The coronavirus pandemic has caused the number of insurance industry professionals who see their workplace as inclusive to plummet, the Dive In Festival heard today.

A survey investigating workplace inclusion was carried out with members of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, and sponsored by SURA, Wotton + Kearney, and Liberty Specialty Markets.

Founding director of Psynapse Psychometrics Jennifer Whelan, one of Australia’s leading inclusion experts, presented this year’s findings at today’s festival event, and compared the results to a similar poll carried out last year.

Just 37% of the 600 respondents agreed that their workplace is inclusive, down from 58% last year.

Men still feel more included than women, more women believe working flexibly is a barrier to promotion, and women feel less safe to express their views.

“Most people actually feel that their workplace is not inclusive, which for me is a bit of a concern,” Dr Whelan said.

“People’s sentiment has clearly changed. The big thing that has impacted between last year and now is of course the impact that COVID-19 has had.”

Dr Whelan concludes that the virus has had “a significant negative impact” on overall levels of inclusion, particularly for women.

Today’s seminar also discussed the importance of psychological safety, and how it can help people feel included during times of rapid change.

Dr Whelan says psychological safety is defined as “the shared belief by team members that the team environment is a safe one in which to take interpersonal risks, to offer new or left-field ideas, and to admit mistakes without fear of humiliation or negative consequences”.

Inclusion can buffer against negative impacts because it enables psychological safety, she says.

Dive In events continue tomorrow. Click here for a list.