership team steers and reviews the diversity and inclusivity agenda in line with our ABCD framework,“ Mr Palta said.
A. Attract diverse talent – enhance the diversity quotient by augmenting access to diverse talent pools
B. Enhance belongingness and inclusion – at the workplace through enabling policies, awareness and sensitisation programmes
C. Build connect and provide support – extend connect platforms and safe spaces for employees to network and learn from experiences of senior role models
D. Publish diversity dashboards – formalised tracking of progress on gender diversity reviewed in senior management forums as well as the diversity council
Speaking about the various enabling and supportive policies in the organisation that cater to the varied life needs of women, Mr Palta said, the company bears the cost of all primary caregivers, irrespective of gender, wanting to take their baby along with a caregiver or nanny on business trips.
He said, “To enhance the participation of women in frontline roles further, we conduct exclusive recruitment drives for women-only graduates. Our recruitment partners have also been mandated to proactively provide profiles with a balanced gender mix for job openings at the company.
“With these policies and interventions in place, the company aims to encourage greater participation of women in the company and support them to stay invested in their careers for the long term.”
Mr Palta said it is our constant endeavour to promote a culture of inclusivity. He said taking a step forward, the company has launched an awareness programme on unconscious bias to educate employees and managers on the biases people hold, how it impacts workplace decisions and how these can be minimised.
He said, “We are happy that our efforts to promote gender diversity and inclusivity at the workplace have resulted in women constituting 27% of the company's workforce during the financial year 2021-2022.
“Significantly, women's participation in the company's process and support functions in 2021-22 is around 40%.”
He said, “Exclusive benefits and a host of unique features are offered to women customers (life insurance policyholders). Our term insurance products in addition to offering lower premiums to women (as compared to men), also provide cover against women-specific critical illnesses such as breast cancer and cervical cancer.
“Fixed-benefit health insurance plans offer a discount on the first premium payment if purchased for both spouses, thereby encouraging a larger number of women to opt for such plans. This enables them to go for the best treatment for a life-threatening disease.”
He said, “Recently the company launched term insurance solution aimed at extending financial protection to homemakers, one of the most underserved segments of the country. A tailor-made solution it offers homemakers a fixed life cover of $61,133 besides offering the flexibility to choose a critical illness rider offering cover up to $12,230.”
Mr Palta said, “We also have savings plan that encourages women to save and achieve their financial goals. It provides additional incentives which enhance the total guaranteed benefits payable on maturity, apart from providing life cover.”