Beazley is a specialist insurance business with operations in Europe, the US, and Asia.
They have more than 1,500 employees and three decades of experience providing clients worldwide with underwriting and claims services.
Challenges
Although Beazley had adopted an agile approach to work over a four-year period, they recognised that the world of work needed to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. They wanted to provide employees with the flexibility to work most effectively. The challenge was to communicate and implement this clearly through a pandemic.
Innovative actions
Beazley made it clear to employees that, regardless of the pandemic and associated changes, the office would no longer be considered the principal place of work. Based on work activity, people were given greater choice around where and how they could work. Supporting this approach included:
- Developing guidance and training;
- Refurbishing the office space;
- Providing employees with the technology and tools to work anywhere; and
- Introducing a remote working allowance along with a payment to cover home equipment costs.
Evidence of impact
The main benefit derived from this change has been a 16% increase in engagement scores over 12 months.
Beazley received qualitative positive feedback from staff on the changes and are confident that offering a more flexible approach will also attract a more diverse workforce in the future which will bring a wealth of benefits.
The information contained within this resource was accurate at the time of its publication and subsequent revision. This article was created in 2021 and revised in April 2022.
