DI R ECT LI N E G ROUP SPOTLIGHT ON WILL SHERLOCK, AND DIRECT LINE GROUP
A force for good DIRECT LINE GROUP HAS GALVANISED IT S WORKFORCE BEHIND A NEW VISION TO BE A PURPOSE-LED BUSINESS, AS WE REPORT HERE. In late 2019 Direct Line Group launched a new vision and strategy which has at its heart a desire to be personal, inclusive and a force for good. The year since its launch has been anything but normal but in many ways the last twelve months have highlighted the importance of this new vision. It has galvanised everyone at Direct Line Group and acted as a real focal point, particularly as they responded to the challenges presented by Covid. The decision-making has increasingly seen every part of the business ask how it is living up to the company’s vision. It has led to the company acting more as a purpose-led organisation. The vision is supported by a wider sustainability strategy based around the five pillars of customers, people, society, planet and governance. Direct Line Group aims for its ongoing actions to live up to its vision and purpose across all areas of the strategy. It also engages every layer of the company meaning everyone is pulling in the same direction. Last year Direct Line Group launched a £3.5 million Community Fund for the first time in response to Covid. The fund targeted much needed resources to charities and local authorities based close to the organisation’s main office sites. The ability to respond quickly was crucial with almost £2 million allocated within the
88
first couple of weeks. The Community Fund is now tackling big public policy challenges, with a particular focus on social mobility where Direct Line Group is working more closely with social mobility charities to support and encourage young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into careers in insurance. The community fund will continue its work this year with charities such as the Social Mobility Business Partnership, Autoraise and Teach First. As an organisation, ‘getting in, getting on, getting ahead’ is how Direct Line Group thinks about social mobility. It’s not just about how you recruit but about how to support individuals throughout their career so that they can get a foot up the ladder. Social mobility is a complex area and it’s important to recognise the support needed throughout a person’s career. Working alongside the Social Mobility Pledge, Direct Line Group was looking to target social mobility ‘coldspots’ to encourage more people into the organisation before Covid. Now that the company has found remote working a success they see a big opportunity to recruit more widely and take advantage of untapped talent in areas that may have been viewed as unrealistic due to the nature of office-based working. It’s a real chance to expand its reach and the company has already started to recruit from different parts of the country in a way that hasn’t been done previously. It means they can appeal to underrepresented communities and break any stigma for people who may lack confidence and think a job in a FTSE company ‘isn’t for them’. The benefit of being a large organisation with a wide UK footprint is that Direct Line Group can reach lots of areas where social
