Thoughts and IDEAs on Inclusivity with Michael Bach

RIMScast

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Justin Smulison interviews Aaron Lukoni about the RIMS Canada Conference 2024, from October 6th through 9th in Vancouver, B.C., and IDEA thought leader Michael Bach about Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility. Michael opens up on his perspective on anti-racism and inclusion, and how to slow down the swinging pendulum so good practices can take hold. He shares how organizations can start with a diversity committee, but eventually, it has to be a paid role to create change in the organization.

Listen in for thoughts on following the data instead of opinionated pushback.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:15] About this episode of RIMScast, coming to you from RIMS Headquarters in New York. Our topic is diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our guest is IDEA thought leader, Michael Bach.

[:37] First, let’s talk about RIMS Virtual Workshops. The full calendar of virtual workshops is at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops. On July 23rd and 24th, our good friend, Elise Farnham returns to teach Claims Management. August 15th kicks off the three-part series, Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management.

[1:01] Other dates for the Fall and Winter are available on the Virtual Workshops full calendar at RIMS.org/VirtualWorkshops.

[1:10] Let’s talk about prep courses for the RIMS-CRMP. RIMS will co-host the two-day RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep session on July 18th and 19th with Parima. RIMS will host its own RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep on July 30th and 31st and on August 7th and 8th, a RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep along with Utah Valley University.

[1:31] The next RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep course will be hosted along with George Mason University on December 3rd through 5th, 2024. Links to these courses can be found on the Certification Page of RIMS.org and in this episode’s show notes.

[1:47] Registration is open for the 48th Annual Florida RIMS Educational Conference. It will be held from July 30th through August 3rd, 2024 in Naples, Florida. The link is in this episode’s show notes. All RIMS Regional Conferences information can be found on the events page of RIMS.org.

[2:07] The DFW RIMS Annual Conference will be held on September 19th. Registration is open. Visit DFWRIMS.org.

[2:17] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register.

[2:29] The first of two guests today, Aaron Lukoni, is the Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management in British Columbia, and the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Aaron is making this cameo appearance on RIMScast to tell you what’s coming up for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024. This may be the best RIMS Canada Conference ever!

[3:01] Aaron Lukoni, welcome to RIMScast!

[3:32] Aaron Lukoni is a Manager of Risk Services for Emergency Management, British Columbia. She handles wildfires, floods, and national events. She is a professional problem-solver for the Province of British Columbia.

[3:52] By night, Aaron is the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. Eight years ago, she started on a subcommittee. She has a passion for volunteering. Aaron will be hosting the RIMS Canada Conference in Vancouver B.C. from October 6th through 9th, 2024.

[4:51] This RIMS Canada Conference will be great. It’s in stunning Vancouver! It will be a dynamic program filled with insightful presentations and interactive thought leadership sessions. There will be a huge exhibitor hall and amazing networking opportunities! There will be extra Plenary sessions with coverage of risk management critical topics.

[5:46] There will be expert speakers and a diverse lineup of educational sessions to allow attendees to dive deeper into their areas of interest. There will be something for everybody at the RIMS Canada Conference 2024!

[6:22] The keynotes are Kevin Vallely, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jon Montgomery, and Jay Kiew, our guest on RIMScast Episode 296 (Check it out!). The speakers will highlight emerging trends from technological advancements and regulatory changes to evolving best practices and leadership considerations, all to motivate and inspire you.

[9:04] Thank you, Aaron! We look forward to having you back on RIMScast. I’ve got a full interview with Aaron on the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 Registration Page. Check it out there!

[9:17] It’s RIMS plug time! Webinars! Servpro will make its RIMS Webinars debut on August 8th with Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies to Protect Your Organization. On August 27th, Riskonnect returns to discuss How To Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management. More webinars will be announced soon. Register at RIMS.org/Webinars.

[9:51] Webinar registration is complimentary for RIMS members!

[9:55] The RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be held on November 18th and 19th in Boston, Massachusetts. The agenda will be announced soon, as will a call for submissions for the ERM Award of Distinction. I’ll have that link up soon in an upcoming episode.

[10:14] Review your organization’s ERM program, and if you feel it was successful and you have the numbers and the data to back it up, compile that information and get ready to submit your ERM program for the ERM Award of Distinction.

[10:31] My next guest, Michael Bach, is a leader in Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility, or IDEA. He has advised thousands of clients, served as the National Leader of DE&I for KPMG Canada, and was Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG International. He was named one of the 10 Most Influential DE&I Leaders Revamping the Future by CIO Views Magazine.

