World leading insurance market Lloyd’s of London has been a member of the Business Disability Forum since July 2014.
As a global leader operating in over 200 countries, Lloyd’s of London prioritises attraction and recruitment of skilled individuals from the broadest possible talent pool. This means removing any barriers that may prevent a disabled employee’s ability to achieve their full potential in the business.
Lara Green, Soft Intelligence Executive in Lloyd’s Market Intelligence team exemplifies the value that can be gained when companies ensure that disabled people can contribute to business success. Having joined the Lloyd’s Graduate Scheme in 2010, Lara, who is blind, began training within the Lloyd’s specialist insurance and reinsurance market.
In 2013, Lara began a permanent role within the Global Markets department, specialising in insurance and economic development research, supporting the team in the marketing of new products, and, amongst other responsibilities, supporting the delivery of the Lloyd’s Vision 2025 Strategy.
In order to address any barriers that could impair Lara from fulfilling her potential in the organisation, a number of meetings were held between Lara and key stakeholders upon joining the company. The early involvement of HR, Health & Safety and IT, allowed all aspects of the adjustments, to be considered. A key outcome of these meetings was the implementation of Orientation Training around the building. Provided by Access to Work, this allowed Lara to navigate the building with a long cane more easily.
Following this, Lara’s colleagues undertook disability awareness training which helped them to understand how to work with a blind team member. The sessions covered general awareness topics such as keeping walkways clear and ensuring there are no trip hazards.
In terms of the premises, Lloyd’s has also made a number of adjustments to improve the accessibility of the building for disabled people. Braille signs, for example, were installed in the lifts so that Lara can easily identify which floor she is on.
Discussing the adjustments made for her by Lloyd’s, Lara said:
“A key priority for Lloyd’s in 2015 is building access. We are hoping to use the lift refurbishment project, which is currently being carried out, to increase accessibility of the buildings, which will include adding voice output in the lifts.”
In terms of ICT and creating an accessible workstation, Lloyd’s worked with Access to Work once again to implement Lara’s computer and software. This included the installation of the JAWS screen reader programme, optical character recognition (OCR) software and a braille display.
In adjusting the office to be more accessible, Lloyd’s are able to fully utilise Lara’s valuable skills and experience.
Lara said:
“Diversity is very important for Lloyd’s and a key priority in our ambitious Vision 2025 strategy. This means that the corporation needs to find innovative ways to attract the best and brightest talent from all walks of life. Whilst both physical and technical adjustments are important, I feel the most important thing for an organisation is that the people are willing to be creative and flexible in the way a task is completed.”
For more information on Lloyd’s diversity and inclusion strategy, visit: http://www.lloyds.com/lloyds/corporate-responsibility/diversity.