Spotlight

Panel 

• • Annabella Bassler, CFO Ringier & Initiator EqualVoice
  • Lydia Welzel, Head of Partner Business Development Helvetia Switzerland
  • Esther Roman, CHRO & Executive Commitee member Helvetia Baloise Group

How the Insurance Industry is Rediscovering its Female Talent

At the “EqualVoice United Community Event” held at the Helvetia Baloise headquarters in Basel, executives gathered to debate one of the financial world’s most pressing issues: why is the “glass ceiling” in the insurance industry still so thick?

There is a palpable sense of renewal within the modern offices of Helvetia Baloise. The merger of Helvetia and Baloise in Switzerland is more than just a technical integration; it represents the union of two giants in the Swiss insurance market – a merger that is redrawing the industry landscape.

Local leadership describes this transformation as a “Greenfield Opportunity” – the chance to start from scratch and, more importantly, to do things better. At the EqualVoice United event, the newly formed company offered insights into its future strategy regarding diversity, inclusion, and the advancement of women.

Visibility as a Strategic Necessity

The session opened with a passionate plea for cultural change from Annabella Bassler, CFO of Ringier and initiator of the EqualVoice initiative. She emphasized that visibility is not a “nice-to-have” but a strategic necessity. “What you don’t see, you can’t be. Visibility determines who is perceived as credible and relevant,” Bassler stated.

She confronted the audience with sobering statistics: 82% of media coverage still revolves around men. Furthermore, in the operational management of the 100 largest Swiss companies, the vast majority of positions are still held by men.

To drive this cultural shift, Bassler introduced the “EqualVoice Factor” at Ringier and other media houses to expose representation imbalances. Now available to companies outside the media sector is the “EqualVoice Assistant,” an AI tool that checks texts for gender stereotypes. It can be used for press releases, social media posts, job advertisements, and editorial articles.

However, Bassler noted that technology alone is not enough. Modern leadership requires a combination of “Power and Love” – the clarity of facts paired with the ability to give a voice to the quieter people in the room.

Addressing the “Leaky Pipeline”

Esther Roman, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Helvetia Baloise, did not shy away from the fact that the insurance industry often lags behind in female promotion. She spoke candidly about “leakage points” – the specific rungs on the career ladder where women drop out of the system in large numbers. “The first promotion step is the most critical point. This is where we lose potential before it even reaches upper management,” Roman explained.

Particularly insightful was Roman’s transparency regarding the merger. Despite all efforts, the company lost approximately 2% of women in leadership positions during the nomination process for the new organization. She refused to sweep this setback under the rug: “In a world where we prioritized speed over perfection, we learned that if you don’t explicitly build diversity into core processes, it falls through the cracks.”

Christine Bourson, Head of Leadership and Talent, outlined how Helvetia Baloise is putting these lessons into practice. She highlighted several levers to refill the pipeline:

• The “BRIDGE” Program: A three-month assignment in different markets or units to build cross-border networks.
• Sponsorship over Mentoring: While mentors advise, sponsors actively open doors. A pilot project with 35 applicants has already shown early success in increasing the participants’ visibility.

Insights from the Panel: The Courage to be Imperfect

The event concluded with a personal panel discussion featuring Lydia Welzel (Head of Partner Business Development), Esther Roman, and Annabella Bassler, moderated by Manuela Bärtsch Forster (Head of People Attraction & Diversity). The consensus was clear: careers rarely happen by accident; they happen because people see more in you than you might see in yourself.

Lydia Welzel described her journey as a series of moments where she followed leaders who placed their trust in her. Esther Roman compared this trust to “Red Bull”- it gives you wings. Annabella Bassler advised the talents in the room: “Go the extra mile, but then claim the stage for yourself!”

Roman also shared a practical tip for daily business: the “10-second equality check.” Before making any major decision, pause and ask: Who is affected? Are underrepresented groups being disadvantaged?

The Basel event made it clear: the time for excuses is over. Talent pipelines aren’t built with glossy brochures; they are built through measurable targets that – as planned at Helvetia Baloise – extend into the bonus systems of the C-suite.

As guests headed to the art tour in the Art Foyer and the concluding reception, one core message remained: it is not about women adapting to an outdated, rigid leadership model. It is about changing the model to make leadership more human, inclusive, and future-proof.

As Esther Roman put it: “Talent pipelines are built by people who make conscious decisions every single day.”

Source: Stefan Mair