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[00:00:07] Daniel Wood: 
Hello and welcome to Insurance Business TV. I'm Danny Wood, News Editor of Insurance Business. We're going to take a look at IB's top insurance employers in Asia for 2025. This is an annual ranking based on metrics including benefits, culture, employee development and commitment to diversity and inclusion. AXA XL is among the leaders. Sylvie Gleises is their CEO for Asia. She's in Singapore. Congratulations, Sylvie. 

[00:00:33] Sylvie Gleises: 
Thank you very much, Danny. It's a pleasure to meet you. 

[00:00:36] Daniel Wood: 
Yep, nice to meet you too. Firstly, can you give us a little background on your firm, which is a division of the global insurer and reinsurer AXA, isn't it? 

[00:00:45] Sylvie Gleises: 
Absolutely. So AXA, as most of you know, is a global leading insurance and reinsurance company. Headquarters in France and AXA XL is the division of AXA that takes care of large corporate risks. And I'm based in Singapore and I'm the CEO for Asia. 

[00:01:01] Daniel Wood: 
And let's look at some of the reasons why you're in our ranking. What's your firm's rationale behind investing in its staff? 

[00:01:09] Sylvie Gleises: 
You know, as an insurance company, our people are our key assets. We don't have factories, we don't have plants, we don't have retail shops. We're a service company. We're dealing with very complex risks and clients who have, you know, very high needs and complex risks and are facing, you know, a very turbulent world. So I think, you know, by investing in attracting, developing and retaining talents across the region and across the world in general, it's actually a part of our culture and the value proposition that we offer. I'm very pleased to say that we have specifically focused on HR topics in the recent years about engagement, diversity and inclusion, training and international and internal mobility. So those are really the key topics for me, because if we have the right team, not only in terms of technical skills, but also in terms of values and mindset, this is how we can be successful in a world that is facing so many transformations. 

[00:02:09] Daniel Wood: 
You mentioned those HR topics and career development is one of your focus areas. How exactly do you go about that? 

[00:02:17] Sylvie Gleises: 
So we have very comprehensive trainings, I would say. So that's the first point. So if I give you a few examples, we have a very strong and successful mentoring program. So we try to connect employees within a back region with more experienced colleagues. So they can learn about real world experience, they can gain knowledge, they can gain skills that they would naturally not be able to acquire through classroom training. So I think that's very important to have this connection between experienced and less experienced people. I think as well, we have a very successful high potential program. So we identify year on year high potential colleagues and we really want to sharpen the skill set. So we put them in those very high demanding, you know, trainings so that they can acquire broader and more complex, you know, skills that will train them for their future roles. Another example is the management development program. So it's really focused on managers and leadership skills, strategic thinking. That is for current managers or those aiming at becoming managers one day. And on top of that, for every employee, we have what we call the AXA Week for Growth, which is a two-week annual campaign to deepen knowledge and broaden perspectives. So it's really for everyone to find something in terms of soft or technical skills. And we also have a monthly learning o'clock, which is a learning culture. And everyone is encouraged to save one hour in their agenda to train themselves. So self-training really on a topic that is of interest. And of course, for every employee, we also have LinkedIn Learning that offers a very wide range of topics to learn out their own space. So I think it's absolutely key for me to have proposition where everyone can find a good mix between soft and hard skills to really push people to broaden their experience and not consider that you, you know, you reach a certain level and that's it. How do we equip the people in AXA XL to face all the situations that they can face in their daily life? 

[00:04:24] Daniel Wood: 
Mental health is a hot-button issue right now in the workplace. What are you doing there? 

[00:04:31] Sylvie Gleises: 
Oh, you're absolutely right. And I think mental health is definitely not an Asian topic. It's a worldwide topic. It's a topic that probably has always existed, but it's until very recently that we're able to talk about it and that employers have taken it as one of their responsibilities in terms of ensuring that their staff is finding a safe space and some answers. So I think the first example I would like to give is the back to work coaching support that we propose for returning primary parents after maternity or paternity leave and employees coming back from long medical leave. So once you are out of the working environment for such a long time, you know, you need to get some support. So I think that's very important so that the transition is seamless. Another very important program that was set up, especially during the COVID time, was the Employee Assistance Program that offers confidential professional counselling and support for all the employees and their families as well, by phone, whenever they need it. So again, it has been very popular during COVID, but now still it is something that employees appreciate. The other topic that is very close to my heart is domestic violence support. So we have a program for that, and that includes a toolkit for managers and employees. It's a topic that is on the rise, unfortunately. We need to provide not only a safe space, but also financial support during times of need. And beyond, you know, mental health, there is also the physical health. So we have something we call Healthy You Days. It's a program to promote a healthier workplace. We have classes, you know, virtual exercise classes. We have well-being and mindfulness webinars. We have health talks. We have workshops. We have onsite massage with blind people. And we also have a Wind Down Friday to encourage everyone to unwind and engage in relaxing activities at the end of the week. Stop answering your email, stop doing Teams and Zoom calls, just focus on yourself. So I think, you know, time where mental health is becoming a critical issue, as an employer, we have our share of responsibility to provide, you know, this space and those means to our employees because then they are more engaged, they are more loyal, they are more productive. So I think it's a win-win situation and that's our responsibility as a very large employer to be able to have those means at the disposal of our teams. 

