Power of Pride

Tyler Murphy joined IAG more than 10 years ago, initially within the CGU Broker Business as an Assistant Underwriter for Rural Insurance. Today, he is Lead, Product and Regulatory Delivery within our Product, Pricing and Governance division supporting the end-to-end delivery of product change, regulatory updates and a range of other initiatives to support CGU’s customers. In addition, Tyler was the Australian Chair of the Pride Employee Network Group for the past four years and was an active member since its inception in 2015.

Employee Network Groups (ENGs) at IAG bring together groups of passionate people from across our organisation that create an inclusive environment for everyone. Our ENGs are communities of support and advocates for positive change.

After recently stepping down as Australian Chair, Tyler reflected on his experience and achievements as part of the Pride ENG.

Pride was IAG’s first ENG, launching in October 2015 with a buzz of glitter, celebration, and a commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion from the entire Group Leadership Team. It was created to champion inclusion, build belonging and create safety for all rainbow communities, whānau / families, and allies. In those early days it was common to be asked “why does this group exist?” or “nobody cares what you do in your personal life, why do we need to discuss this at work?”. These questions proved the necessity and importance of an ENG focussed on LGBTQ+ inclusion because, as well as providing our LGBTQ+ people and allies the opportunity to connect, we were able to educate others on the bias, both conscious and unconscious, and discrimination that can present in the workplace.

When I started at IAG over 10 years ago, I was a 19-year-old sweetheart still ‘in the closet’ to most people in my life, and even struggled identifying as gay to those who I was out to. By the time the Pride ENG launched in 2015, I was in the early days of my coming out journey, which I think many LGBTQ+ people can relate to – even though you come out, it is just the beginning of finding out who you really are.

I knew the moment the ENG launched I had to be involved. I was from a regional city, and I had never had a community of LGBTQ+ people that I belonged to. Until the launch of the Pride ENG I didn’t realise how desperate I was to belong.

The early years of our Pride ENG were about visibility and raising awareness of why LGBTQ+ inclusion matters in the workplace. We achieved this through internal events and collaborating with corporate partners on external events like CGU’s Move in May.

The tumultuous experience across Australia of the 2017 Marriage Equality debate highlighted the importance of our Pride ENG in harbouring a safe space from the vitriol that we saw in the public arena. Many LGBTQ+ people will attest to the anxiety inducing and deeply hurtful time this was. Having a workplace actively and visibly engaged in support for our community, and who held that space for us to connect with each other, was essential. The day Marriage Equality passed in November 2017, our people came together nationally. Together we shared that moment of tension followed by pure joy as we heard that ‘Yes’! Love had won and it was beautiful.

In 2018 I secured the role of Co-Chair for the Pride ENG. I was still a young whippersnapper in the eyes of many people, being now a 25-year-old sweetheart, so I was thrilled to be trusted with such an important leadership role. My Co-Chair and I worked to build on the strong foundations of the previous iterations of Co-Chairs to expand our Pride ENG to be a powerhouse within IAG. Our approach was to be a trusted source of expertise and understanding on LGBTQ+ inclusion so the business wanted to include us in all processes, procedures, conversations, and decisions for our community.

In my four years leading Pride, our ENGs – now nine amazing groups – have been an invaluable driver in shifting how IAG talks about diversity and engages in fostering an environment of inclusion and belonging. The ENGs have provided a gateway for our people to share their lived experiences with senior leaders including the good, the bad, the inconvenient, and what impacts their everyday.

I have seen the impacts of these stories, the light bulb moments for leaders which have evolved into a catalyst for positive change for our people.

These stories and opportunities have enabled initiatives such as the inclusion of Gender Affirmation Leave in our 2020 Enterprise Agreement, uplift across our people policies to explicitly include the support required by our LGBTQ+ communities, and many successful events where we have amplified the voices of our people.

I feel incredibly grateful that our community of LGBTQ+ people and allies at IAG have trusted me to lead this group and advocate for them.

Leading an ENG gave me an opportunity to grow and develop as a person and a leader, building confidence and unlocking a passion that enabled me to have open and honest conversations with leaders at all levels.

Being a Co-Chair has meant leading committee members, inspiring volunteers, strategising for Days of Significance, networking externally and influencing internally. My approach has been to motivate others to grow and challenge themselves, to only ask of others what I’d expect from myself, and to remember our ENG purpose – to make Rainbow people and whānau comfortable and safe. I see evidence of my legacy with the committee I leave behind, and the achievements we’ve been recognised for.

Stepping down I know this group is in a strong position to continue to create change and magic at IAG for LGBTQ+ inclusion, and I cherish that I am part of the ENG legacy which showed me that I, like all of us, have a place to belong.