Embracing diversity: thoughts from the XonRisk MD

The latest issue of the FA News magazine is out and our partner XonRisk has contributed an article in the issue. The article focusses on the need to embrace diversity in the financial services industry to better serve the needs of all South Africans.

Noxolo Dlamini is the XonRisk MD and a former winner of the Insurance Apprentice. So, this contribution in the February edition of the FA News magazine marks a good reunion as the Insurance Apprentice is brought to us by FA News.

In the story Nox highlights that the role of the advisor requires that the advisor understands the client’s needs. Given the slow pace of transformation some questions can be raised “around the extent of the advisory fraternity’s ability to perform this [advisory] role for all South Africans considering the vast differences of the country’s population.”

She continues: “It is indeed impossible to find a median in a society characterised by so many dissimilarities. A better solution is to embrace this diversity and ensure the inclusion of members from varied pockets of society to achieve inclusivity and representation.”

“We must ask ourselves if the current status quo allows us to fully and effectively service the needs of a country with all these differences if we do not reflect them within our organisations? All these characteristics introduce diversity of life experiences, views, and needs. Without embracing diversity, advisers are simply unable to relate to clients and struggle to service their [clients’] various needs. The lack of representation of these differences at decision-making levels of the sector poses a limitation to the ability to fully understand the needs of all these types of individuals; and in turn the capacity to advise them.” writes Nox.

The article does not only pose questions, it also offers useful solutions.

Nox highlights some of these solutions; the sector can introduce inclusive practices within its organisations, seek opportunities for collaboration with new entrants that encompass the array of differences the country faces, and openly tackle the topic of transformation. She adds that “embracing diversity begins internally. It means achieving a balance of individuals from different walks of life and fostering environments that welcome all these human capital expressions rather than doing it to simply tick boxes.”

Embracing diversity, writes Nox, allows for the expansion of “financial protection to a wider audience for a more financially resilient and economically successful society.”

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