[10:56] Michael was also honored as a Canadian Diversity Champion and Catalyst Canada Honors Human Resources and Diversity Leader. His best-selling books, Birds of All Feathers and Alphabet Soup, have received widespread acclaim. I am so excited to speak with him about all things IDEA and DE&I!

[11:19] Michael Bach, welcome to RIMScast!

[11:58] About Michael’s name and Bach jokes. There is no known family relationship between Michael Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach.

[12:50] Michael doesn’t look at the work of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility as a social justice agenda but as a means to solve problems. How can Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility be applied to solve the challenges an industry faces?

[13:12] Michael likes that the first letters of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility make the word IDEA.

[13:56] Michael was brought up to recognize his privilege as a “cisgender white man” walking through the world with a level of access that wasn’t experienced by a lot of people and that he had the responsibility to leverage that privilege to the benefit of others. He learned what that meant when he got into the corporate world and a variety of roles, and then his role at KPMG.

[15:05] Michael realized that the organization was having challenges with talent retention and engagement and that the way to improve those things was through a focus on IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility). Michael was head of Diversity for eight years. It was a new role at KPMG. He then became the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer for KPMG globally.

[16:11] After two years, Michael moved on to create The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and led that organization for 10 years.

[16:50] Some employers understand that this is not a social justice agenda or about doing the “right thing”; it’s good people management. It’s a smart way to run your business.

[17:16] Some organizations have done nothing about DE&I. Other organizations have dipped their toe in the water and backed away because of pushback from customers. You will always make some people unhappy. If your value statements mean anything to you, then a focus on IDEA should connect to those values and matter to you as an organization.

[19:04] Michael talks about the approach TD Bank took with the LGBTQ market. They wanted to own the “pink dollar.” They spent a fortune sponsoring Pride festivals across the country. While some customers pulled away, TD Bank won a large percentage of the LGBTQ community. TD Bank is near the top financially in the country.

[21:19] Michael does not think this is a worrisome time. He sees a natural progression of change. He brings up the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States. Canada has the Employment Equity Act of 1984. This isn’t a new conversation and these aren’t new problems that will go away quickly.

[21:49] Some organizations are backing away and Michael thinks they will regret it because they will have higher voluntary turnover rates, lower engagement scores, lower productivity rates, and higher rates of safety incidents. The data proves that if you’re not focused on the diversity of your people and good people management, they’re going to leave. Your costs will go up.

[22:39] The organizations that back away from IDEA are going to be at Michael’s doorstep in five to 10 years asking for his help. The organizations that haven’t taken their foot off the pedal will be crushing their competition. This work requires you to constantly have your foot on the gas pedal, or you will roll backward.

[24:05] How do organizations today compare to how they were in 2019? Michael talks about 2020 with George Floyd and thousands of bodies of Indigenous children found in unmarked graves at the sites of residential schools across Canada. Those were pivotal moments when, for the first time, people wanted to talk about anti-racism. Those moments drive change.

[24:56] Four years later, people are saying we don’t need anti-racism. Governments are banning DE&I offices. Within a week after George Floyd was killed, Michael’s phone at CCDI, where he was working, was lighting up with employers asking for help with anti-black racism. CCDI put out extensive training programs and policies. But the pendulum swings back.

[26:18] Michael’s goal is to keep the pendulum from swinging that far. We want it to swing slowly. That allows for the change to take hold. Right now, the pendulum has swung too far. Michael advises every employer to turn to the numbers before taking a step back from IDEA. Look at what the data tells you.

[27:10] A recent study posted on CNN found that 76% of Americans believe in LGBTQ+ equality. Look at that number when you decide if you should be supporting a Pride festival. Use data to prove points. Do not use opinion. We have more data now that answers the questions.

[28:54] Time for more RIMS Plugs! The Spencer Educational Foundation’s goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals; that is achieved in part by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the United States and Canada. The call for General Grant applications is open now through July 30th. General Grant Awardees are typically notified at the end of October.

[29:22] The link to the application criteria is in this episode’s show notes.

[29:28] On September 12th, 2024, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at the Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray will be our Honoree. Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services.

[29:53] Lilian will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, go back and listen to Episode 293!

[30:07] Let’s conclude our interview with Michael Bach!

[30:44] Diversity Committees are a great place for organizations to start in the IDEA world. You’re taking a group of people from across the organization and giving them the reins of change. Institutional knowledge is important for this effort because you know how things happen in your organization. You don’t have to be an expert in IDEA.

[31:41] Committees need to be formalized and span the entire organization. Committees are working bodies, they are not governing bodies. You need people on the committee who can do the work. You want to consider every aspect of diversity on the committee and have somebody from every department and every area branch.

