Securian Financial is building a diverse and inclusive culture from the inside out. This means creating a welcoming and empowering environment where every voice is valued and heard, and its 6,500 employees and representatives feel confident bringing their full selves to work. Proactively creating an effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programme that is sustainable and transparent helps Securian Financial be a better company.
Trust, strength, integrity, quality, respect and community are more than just words for Securian Financial: these are the shared values that are the fabric of its culture, defining it as an organisation and how it does business every day to deliver on its purpose: helping customers build secure tomorrows.
Looking through a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) lens helps the organisation assess its hiring practices, vendor sourcing and community giving to make these processes more equitable. Ultimately, long-term priorities around DEI helps to embed diversity and inclusion into the DNA of the organisation.
Defining diversity, equity and inclusion and why is it important to Securian Financial
- Diversity
Diversity is the range of human differences including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin and political beliefs.
- Equity
Equity is access, opportunity and being intentional about all business practices and how they further or hinder movement toward fair and just participation for all.
- Inclusion
Inclusion is about bringing our differences together and harnessing them in a constructive and meaningful way.
Building a diverse, inclusive culture
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council leads Securian Financial’s efforts to understand, encourage and support the work to attract, develop and retain talent; foster an inclusive culture; meet customers’ and channel partners' needs; and increase community impact.
The Council is led by co-chairs CEO Chris Hilger and Chief Diversity Officer Dexter Davis. It is a cross-functional group and includes members who represent diverse communities within the company.
“I count on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council to challenge us to constantly do better. Our members have been invaluable as we established our DEI programs, and they’ve been trusted advisors as we set our course to create an inclusive environment where all employees feel confident to bring their authentic selves to work.”
Dexter Davis, 2nd VP, Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer
Workforce development
A more diverse workforce helps to continue building DEI into the organisation’s DNA. To achieve this, Securian Financial focuses on recruitment, development and retention of its employees – measuring progress as it goes.
Recruiting and hiring
A number of key actions are ongoing in Securian Financial’s recruitment efforts. These include a focus on college recruiting within underrepresented populations by deepening the engagement with multicultural student groups; and participating in professional organisations and events targeted to people of colour, veterans and women in technology.
It has also implemented tools to reduce bias in the hiring process, including: Competency-based interview guides that help the talent management team and hiring managers focus on job candidates’ skills and behaviours; and unconscious bias micro-learnings that hiring managers review prior to the interview process to help mitigate bias.
Development
Extensive resources and learning and development programmes help Securian Financial employees build skills and enhance their lives, at work and outside of it. This includes a new mentorship program focused on helping people of colour and women advance in their careers.
Retention
Retaining employees is just as important as recruiting them. Securian Financial has six Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that support underrepresented employees and help create a more aware, respectful and inclusive workplace (see below).
“A diverse workplace enables meaningful collaboration, insightful decisions and personal growth for employees. Securian Financial will continue building a culture where all employees feel welcomed and empowered to make a difference for our customers, communities and each other”.
Chris Hilger, Chairman, President and CEO
Published November 2021
Employee Resource Groups
Securian Financial’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play a pivotal role in helping employees feel connected and supported through tailored programming. These voluntary, employee-led groups provide a space to connect, develop and learn from each other. ERGs promote collaboration among employees with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, and are open to all employees.
ERGs are integral to Securian Financial's diversity and inclusion initiatives. Each group has executive sponsors, dedicated talent management recruiters, and direct support of the Diversity and Inclusion Office and the Securian Financial Diversity Council.
In addition to these ERGs, there are also many other affinity groups supported at Securian Financial that allow employees to pursue professional and personal interests and build cross-divisional relationships.
The six ERGs are:
- Mental Wellness and Disability
Dedicated to normalising conversations around mental wellness and disability in the workplace. The group provides education and awareness to support a more inclusive culture and create an environment that can accommodate the broader needs of employees, customers and channel partners.
- Pride
Develops a community for LGBTQ+ employees and allies, offers education for all employees and supports the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-Saint Paul) LGBTQ+ community. Proud Parents is a sub-group of Pride that builds connections, provides support and answers questions for those who have LGBTQ+ people in their families.
- Securian Multicultural Network
Multicultural employees and allies explore educational opportunities and build relationships and peer support to enhance their careers and personal lives.
- Securian Women and Allies Network
Committed to increasing gender equality and diversity by fostering an environment that supports, educates and empowers all women at Securian Financial and in the broader community to achieve their highest aspirations.
- Securian Young Professionals Network
Provides opportunities for early- to mid-career professionals to develop socially, professionally and civically.
Learn more about the Securian Young Professionals Network and other internal professional networks in the ICMIF report The next generation of mutual talent
- Servicemember Resource Group
Veterans, current service members and military supporters build relationships and enhance veteran recruitment, morale and retention within the military community at Securian Financial.
Education and conversation
Securian Financial invests resources to educate its employees on a range of topics, uplift diverse perspectives and discuss important issues. Employee education has a five-point focus on: awareness, equity, inclusion, allyship and cultural competence.
Since 2017, when CEO Chris Hilger joined CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, Securian Financial has been educating employees on unconscious bias to form a foundation of understanding. This ongoing training series helps employees recognise biases that commonly affect — and can be harmful to — daily decisions.
This has been built on with several initiatives:
- Ongoing encouragement helps managers have conversations with their teams about race, gender and social justice.
- Listening sessions after impactful events bring employees together to talk, listen and learn.
- DEI discussions and presentations offer ongoing learning opportunities.
- Book discussion circles build comfort and perspective in talking about DEI topics.
Other elements of Securian Financial’s DEI programme
Supplier diversity
As local communities diversify, Securian Financial’s supplier and vendor base should too, so it actively purchase goods and services from diverse businesses. It's one way that it can help other businesses pursue their own secure tomorrows.
Securian Financial defines diverse suppliers as minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, LGBTQ+-owned businesses and disabled-owned businesses.
By working with these businesses, the company can help them fulfill their purposes and empower their own employees while meeting its own business needs.
Community
Through the Securian Financial Foundation and programmes that engage its employees in volunteerism, Securian Financial takes an active role in strengthening local communities.
Closing gaps in the educational system is critical to building an equitable playing field for the future. The organisation refined its giving programs to directly support underrepresented members of local communities.
- Focusing on equity in education, giving special attention to closing the achievement gap that holds back disadvantaged populations in communities.
- Building on investments to put computer devices, broadband and other educational support tools in the hands of students who are most in need.
- A major financial commitment will fund community-based learning initiatives in neighbourhoods of Minneapolis and St. Paul that need them the most.
About Securian Financial
As a business built on a set of strong core values, Securian Financial is guided by its purpose: helping customers build secure tomorrows. Since 1880, it has been building a uniquely diversified company that has outlasted economic ups and downs while staying true to its customers. Committed to the markets it serves, Securian Financial provides insurance, investment and retirement solutions that give families the confidence to focus on what’s truly valuable: banking memories with those who matter most.
As the 9th largest life insurance company in the USA (based on total 2020 life insurance business in force of USD 1.4 trillion) and number 421 on the Fortune 500 (based on 2020 GAAP revenue of USD 6.9 billion), Securian Financial holds USD 97.8 billion in assets under management and services more than 21 million customers across North America.
