Making Diversity & Inclusion part of the DNA in insurance

From a young age, Raj Nanra was encouraged to appreciate the diversity of Australian society.

His parents, who arrived from India in 1967 and settled in Melbourne, were one of the first Punjabi Sikh families in the community. Nanra says they always encouraged him and his sister to mix with whoever they chose.

Open-minded approach

“My father taught us not to worry what a person looked like, where they came from or what their religion was, as long as we could have a conversation,” Nanra shares.

“He taught us to put ourselves out there, which was a bit risky, but it meant that we never felt that we didn’t belong. We were a part of the community.”

Growing up in Australia, that open-minded approach stood Nanra in good stead. “Staying within your comfort zone, among your own people can inadvertently create barriers,” he says.

While working in Asia for 20 years, Nanra was keen to pass the philosophy on.

“I always told people that Australia is truly a multi-cultural society. To ensure you get the best from visiting, immerse yourself in a variety of experiences, from where you go, to who you mix with, and the food you try.”

He also imbued his kids with a sense of pride in their identity. “Having lived in both Asia and Australia as youngsters, they’d come home asking who they were,” he shares.

“I told them we have an Indian heritage and it’s important not to forget that. But we are also Australians.”

A fascination with insurance

Having worked in the insurance industry for 35 years, Nanra is currently Chief Executive Officer of underwriting agency SLE Holdings.

“I was the first one in my family to be something other than an engineer, doctor or lawyer,” he says.

"My parents were both doctors and my sister is a doctor, but I had no interest in Medicine. I wanted to do something different. I ignored all the family norms and went into commerce.”

After he finished his accounting degree at Newcastle University, Nanra’s initial plan was to raise enough funds to travel overseas. However, he quickly became intrigued by the insurance industry.

“One of my clients gave me some contracting work at CE Health which became HIH Insurance, and I discovered how nuanced insurance is,” he tells. “It’s a learning journey I’ve been on ever since.”

Nanra worked at HIH Insurance for eleven years, including in China, Singapore and Malaysia. In 2003, he took a regional insurance advisor role with the Zuellig Group in Singapore, before joining Ace Insurance as it’s Asia Pacific Regional Audit Director.

In 2007, Nanra moved to Malaysia as the company’s CEO and managing director and later, following the acquisition of Jerneh, its EVP.

He also held senior roles at Zurich Asia Pacific for many years, culminating in his appointment as CEO, General Insurance, in Sydney.

Four years later, in 2018, he took on the CEO role at IQumulate Premium Funding and joined SLE Worldwide Australia as CEO in January, 2022.

Building a people business

Nanra adds that everything he’s done in his career is about people. “You have to get the people part right first," he says.

"Technology, products, and distribution are always going to be there. The true foundation of any success in business is the people aspect of its strategy.”

To that end, and bringing learnings from his previous “great bosses”, Nanra is building SLE to be a people business by making sure staff, broker partners and clients all come along with him for the journey.

“As a leader, there's no use getting to the top of a hill when collectively, your people are still at the bottom,” he says.

“You can be efficient and cost-effective, use all the fancy words we have today, but if you haven’t brought everyone with you, none of it will work the way you hoped.”

Focusing on behaviours

Nanra says his big focus is therefore behaviours, and how people interact, talk to, and respect each other.

He says successfully listening, making decisions in a timely manner and communicating are the career achievements he is most proud of to date.

“I'm excited about the way our approach has created a high level of staff engagement, which has spilled over outside the business to its brokers and clients,” he enthuses.

“Often, leaders don't listen, they talk. When I joined SLE, I sat down with every single staff member one on one and said, ‘Talk to me. Tell me what's on your mind. What are you feeling, what's not working?’ 

“As a result, we've created a workplace where you can focus less on titles and more on teamwork. We have set up monthly newsletters to communicate internally to staff who can then be consistently well informed externally.”

Nanra explains that everyone sits and listens to what others have to say.

“I like to debate with people and challenge a bit but then, always make quick decisions. So once there is a topic of concern, we'll get the feedback and make sure things get moving. This helps people feel listened to, that there’s been a conversation, and that allows them to continue moving forward.”

Solid grounding in diversity

Nanra says his work in Asia and Australia has given him a solid grounding in diversity in the industry.

He is confident the industry is already naturally very diverse when it comes to age and ethnicity, and improving all the time in relation to gender equality.

However, one of his most pivotal learnings is that it doesn’t work for an organisation to mandate D&I policies.

He says it’s important that that companies, their leaders and people embrace the concept of diversity and inclusion because it’s good for the business, not because there’s a number to hit.

“We don’t want to lose sight of what we’re actually trying to achieve, which is acceptance of all people regardless of gender, race, religion, disability, age or sexual preference,” he says.

On the right path

Nanra believes the industry is on the right path to building diversity and inclusion where it is needed. “When I look around while seeing brokers and clients, or when I go to insurance events, I see a good mix of people,” he says.

“In addition, other leaders I talk to are all very much aware that ultimately, the priority is to employ the right people, with the right skill sets to ensure those individuals and the business have the best chance of succeeding.

"We also need to make sure that when we give a brief, whether it's to an external recruiter or internal, there's no preconceived ideas about the type of person to select.”

“Companies need to lead from the top and it must come from the heart. I really love that when there's a challenge, the insurance industry forgets its competitors and rises to the occasion.”

As the moderator for the 2023 ANZIIF Diversity and Inclusion Seminar on 29 June, Nanra is excited about how the conversation will go.

“What are the challenges in our industry and where does D&I sit? Hopefully it sits quite high, because obviously, if you have too many issues to look at, you could lose focus. That said, there could be some natural best practices that could be exported across the whole industry,” he says.

“At the seminar, I'm also hoping to get a consensus that you don't need to be a large organisation to tackle diversity. Regardless of the size of your business or the number of staff you've got, we can all make our contribution not just in our businesses but within our communities.”

Last chance to register for the Diversity and Inclusion Seminar