Read: Taking the direct road to social mobility

Direct Line Group is one of the UK’s leading insurance firms, but the company is committed to doing a lot more than just providing insurance, as we report here.

Penny James, CEO of the Direct Line Group

Led by CEO Penny James, Direct Line has set out its vision to create a world where insurance is personal, inclusive and a force for good.

To do this it has renewed its purpose: to help people carry on with their lives, giving them peace of mind now and in the future. This purpose has become a focal point of its plans as a responsible business as it looks to increase its social impact and positively impacts the lives of its people and local communities.

It has already shown it understands that being a responsible business isn’t an add-on, but is fundamental to how it does business every single day, and has embedded its sustainability strategy, across both people and planet, at the heart of this.

It’s important to consider that planet and people are two sides of the same coin, and that’s why Direct Line’s commitment to responsible business spans across the ESG agenda. From its environmental focus on all buildings using electricity from renewable sources, and none of its waste goes to landfill - the bar it has set on preserving the planet is equally as strong on its people and community agenda too.

Direct Line’s philosophy of making insurance personal is something that is firstly clear from how it delivers on being a great place to work internally, its focus on diversity and inclusion, and having a positive impact on communities.

One of the key insights from Direct Line’s work is the level at which the company empowers its people. Indeed, many of the company’s initiatives and programmes are both founded and led by its people at all levels of the company; not just by managers or directors.

From its Diversity Network Alliance, to its Social Mobility Network Employee Network, to its establishment of employee-led Community and Social Committees, Direct Line’s employees are encouraged to make active decisions and steer the future of the company’s strategy. Direct Line supports its people to have a voice and take leadership. It is well known that a good company culture isn’t something that can be implemented or imposed, but something that has to be lived. It’s something that is hard to measure, but is best measured by engagement of employees. The indication of high employee engagement through the leadership they have in many decisions, and particularly through how the company supports local communities and the placement of their local priorities at the heart of Direct Line’s external engagement, is itself a sign of a strong and positive company culture.

The company has always had a strong track record on its commitment to diversity since its founding, but Direct Line has shown its determination to identify under-represented groups in financial services and insurance, and encourage them to pursue careers and progress in the company. It was one of the first businesses to sign the Government’s Women in Finance Charter, which sought to address the under-representation of women in financial services, and particularly in management positions.

While making these commitments are important, it’s outcomes that really matter. Direct Line is already ahead of the Hampton-Alexander target which requires FTSE 350 companies to have at least 33% women on their board by 2020. The company has met this, as its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer roles are held by women.

This same culture is reflected in how Direct Line engages externally with local communities, driven by the belief that people’s feelings about working for the company are linked to the company’s reputation in the community they live and work, and how the company interacts with and supports those communities.

Furthermore, Direct Line has sought to make insurance truly personal through building relationships with local communities, and never has this been more important than through the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a time when community groups and charities have been under financial and wider strain, Direct Line immediately coordinated a £3.5 million fund to help these groups through the crisis, and worked with local authorities to identify those it needed to support the most. Direct Line’s Community and Social Committees have empowered a more localised and employee-led approach that focuses on each community’s individual priorities and needs.

It has enabled Direct Line to tailor its support to all communities in a way that makes a greater difference, rather than taking one corporate and universal approach across all its sites.

Direct Line has built strong foundations in its track record of delivering for local communities, and through creating an authentically diverse and inclusive workplace internally.

The Social Mobility Pledge has worked with Direct Line to identify how the company can increase its external impact on communities around its sites across the UK, to boost social mobility in the communities where life outcomes are the lowest and where opportunity gaps are the widest.