Claudia Cordioli, the new CFO
for Reinsurance EMEA

Open minds

Open minds are a minimum requirement for maintaining our competitive advantage. As a knowledge company, diverse views and opinions are one of the few reliable sources of our success. Our leaders recognise this and are working to make sure those views are brought forward.

Beginning in 2012 the Reinsurance team for Europe, Middle East & Africa (or EMEA, which accounts for a substantial share of both employees and premiums) was reorganising and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to bring out fresh views and new ideas. The goal was to to support the business strategy and to find diverse candidates, with different experiences and points of view. Our belief was that by explicitly encouraging diversity we could increase the quality of decision-making and spark creativity and innovation. In addition, hiring managers undertook training to identify and root out unconscious biases that might influence their recruitment decisions.

The result? A refreshed team with a far higher proportion of women in management roles, for one thing, and a culture which has become even more positive and productivity-driven. Talented people were treated to a powerful demonstration of why they should think big and be ambitious, chipping away at their own unconscious biases about the jobs they could and should apply for.

Claudia Cordioli is one of the members of the new management team. Previously Head of External Reporting in Group Accounting, she moved over to become EMEAʼs CFO. “I am proud to be part of a team that promotes such an open and inclusive culture,” Claudia said.

“The EMEA management team leads by example and rewards performance in a very fair and transparent way. This motivates the team and creates a passion to perform at all levels.”

Jean-Jacques Henchoz, CEO of Reinsurance EMEA, won the “Inspirational Leader of the Year” award at the 2013 European Diversity Awards for this work.

Mentor and mentee Daniel Jaeger and Valentina Donnarumma exchange ideas.

Connecting generations

Mentoring is par for the course at Swiss Re. As an innovator and knowledge company we rely heavily not only on diversity, but on expertise — the kind of expertise that can help us model earthquakes, project lifespans and invest to meet liabilities far into the future.

This sort of expertise is not acquired overnight. However it can be transferred by matching experienced staff with new joiners — in other words, through mentoring.

One of our mentors is Daniel Jaeger, a Managing Director and our Head of Enterprise Architecture. Daniel has been a mentor to Valentina Donnarumma for the last year. Valentina joined Swiss Re as an Analyst in our Group CFO Office after finishing her MA in 2012. “Mentoring helps me set and meet realistic goals within the organisation,” says Valentina. And what was in it for Daniel? “Mentoring goes both ways: helping a graduate find her way into the organisation gives me a completely different perspective on how my behaviour and the organisation could be improved,” says Daniel.

Mentoring is just one of the advantages we give our people to succeed — thereʼs also formal training, clear career paths and global opportunities. Open-minded candidates are encouraged to apply.

Browse open positions on swissre.com/careers