LEADERS in Crisis - Cheryl Agius, CEO, Saga Insurance

Robeson: There has been a lot of talk about mental health and well-being. As CEO, is that an area of concern across your entire stable of employees and are you providing any particular support?

Agius: There has clearly been a lot of focus on mental health now for a number of years and this crisis has brought it to the forefront of the table. We have colleagues and customers who are in periods of isolation, coping with unforeseen circumstances at home and trying to manage that very new work life balance.

We have put in place a comprehensive program around mental health well-being involving outside partners who can offer that support. We have brought in guest speakers who have gone through some of these challenges themselves and there is nothing more important than hearing it from people who have faced these challenges directly, and talking about this topic a lot more openly.

At the heart of all of this is the real step up in communication and touch points for our colleagues and our customers. We have also seen and responded well to our customers who have felt isolated and vulnerable and spending longer on the phone at these uncertain times.

Robeson: Have you had to change your communication style with the different groups of stakeholders?

Agius: What this experience has done is force that digital journey for customers and colleagues at a pace that in yesterday's world may have taken another couple of years to achieve. But whilst we focus clearly on digital transformation there is at the end of the day a customer, often at the end of the phone who simply needs to speak with someone about their own situation. Getting that balance right is paramount to the success of our business.

We also set up a “Not Going Out Club” for our Saga customers which gives them an opportunity to tap into lifestyle topics they might wish to think about when they are going through periods of isolation along with delivering new, relevant content online. So we have in a short period of time done a multitude of things to really make this as easy as possible for our customers.

Robeson: Looking at your direct leadership team, how are you holding yourselves together?

Agius: Having simple regular touch points every day is essential. It has provided an environment to come together, to solve business decisions and to check in with people emotionally. We no longer have the ability to see somebody walking down the corridor catch up across the desk for a casual conversation.

It's also making the extra effort to have some downtime by creating opportunities for purely social catch ups as you would do in any work environment. This is important to also check in on how everyone is coping with the stresses and strains of this new living environment.

Robeson:  As the workforce begins to head back to the office, have you any advice to employers about how they create a flexible  environment for working parents?

Agius: I've been very fortunate over the years to work for employers where flexibility has been at the heart of the organization. Increasingly we have working fathers and working mothers who are balancing this work life balance. If you focus on the outcomes of your business and assume that you've got the right people to deliver on those outcomes and give them the flexibility to work within those parameters then I believe you will end up differentiating factor enables a very diverse workforce.

The world is very different to what it used to be ten or twenty years ago and we now know the value in having a diverse workforce. Those employers who have the ability to be much more flexible in their outlook will be the ones that will succeed in the long run.

Robeson: As a key female CEO figure in the industry, what initiative would you choose to increase diversity in leadership in the industry?

Agius: It is about creating role models. Creating role models together with people who have a genuine interest to be able to mentor and coach individuals through their careers. So you'll have various initiatives and one that stands out is the 30% Club. They have driven a step change certainly at Board-level.

As you filter through the organisation it is essential to have or create role models at all levels and across a truly diverse spectrum to be able to support people as they are coming through. Everyone faces different challenges at different points in their career and it is at those significant decision points their lives where high potentials can very easily drop off or change direction. Creating a support network to be able to encourage, support, offer flexibility is critical.  

Robeson: Financial Services and Insurance are often seen as lagging behind from a change management perspective.  Is the industry making the step changes that you expect it to make?

Agius: I think it depends. Some organizations are more forward thinking than others and observing the economic and societal changes downstream. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and economic outlook that is uncertain. Those that are really differentiating are those that will have a diversification of initiatives across all levels of the organization and execute well. What's really important is they challenge and measure themselves on the performance and creation of diversity across the organization. It's very easy to talk about this subject, but the real game changers are those who challenge themselves consistently from the top down and measure that performance month on month to deliver change in the organization.

Robeson:  Who are you turning to as a sounding board for you?

Agius: I regularly tap into my network, both within the organization and actually, more importantly, outside the organization. I have various colleagues and friends who are going through similar challenges and often within different industries. The best way to work through this is to share your experiences and take the good. Collectively, the sum of those parts is often better than the one.  It is so important to tap into those on a regular basis be it by Zoom or otherwise. It feels like you're glued to the screen continuously some days but the learnings you pick up from this are essential.