[00:07:02] Daniel Wood: 
These values that your company tries to nurture seem to resonate with your employees, but how exactly do you see your role as a leader here? 

[00:07:12] Sylvie Gleises: 
As a leader, to be honest, I have to be a role model. I think as a CEO, you know, everyone looks at you. So of course, I have a very demanding schedule. I travel a lot, I work hard, but I also try to prove that we can have a family, we can have moments for ourselves. It's me who needs to set the tone. So I really want to create, you know, safe space. My door is always open. I'm very open about my own experience of facing mental health issues, facing personal problems. And I think by showing my vulnerability, which is probably my greatest strength, it encourages also people to see me not as a CEO, but of, you know, as someone who's a human being. And I think that is also a very good example that you should not always be okay. And it's okay not to be okay. At least at AXA XL, that's the culture I want to promote. I want people to come as they are. And I want them to know that no matter the hierarchy, you know, from the CEO to a lower level of the organization, there is a space, there is a safe space for you to voice when it's tough. And that's fine, because if you can voice it, you know, you solve part of the problem. And again, you know, attracting, developing and retaining talent. It's a constant challenge. I am very pleased to say that we have a low turnover compared to the rest of the market and that our people are engaged. And I think this award is probably the best testimony. 

[00:08:40] Daniel Wood: 
What about your record on inclusion and diversity? Can you take us through how you try to compose your teams and also the training you do to support that? 

[00:08:49] Sylvie Gleises: 
Absolutely. Well, inclusion and diversity. Let me talk very selfishly about myself first. So I've been 19 years with AXA. I've had eight different jobs over those 19 years. I was based in France before I moved to Singapore four years ago. My mom is Vietnamese and my father is French and I have no insurance background. So that's the first proof that, you know, AXA is pretty open when it comes to diverse backgrounds. More seriously, when I look at the population we have and the colleagues we have in Singapore, I'm very proud to say that we have 16 nationalities, two-thirds are women and one-third are men. Diversity and inclusion, we measure it, so we have an annual inclusion survey to understand how included our people feel. We support this with an inclusion and diversity committee and regular IND training to raise awareness and foster inclusion across the organization. But for me, inclusion and diversity is not only what we do as an employer for the colleagues, it's also how we give back to society and how we ensure we play our share in helping Singapore becoming even more inclusive. So we do support organizations. I just want to give you one example. We are very active in supporting United Women Singapore, who promote the empowerment of young ladies in STEM. We also participate in various diversity summits. So, for example, in my case, I'm a very strong supporter of break the ceiling, touch the sky to advance inclusion and opportunities for all. So it's a mix of making sure that your own workplace is inclusive and diverse and also as an employer, how we shape, help and to shape inclusion and diversity in Singapore. 

[00:10:33] Daniel Wood: 
Your policies also talk about a collaboration culture. What is that exactly? 

[00:10:39] Sylvie Gleises: 
The collaboration culture is very important because at AXA we are an insurance company and we have a lot of technical peoples. So sometimes the tendency is to be focused on your own field of expertise, your own P&L, your own business area. So I really want to encourage breaking the silos. I truly believe in the strength of collective intelligence. We need to be more client focused. We shall not push our own product. We shall understand what the client thinks and what the client needs and build solutions around it. So I think pushing people out of their comfort zone to try to, you know, brainstorm collectively, I think this is how we will make insurance more relevant in front of the challenges that our clients face. 

[00:11:22] Daniel Wood: 
Sylvie, congratulations again, and thanks for joining us. 

[00:11:26] Sylvie Gleises: 
Thank you very much. 

[00:11:28] Daniel Wood: 
Thanks for watching Insurance Business TV. Bye for now.