Issue 13 - Spring 2020
Each March we celebrate International Women’s day and this year at The Insider, we wanted to mark the occasion with a feature looking at the extraordinary careers of everyday women within the Insurance Industry. Our editor teamed up with Natalie Drenovac, host of The Modern Women podcast to chat all things career with our 5 ladies whose backgrounds range from various disciplines including Marketing, HR and C Suite. We hope you find these women’s stories as inspiring to read as we did to interview.
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After college, I moved to London and started my career as a recruitment consultant. From here, I went to work with a company that provided a software application for HR departments which ultimately led me to a career in HR.
Prior to joining Allianz in 2006 as HR Director, I gained a breadth of experience across a range of different industries (IT, manufacturing and advertising) in very commercial roles that included HR, sales & marketing and IT. It is this broad commercial experience combined with continuous professional development that has really helped me progress.
My current role as Chief Transformation Officer brings together a lot of the culture change work that I have delivered in Allianz with my previous work experience.
"We can be biased toward those that are confident, extroverted or charismatic but I think we need to challenge the idea that what “looks like leadership” and what good leadership is in practice can be very different."
A stereotype that I come across regularly is the idea that leadership is one-dimensional. I don’t believe that those who emerge as leaders (look like leaders) and those that lead effectively are necessarily the same thing. We can be biased toward those that are confident, extroverted or charismatic but I think we need to challenge the idea that what “looks like leadership” and what good leadership is in practice can be very different. At the moment in Allianz 60% of our Board of Management is female, we recognise that leadership is about what you do, not about your gender.
My view would be that we can’t be complacent, it is well recognised that diversity in business is crucial. We must do everything we can to make sure the best people, regardless of gender or background are leading our business – this is giving people the support and tools to succeed, but also removing structural barriers that can make this difficult.
Continuing to do this across our industry and others is essential to see the type of diversity we need to succeed.
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I started my career in Caledonian Life in June 2001, straight out of college and spent 4 years in a standalone HR Business Partner role. I then moved to Matheson to a HR Manager role. This change in industry provided me with an insight into the complexities of a Partnership structure and worked with some great people who taught me the importance of resilience and pushing yourself to really succeed. I joined Cornmarket in 2011 where I have had the opportunity to broaden and deepen my knowledge and skills, such as designing and implementing our first Customer Service Portal “My Cornmarket”.
In November 2017, I was appointed to the Cornmarket Board of Directors and became the first female board member since the company was formed in 1972. As the Director responsible for HR & Business Change, I am responsible for our Digital Strategy, our business change agenda and driving cultural change.
Busy! Getting the balance right between succeeding in your career, your home life and finding time for you – this is a constant challenge. What has worked well for me is recognising and accepting that there will be times when the balance is unequal and when this happens, you have to work hard at trying to get it right.
The Managing Director of Caledonian Life, the late Mick Cremin. Mick took a chance on me and gave me a great opportunity. I didn’t have the experience at the time but he recognised my determination, enthusiasm and desire to succeed and mentored me at the beginning of my career. He believed in me and that gave me the confidence to believe in myself.
Insurance is a male dominated industry but in my experience, I have never felt disempowered on the grounds of gender. During my career I have been supported and encouraged to grow and develop, I have sought out opportunities to excel and expand in my role and have been mentored by some great people – yes, all have been male. My attitude has always been about capability, delivery and having the right “Person” in the role, regardless of gender.
I joined Accenture (Andersen Consulting at the time) straight out of college where I had studied Engineering. The Accenture environment required quick learning, taking on responsibility at an early stage, and the opportunity to work both in Ireland and abroad across multiple industries with some great clients and great people.
Hard work, results and a little bit of luck.
I started as software developer in Accenture and worked my way up to senior programme manager roles where I was responsible for both Business and IT transformation programmes in Pensions, Life Assurance and Capital Markets.
While on maternity leave for my first child I was approached by RSA Insurance and I just couldn’t turn down a fantastic offer that would help me take the leap from consulting into industry. I joined RSA as Head of Strategic Business Change and IT with promotion to Director following 3 years later.
