The Life at Zurich podcast: Recent Episodes
Keith Lewis
This episode of the Life at Zurich podcast features Marianne Cowie - who started her career as a Zurich graduate scheme member and is now Strategic Assistant to the UK's Chief Underwriting Officer. Marianne also chairs Zurich's Pride UK employee resource group. We talk about all those things, the story behind Pride, the role it plays in the business, how important it is to have leadership visibility, but also how they group helps influencer how we treat our customers too.
Andrea is one of over 100 Risk Engineers in Zurich's UK business. She specialises in mental health and workplace wellbeing - a massively important area that we've been looking into and supporting our customers for years. In the last 18 months, it's clearly come to the forefront of all our minds. We chat about how Andrea's Life at Zurich has always been as a 100% remote homeworker, how she balances her day job around her home and family life, as well as her expertise in wellbeing. She offers some hints and tips for spotting the signs of poor wellbeing in those we speak to regularly We also chat about Zurich's new Risk Adviser app which is free for any organisation to download and use to help you to make your risk management initiatives even more successful.
In this episode we talk to Ally Robertson - head of automation and continuous improvement. We talk all about how automation has embedded itself in Zurich, the culture of continuous improvement and Ally's https://youtu.be/v1RLCgS7IZE (recent TEDxTalk). We also talk about the global opportunities Ally has had during his last 14 years at Zurich. It's quite an impressive list of countries he's worked in.
We're joined on this first episode by a colleague who's had an interesting role to play during the last year or so. Sam Reason is our Head of Business Continuity, a role that came to the fore during 2020 and will do so even more going forward. But as well as his business role, Sam talks to us about his personal story - his background, culture and the way diversity and inclusion is being discussed at Zurich.
Today, we're joined by Tasmeen Peerbux who's one of Zurich UK's apprentices. She explains a little about her background, and how she came to her role at Zurich. She also talks about why the apprenticeship route could be a great career option for you!
Jo Williams from the UK People Experience Team is joined by Kristin Przymus to talk about LifeWorks' wellbeing and health coach offering - free for all Zurich UK employees. Kristen explains how they provide 1:1 confidential advice on the phone covering a range of health & wellness issues - weight management, sleep health, diabetes prevention (pre-diagnosis), stress management and smoking cessation. They also have an 'Ask the Coach' programme for short, ad hoc, one off sessions For more on Zurich's Lifeworks offering, or to book a call with a coach, head to the Lifeworks app, or visit the Lifeworks website at https://zurich.lifeworks.com/
Dr Keith Goddard joins host Caroline Caddick from the UK People Team and Mick Bowles from UK Claims to talk about a range of issues affecting us all as we start to move into a new phase of our post-Covid working. Some advice for all people manages and leaders throughout this episode. Grab a coffee, or head out for a walk and listen in. Do let us know what resonates most with you, or will resonate for you and your teams.
In this week's Leadership Insights podcast, David Rickman from the People team is joined by a new colleague who joins us later in this year to talk about the new company car scheme with Zenith. This conversation will reflect many of the thoughts, ideas and questions that you and your teams may have about it, so hearing David answering Helen's questions may help clarify the situation for you, and help you to answer any similar questions you may have from your teams.
Internal Use Only Kayleigh Linklater from the employee experience team, part the UK People Team, is joined by Steve Grimmett, head of the Zurich Community Trust, and workplace psychologist Keith Goddard to talk about the role that kindness plays in our wellbeing armoury. They discuss kindness to each other, our communities and for ourselves.
Internal use only Simon Connolly from the UK People Team, talks Careers in the Covid-19 context. Simon is joined by Keith Goddard, occupational psychologist and wellbeing expert, and Nina Atkinson - Global Talent Manager for Zurich, supporting global functions from Corporate Centre. They talk about where we find ourselves with COVID-19 and how that may affect people’s engagement with their careers.
For Internal use only Jo Williams from the UK People Team is joined by nutritional therapist and occupational psychologist, Aurea Fellows for today’s ‘Gut Feeling’ podcast. They will be discussing the power of food for fuelling great mental health and in particular taking a deeper look into the role good gut health plays in creating positive mental wellbeing.
Internal use only Simon Connolly from the UK People Team, talks Careers and Career Conversations. Simon is joined by Keith Goddard, Occupational Psychologist and Nina Atkinson, Zurich's global Talent and Succession Planning Manager. They talk about how to have good careers conversations, adapting skillsets and developing new approaches to your own career.
For Internal use only Do you ever find yourself struggling with Monday motivation? In our ‘Monday Minds’ session, we talk about the importance of ‘Locus of Control’ – a concept which puts you in the driving seat. Learn how to prepare your mind and develop important disciplines around creating ‘positivity and control’ as opposed to ‘negativity and reaction’. Join Kate Horwood, an expert lifestyle and wellbeing coach and Carmen Coombs, People Experience Manager, UK People Team to explore some top tips and ideas to help you feel greater control.
For Internal use only Join Kate Horwood, an expert lifestyle and wellbeing coach, Amy Brettell, Head of Customer, UK Claims and Carmen Coombs, People Experience Manager, UK People Team to explore different ways to bring control, without impacting others. Do you ever find yourself preparing for Monday on a Sunday, or on an evening before “the big day”? In our ‘Monday Minds’ session, we talk about the importance of ‘Locus of Control’ – a concept which puts you in the driving seat. Learn how to prepare your mind and develop important disciplines around creating ‘positivity and control’ as opposed to ‘negativity and reaction’. And also to think about how your approach to organisation and control can sometimes impact those around you.
For Internal use only Caroline Caddick from the UK People team is joined by Keith Goddard, a workplace psychologist and Jospeh White, chair of the Zurich UK Homeworkers Council to discuss how to best to support your teams as well as yourself .