[33:08] Make sure that you formalize the committee in such a way that they don’t get out of control. Give them rules to follow so they know where they can draw the lines. What are the roles on the committee? How do people get on the committee? How are people recognized for their participation on the committee? What is their authority level? To whom do they report?

[33:48] Some committees don’t have that kind of structure and they go off the rails and do things that the organization desperately tries to undo. This could be a sponsored event that doesn’t align with the strategy of the organization or education programs that HR doesn’t know about. You have to put lines around the committee so they know what is out of their scope.

[34:40] Connect the committee with all departments of the organization, such as HR, so the committee is working with them and not against them.

[35:09] Eventually, an organization outgrows a volunteer-run committee. Make sure there is turnover on the committee to avoid burnout. At some point, you will have to hire someone like Michael to do the work. Work is done for pay.

[36:35] Michael’s thoughts on Pride Month, 2024. There are so many speaking events in June, that every July 1st, Michael says he just has to “wash the gay off,” because it is at such a high level. He is seeing something he’s been hoping to see for some time: organizations that are recognizing they need to talk about the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community outside of June.

[37:51] It’s important to have designated months as visible symbols of inclusion to recognize communities, but people belong to their community all year, not just during one month. We need to be inclusive year-round. There is an extensive calendar of things that we could be celebrating so it doesn't become a thing where we change our logo for a month. Be broadly inclusive.

[39:24] Special thanks again to the IDEA man, Michael Bach, for joining us here on RIMScast! For more information, visit MichaelBach.com, Thank you again to Aaron Lukoni for joining us here on RIMScast!

[39:36] Be sure to register for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 at RIMSCanadaConference.ca. Interviews with more RIMS Canada Conference 2024 speakers are on the way.

[39:47] It’s Plug Time! The RIMS App is available to RIMS members exclusively. Go to the App Store and download the RIMS App with all sorts of RIMS resources and coverage. It’s different from the RIMS Events App. Everyone loves the RIMS App!

[40:18] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate! Contact [e-mail] for more information.

[41:01] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [e-mail] for more information.

[41:18] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today’s risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[41:34] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at [e-mail].

[41:54] Thank you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

RIMS Canada Conference 2024 — Oct. 6‒9 | Registration is open!

RISKWORLD 2025 will be in Chicago! May 4‒7

RIMS DEI Council

Spencer Educational Foundation — Grants Page — Apply Through July 30.

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RIMS-CRMP Virtual Workshops — Next Workshop with PARIMA July 18‒19, 2024!

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

Florida RIMS Annual Conference — July 30‒Aug. 3, 2024!

Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala 2024

Spencer Educational Foundation General Grants

MichaelBach.com

RIMS Webinars:

Hurricane Preparedness in 2024: Innovations and Strategies | Sponsored by ServPro | Aug. 8, 2024

How to Successfully Deploy AI in Risk Management | Sponsored by Riskonnect | Aug. 27, 2024

RIMS.org/Webinars

Upcoming Virtual Workshops:

Claims Management — July 23‒24

Leveraging Data and Analytics for Continuous Risk Management (Part I) 2024 — Aug 15

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops

Related RIMScast Episodes:

“Jay Kiew, RIMS Canada Conference Keynote 2024”

“DE&I Initiatives with Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray of Alliant Insurance Services”

“Equality and the Risk Profession with Elisa Stampf”

“Including Disability In DEI Efforts with Alycia Anderson”

“RIMS 2024 Rising Star Chelsea Andrusiak”

“Mental Health Awareness Month 2023”

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About our guests:

Aaron Lukoni, Risk Management Consultant, Ministry of Finance, British Columbia

Michael Bach, IDEA Thought Leader

Tweetables (Edited For Social Media Use):

I handle a lot of wildfires, floods, national events, and things like that. I am a professional problem-solver for the Province of British Columbia. By night, I am the National Conference Chair for the RIMS Canada Council. — Aaron Lukoni

Thought leadership is the backbone of the conference and with more keynotes, we have more opportunities to spotlight pioneering research, innovative strategies, and success stories. — Aaron Lukoni

I don’t look at Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility as a social justice agenda but as a means to solve problems. I look at the challenges in an industry and ask how Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility can play a role in addressing them. — Michael Bach

If your value statements mean anything to you, then a focus on IDEA should connect to those values and should matter to you as an organization. — Michael Bach

This is something I don’t share with people a lot, but I am gay almost every day of the year. I take the high holidays off, for obvious reasons. I’m going to be gay in October. I’m going to be gay in January. — Michael Bach