The CIO role in AXA came my way five years ago as I returned from maternity leave on my third child. Just over three years ago my role was expanded to Chief Operations Officer in AXA with responsibility for direct customer sales, service and back office operations in the branch network and contact centre as well as Strategic Change and IT. It’s demanding but I love it.
The first female manager I worked for in Accenture when I was about 23. She was only a few years older than me, but she worked hard, was smart, tenacious and made a difference. She taught me so much and we’re still good friends. These days it’s hard to pick just one role model though. I see something that I admire in almost everyone, male and female.
That “You can’t have it all”. I’m not airbrushing reality, but I believe you can have it all, but just not all at the same time, every moment of the day. Control and flexibility in your schedule is key and a supportive and amazing husband and family is an important part of the formula too.
I never felt held back by being in the minority or the only female in the room. At times I admired how self promotion and confidence came so naturally to many of my male colleagues, but I was also quietly confident that I too had something to bring to the table. The industry honestly doesn’t feel that male dominated anymore. Things are changing. Women are judged by our skill now and not by our gender. In AXA Ireland the executive management team is 50% female and has been for the last three years and I have always felt supported here.
I began my career in insurance 10 years ago when I joined Sedgwick as a graduate trainee having just completed an MA in Smurfit Business School, but always had a keen interest in people and their personal development. I applied to an opening in the Colleague Resources (HR) Department, which at the time, was primarily an administrative function within the company. When I secured the position, I made it my priority to develop the strategic capabilities of the division and transform its purpose.
As the Department grew, so did my responsibility. I became more involved in the strategic side of the business, working with the CEO and the rest of the Executive Management team and I was appointed Chief of Staff and Head of Colleague Resources. During this time I managed and led the integration of a number of acquisitions into what is now Sedgwick Ireland. Most recently I have been appointed Deputy CEO, a position I am immensely proud of as a young mother of twin girls. In this role I hope to use my years of experience to develop a culture where our colleagues can thrive and fulfil their career ambitions.
"Being a modern professional woman today means I feel a sense of responsibility to use my voice to empower those I work with to create positive change and support my female colleagues to reach their full potential."
Being a modern professional woman today means I feel a sense of responsibility to use my voice to empower those I work with to create positive change and support my female colleagues to reach their full potential. Helping other women to achieve their aspirations is just as important as achieving my own.
Build strong relationships and don’t be too proud to build a team of people that are smarter than you. Some of my proudest career moments are not reflective of my own performance but that of the success of the team I lead.
No I don’t let it affect me. The person who has mentored, sponsored and championed me from the beginning of my career is male, Malcolm Hughes Sedgwick Ireland CEO and he has always said to me from day one that the best person for the role will succeed no matter what gender they are.
We often talk about the “glass ceiling” that prevents women from reaching senior leadership positions. In reality, the biggest obstacle that women face is much earlier in their career, it is often getting a foot on the ladder to a managerial position.
The system is what needs to change, we need to build systems that work for women, environments where they are supported to succeed, and to nail the balancing act. Women
also need to see female representation in the leadership of whatever company they work for, you can’t be what you can’t see.
After I graduated, marketing jobs were few and far between. It’s a tough field to break into, so I actually started my career working for Irish Life in their group risk department. I always knew I wanted a career within marketing so I immediately started expressing my interest, meeting different marketing managers / executives in the business and going above and beyond wherever I could. A few months in and a hundred meetings later, I was then promoted to their marketing team where I worked closely with the sales department supporting their large corporate clients.
I was always very eager to work on large sponsorships particularly around sport so AIG was certainly the right fit for me! I also had experience in the business to business marketing space and dealing with broker partners / clients so it just made sense In terms of my progression. I was ready to create and execute my own strategy. I came across the position on LinkedIn and low and behold, I’m three years in the role now. It’s terrific that my remit has expanded year on year within AIG Ireland where I now lead commercial marketing, communications and recently took on responsibility for government affairs.
To be assertive, ambitious and creative.
I was told not to sweat the small stuff. I think we can all sometimes dwell on little things not going your way or take things personally. Take a step back, look at the bigger picture and keep going.
That it’s great were involved to provide “diversity”. I’m not here just because I’m a woman, I’m here because I’ve a point to make or a unique perspective to provide given my experience.
