Diversity and inclusion

A community the size of ours at UNIQA lives and breathes through diversity. We believe diversity can only be fully effective within an inclusive environment. Inclusion refers to the approach, made up of guidelines, practices, behaviours and attitudes, that enables a diverse organisation to realise its full potential.

The Diversity and Inclusion Officer is responsible for developing the required framework conditions, ensuring the various targets and associated measures are implemented and supporting or spearheading the implementation of guidelines and processes. They report to the Management Board for HR, Brand and Communication as well as to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee (DICO). This committee manages, coordinates and takes decisions on diversity and inclusion issues, making it a key player in driving the importance of diversity and inclusion across the UNIQA Group.

In March 2022, UNIQA’s Management Board adopted a comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion strategy. In addition to a selection of initiatives, this also includes specific measurable targets focused on two areas, namely equal pay and women in management positions.

Equal pay for work of equal value: By the end of 2023, we aim to reduce the adjusted pay gap in the core insurance business in Austria and back office to significantly below 1 per cent. To achieve this target, we defined and implemented a number of measures with immediate effect. We also defined and implemented a control loop of detailed analyses and specific measures in 2022. The successful outcome of these measures was already evident in the latest paygap analysis published in mid-2022. The unaccountable pay gap fell to 0.6 per cent. In our second home market, namely CEE, we are focused on our large subsidiaries in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia, implementing standardised and regular equal pay analyses and corresponding measures in these countries by 2023.

More women in management positions: We have set ourselves the targetat our Austrian site of increasing the proportion of women in senior positions, in back office positions in general and, more specifically, in management functions by 5  percentage points by 2023. Our aim here is to improve gender diversity in more senior roles and at all management levels. We consider the equality of women in expert roles to be an important basis for equality in succession planning and in equal participation in all management processes. Measures such as mentoring, childcare support, work from home opportunities and extra measures to enhance flexible working hours are designed to improve the framework conditions further in this regard.

Employee feedback counts: We essentially measure the success of our Diversity and Inclusion strategy by the way it is perceived by our employees. The UNIQA Inclusion Index, newly implemented at our Austrian site, is used for this very purpose. Our aim now is to increase the measured starting value, which was already very high back in 2021, by a further 2  percentage points by 2023.

Details of further measures and initiatives can be found in our 2022 Sustainability Report.