Swiss Re's secret to a diverse team and an exemplary employer brand

The Swiss Re Group is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance The company has more than 15,000 employees distributed throughout the world and, behind the selection of many of these talents is Héloïse Roca, HR Leader of the company in Spain, with whom we have spoken about the subject.

In its team, Swiss Re is committed to cultural diversity. For Héloïse, this is an essential lever to build a winning team. Thanks to its DEI (Diversity Equity & Inclusion) policy, only in Spain, Swiss Re has been able to form a team of 250 employees and 32 different nationalities! 

THE CHALLENGES TO BUILD A TEAM OF +27 NATIONALITIES

The current situation of the labor market, increasingly demanding and in continuous movement, is something that Swiss Re constantly faces in order to form a team like this. In the words of Héloïse “The rapid evolution of technology fosters new fields of expertise within areas such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, for example, at a dizzying pace.”

This technological development represents an increasing need on the part of companies for more specialized talent at a greater pace. This sets off the perfect scenario for a war for talent to occur.

“Companies compete to attract the best talent, as there is a high demand for specialized IT talent. This forces us to be proactive and propose appropriate challenges to attract and retain talent.”

However, the current challenge for companies does not end with attracting talent, they must be maintained. “Another common challenge is retaining talent once we have recruited it. These professionals are in high demand and often receive tempting job offers every day. This forces us to be proactive in creating an attractive work environment, propose the right challenges and keep the internal training program alive to ensure talent retention. añade Héloïse.

On the other hand, teleworking and new decentralized team models also play an important role. Due to globalization, the competition for talent has escalated to global levels. As a consequence, the problems that may arise from this struggle are no longer local. “These difficulties are common throughout Europe. The technology talent shortage is a global problem, and many companies across Europe are facing the same challenges as us. Competition for the best candidates is intense, and companies must be creative and strategic in their approach to attracting and retaining talent in today's job market.” 

THE EMPLOYEE: HEART OF THE COMPANY

In 2022, Swiss Re opened a technological area in Madrid from where the entire group is supported. This is a strategic project in which data and cybersecurity specialists, among others, participate. 

“We care about increasing the self-confidence and well-being of employees. “We organize activities, talks, ranging from nutrition and rest techniques to how to fight imposter syndrome.”

With this initiative, Swiss Re increased its existing workforce by more than 150 “Tech” professionals. To achieve this, diversity is a key piece. People from all 5 continents live together in this hub, thus having 27 different nationalities. This fosters a collaborative work environment and improves the culture of the organization. The commitment to global talent is having very positive results for the company.“The combination of technical talent and cultural diversity enriches teams and provides new perspectives,” support Héloïse.

However, behind all the success achieved with this new technological area, there is enormous work by the Swiss Re team. Without establishing a healthy company culture from the beginning; Achieving this cultural diversity can be a challenge. It is not easy to connect and unite diverse teams when their members barely know each other. 
So, how have you done this in this company to achieve this? Héloïse reveals to us the way in which they try to organize activities to help employees adapt and be happier in their workplace.

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SOME INITIATIVES FOR THE WELL-BEING OF WORKERS
“At Swiss Re we greatly promote diversity and inclusion through different initiatives and activities throughout the year. For example:

Talks about self-care  and keys on how we can improve time management. The approach we want to give you is to focus on positive thinking, but also with specific techniques such as, for example, keys to efficiency, nutrition, etc. but from self-care and highlighting the importance of rest.

Imposter syndrome training for all employees of the organization, we carry it out through a coach who is an expert in this topic. The feedback was very positive and we received requests to extend the training to men as well and that is what we did. 

The objective is to implement exercises to increase self-confidence and emotional well-being in order to develop the talent of our employees and introduce more balance into their lives.” 

EMPLOYER BRAND TO WIN THE WAR FOR TALENT

Swiss Re is an international company, a leader in its sector that, as we have seen, offers the appropriate environment for the development of diverse teams. On the other hand, the recent creation of the Technology Hub in Madrid is bringing together talent from all over the world, attracted by the desire to work on cutting-edge projects in a vibrant and modern city.

Héloïse sees clearly that “One of the keys is the reputation of our company within the technology community, and the value of our current team, everyone wants to work within a great team.”

“A good reputation for your employer brand is the key to attracting talent. You have to be present on social networks and job portals to communicate your employer proposal.”

 
To build this reputation, Swiss Re focuses on building and maintaining a strong and attractive employer brand. Héloïse tells us some of the actions they implement in the company to achieve this.“We strive to communicate our corporate culture, values, professional growth opportunities and benefits of working with us. For this we are present on social networks, employment websites, recruitment events, etc. We also reach talents thanks to the policies we have implemented:
Employee Referral Programs: We encourage our employees' participation in referral programs, offering incentives and rewards for referring qualified candidates. Our employees are our best ambassadors.

Focus on Diversity and Inclusion: We value diversity and inclusion in our workplace and strive to attract talent from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. This not only enriches our company culture, but also helps us develop innovative and creative solutions. 

Flexibility and Competitive Benefits: We understand the importance of offering work flexibility and competitive benefits to attract and retain talent. This may include flexible schedules, wellness programs, development opportunities, and hybrid working. focused on offering flexibility, maintaining employee culture and connections

A FUTURE MARKED BY WORK FLEXIBILITY.

Before finishing the interview with Héloïse, we asked her about her vision for the future of labor relations between candidates, employees and companies. She assures tha the success of companies is based on being able to adapt to the incessant changes in the market.“Companies that are flexible and adaptable to a constantly evolving market, that offer an international environment combined with the possibility of professional development and the continuous learning required to stay up to date with the latest technologies.

It is difficult to imagine a working world without remote work and hybrid presence in the future. The globalization and relocation of talent is not going to stop, and that is why the flexibility of companies to adapt to these new environments and work models will be essential. 

On the other hand, technology advances so quickly that if you want to maintain competitiveness, it is necessary for companies to adapt and adopt all the advances. In the future of human management in companies we will see an increase in the use of tools that facilitate more mechanical work thanks to AI or other technologies.", concludes.

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