ALLIANZ
AUSTRALIA REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM
Conflicts in Syria and Iraq have represented one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time. The NSW government made a significant commitment to supporting Australia’s refugee intake and in 2015 when they called for support from corporates, Allianz was one of the first to respond. Allianz engaged with the NSW Government and Settlement Services International to understand the problem and design a solution: the Allianz Sustainable Employment Program (SEP).
The commitment from Allianz was both socially and commercially motivated. Allianz is proud to provide opportunities to those with the misfortune of being dislocated from their homeland. At the same time, the SEP is just one example of a comprehensive and long-term business strategy designed to leverage commercial value from diverse talent. This is articulated in its Future Workforce Strategy (FWS) which is endorsed by senior executives and regularly reported on to the Board.
In order to meet both Allianz’s social and commercial drivers, when designing Allianz’s response to the refugee challenge the initiative needed to be more than recruitment of refugees into entry-level work where cultural diversity is already strong. The vision of the program was to identify, nurture and develop talent to become senior leaders of the future.
And so in 2016, Allianz and SSI began a two year pilot program to provide permanent employment to refugees.
In the first 12 months of their employment, Allianz provides:
‘Host team’ training, that tackles refugee myths and misconceptions and helps the team plan for their new colleague
Professional English communication classes with the University of New South Wales
‘Hyper care’ for the first two weeks, as part of a highly structured onboarding plan that considers networks, team culture and insurance technical knowledge
A network of defined roles around the refugee, to provide a community of support
It has been a learning curve but this is now an established ongoing program that will be expanded to other states. Allianz’s commitment to refugee settlement has also expanded, now including educational scholarships and pre-employment pathways for young refugees.