Best Insurance Employer: Arch

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Marcella McLean, chief human resource officer of Arch Insurance International, explains why nine out of 10 employees are proud to work for the business.

Why do you think your employees recommend working for your company?

We are committed to fostering an environment that attracts, develops and retains stellar employees.

Through our commitment to employee wellbeing and a supportive and inclusive workplace, we maintain a culture where all our employees can thrive and where everyone can be their authentic self.

Our efforts to engender a positive working environment are borne out by the responses to our most recent employee engagement survey, where Arch tracks well above the financial services sector industry average in all categories, according to survey administrators Workforce Science Associates.

The survey results reflect input from almost 80% of Arch Insurance employees and show in terms of engagement 92% are ‘extremely satisfied with Arch as a place to work’ and 92% are ‘proud to work for Arch’.

The drivers of that engagement include:

• 94% believe ‘Arch has an outstanding future’.

• 87% believe ‘senior leadership shows genuine interest in employee well-being’.

• 86% can ‘see a clear link between ‘my work and Arch’s vision’.

How do you ensure staff feel valued?

At Arch we want every employee to appreciate the real value they bring to our organisation and to know their value is recognised.

That recognition comes in multiple forms, from company-wide recognition through our Arch Achieve awards programme, where employees nominate peers for their contributions, to our employee recognition and reward platform, Applause.

Our Arch culture team regularly engages with the Arch community to monitor and measure the company’s pulse in relation to employee morale and culture, ensuring employee voices are heard and acknowledged through employee surveys and regular webcast sessions.

Arch’s appraisal system is a two-way process in which open and honest discussion with employees is actively encouraged.

Our employee engagement surveys, conducted by an independent party, also provide an anonymised platform for employee feedback. On top of peer recognition, Arch provides discretionary bonuses each year based on individual and team performance.

How does employee feedback affect ESG decision-making at your company?

ESG considerations are integral to our business operations and daily decision-making.

Our Group ESG strategy is managed by our ESG committee and communicated through our published Sustainability Report.

The ESG committee regularly looks for feedback from our employees in several ways, such as employee surveys, networking groups and feedback forums.

Social impact initiatives are led by the staff corporate social responsibility committee, which represents a broad cross-section of employees and provides many ways for Arch staff to give, both financially and with their time to support our communities and charitable causes.

Environmental considerations are championed by our ‘Blue Goes Green’ employee group, which looks at how to reduce Arch’s environmental impact.

The group is open to all staff and the initiatives include reducing waste and plastics around the offices, carbon-neutralisation activities, and offsetting emissions.

What impact is your diversity and inclusion work having on the make-up and culture of the company?

At Arch, embracing diversity and cultivating an inclusive culture is not just an aspirational value, but a business imperative.

A foundation of our strategic vision is to “foster a diverse, inclusive and high-performing culture”, and we have made huge strides in the last year.

With the participation and unequivocal support from our leadership team, our diversity and inclusion strategy brings together a diverse range of people and perspectives from across departments, geographies, demographics and seniority levels.

This is evident in the composition of our culture committee, our Allies networks and our executive-led sessions, where all employees have the opportunity to positively impact D&I.

To support this, we sponsor and partner with a range of external organisations to actively support and promote greater diversity and inclusion within the insurance industry.

Key 2022 to 2023 initiatives include:

• Partnership with SEO London, providing internships, training, mentoring and support to young people from underrepresented backgrounds.

• Partnership with Moving Ahead's Actuarial Mentoring Programme, developing female actuaries and increasing minority representation.

• Sponsorship of Dive-In, the festival for Diversity and Inclusion in insurance.

• Sponsorship of Insurance Supper Club and Everywoman in Insurance to champion equal representation for women in insurance.

• Partnership with iCAN, the Insurance Cultural Awareness Network.

• Partnerships with Link and Stonewall to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion.

• Recruitment initiatives, apprenticeship schemes and career fairs to promote the insurance industry to talent from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds.

• Participation in various mentoring programmes, including at Lloyd’s and the Manchester Academy focused on female students from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds.

What are your company values?

At Arch, our existence is rooted in a shared purpose that is supported by our values.

We work hard and smart.

We are always willing to go the extra mile for those who count on us. We effectively use our resources to offer our clients the highest-quality decisions, products and experiences.

We embrace the power of teamwork.

Everyone contributes and each voice matters. We vigorously support our colleagues and empower them to make a difference. We foster personal and professional growth in ourselves and each other.

We continually pursue innovation and improvement.

We believe every product or process can be improved and always strive for a better way. We seek new ideas sparked by a diverse workforce and challenge ourselves and each other in a thoughtful, respectful manner.

We exhibit honesty and integrity in all we do. We do what is right. Every time. We strive to make a difference.

We pursue opportunities to effect change beyond our jobs. We invest in our communities and encourage each other to give of our time and talent in meaningful ways.

Our values are underpinned by 14 key behaviours, which we refer to as ‘The Arch Experience’.

The Arch experience is championed by the executive leadership and senior-level departmental “Captains” and enables us to embed our values into our everyday working life and support the delivery of exceptional customer experience for both our internal and external customers.

How would you describe working at the company to a friend or family?

Arch is an incredibly positive place to work, with an inclusive, engaged and collaborative culture.

From day one, there is a clear commitment to equality of opportunity and investment in personal/professional development to enable employees to fulfil their career potential.

Every employee has a voice at Arch. Views and ideas are listened to and these help to guide our decision-making and drive our continued success.

We maintain several cross-company employee networks allowing staff to connect and learn from each other, fostering our supporting culture and celebrating the diversity within our business.

Arch’s culture is perhaps best summarised by one of our recent SEO London interns, Safin Ahmed, who said: “Arch Insurance opens the doors to many opportunities. The firm is diverse, connected, and super friendly.

“I had the opportunity to network with CEOs, executives, and many different employees. Arch is growing and developing swiftly; every intern should join the programme for an exciting and unique experience.”

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