Diversity concept

A comprehensive diversity concept is currently being developed at UNIQA. Over the next few years, it is planned to concentrate on four selected priorities:

  1. Women in management – more women in management positions
  2. Compensation fairness – equal pay for work of equal value
  3. Generation management – old and young contribute together to the success of the company
  4. People with disabilities – integrate, promote and offer positions where they can use their strengths

UNIQA has launched a new initiative called “Get ready” in 2019. Within this framework, a dialogue was opened with regard to the selected diversity priorities, in order to raise awareness of these important topics throughout UNIQA. The first two events in 2019 focused on the promotion of women and were dedicated to the topics “Pension gap – needs and reality” and “Women & careers at UNIQA”.

1. Women in management

In May 2019 the Group HR department, in cooperation with 14 female managers from Austria and abroad, worked out and prioritised the most important focus areas relating to the promotion of women. Measures that will be elaborated further for achieving these goals include the promotion of a mindset open to diversity and inclusion, the continuous development of models for flexible working time and transparent career paths.

In October 2019 the first workshop on the topic of unconscious bias was held with the members of the Management Board. In the course of the workshop, it was shown how organisations can benefit from diverse teams. Top managers could also reflect on their unconscious thinking patterns and perception filters.

Eighty senior managers and experts across the Group completed a one-week comprehensive leadership development programme at the Harvard Business School with the title “Leading Transformation at UNIQA” in 2019. The proportion of women in this programme in the context of the strategic transformation UNIQA 3.0 was 20 per cent.

The NEXT AT management programme for all Austrian managers ended in mid-2019. By that time, 547 people had participated in it since 2017. The overall share of female participants in this programme was 25 per cent. The most frequently chosen training courses were “Motivation 3.0”, “Conflict Management” and “Leading in dynamic working environments”. Accompanying individual coaching was taken up by 80 participants.

Thanks to the cooperation with the Female Founders, which has been in place since 2017, four female executives were able to participate in the three-month digital leadership programme Lead F in 2019. Since 2019 UNIQA has also been a partner of the women’s platform Business Riots, which aims to break up traditional forms of work and living environments from the perspective of women. Female employees can attend events and further their professional and personal development.

Enabling employees to achieve a work-life balance and providing them with easy access to services that make everyday life easier, especially for mothers, are key factors in promoting women. UNIQA offers a comprehensive range of services known as “Freiraum” (Latitude) that addresses these needs. Within the scope of the mental health hotline KEEP BALANCE, a cooperation with Hilfswerk Austria, completely anonymous advice and support is offered for all professional and personal problems.

UNIQA also relies on flexible working hours. In addition to the long-established option for teleworking, which 13.5 per cent of employees use in Austria in the administrative departments, “mobile work” has been consistently implemented since the end of 2018. Employees are able to work up to eight days a month from home, on the road or at other suitable locations. A total of 172 employees practice the classic teleworking, and 391 employees – mobile working.

In the 2019 employee survey in Austria, the effect of the increased flexibility of working hours was clearly reflected in a very high level of agreement with the statement “I am very satisfied with my working hours model”.

2. Compensation fairness

UNIQA wants to bind all committed and qualified employees – no matter what gender – in the same manner to the company on a long-term basis. Therefore, equal opportunities in working conditions and equal pay are a major concern for UNIQA. The clear objective is to achieve comprehensive gender-independent compensation fairness. To this end, the valid regulations regarding remuneration at UNIQA for employees were summarised and communicated internally in the summer of 2019. In the course of salary increases at the end of 2019, a special focus was placed on female employees. In addition, a survey of internal compensation fairness is planned for 2020.

3. Generation management

Making use of the age diversity throughout the company in a more targeted way, optimising the transfer of knowledge and promoting intergenerational cooperation even further were some of the main questions of the future UNIQA dealt with intensively during 2019. For this purpose, the offer of a demography consultancy was also taken up, to help establish an age-appropriate working environment.

Several concrete pilot events were held for managers, teams and for employees of the 45+ generation. Topics such as intergenerational knowledge transfer, reverse mentoring and generation-sensitive leadership were developed with existing teams. The feedback on these pilot projects was very positive.

4. People with disabilities

In 2019 initial contacts were made with potential cooperation partners, and events were evaluated that contribute to raising awareness of this important topic and provide informal access to unusual situations in order to reduce reservations that people might have.