Staffing & Culture | 11.13.24
2024 BISA DE&I Awardee Symetra’s Blueprint for DE&I Success in Financial Services
by: Dayna Cerrone
Symetra, a distinguished recipient of the BISA 2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Award, exemplifies leadership in advancing DE&I within the financial services industry. This recognition celebrates organizations demonstrating exceptional dedication, innovation and tangible results in promoting diversity. In this interview, Symetra Bank and Wirehouse Channel Vice President Dayna Cerrone shares insights into the strategic importance of DE&I for the organization, the positive impact on their culture and operations and senior management's pivotal role in sustaining these initiatives.
What does receiving the BISA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Award mean to your organization?
Symetra was honored to receive this recognition from BISA. As a longtime member firm, we have proudly supported BISA’s efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the financial services industry. To receive an award that recognizes firms that “demonstrate outstanding leadership, innovation and results in diversity management” is a humbling and gratifying affirmation of our ongoing work.
How does your organization view the strategic importance of DE&I?
Inclusion is one of the six pillars of our Symetra Empowers strategic framework. We are committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion — for our people, our customers, our partners and our communities — and to being clear and intentional about that commitment.
Our vision — “Creating a world where more people have access to financial freedom” — is grounded in our DE&I values and informs the work we do. Whether through our own products or through outreach and education, we hope to empower our customers and other consumers to access the financial tools and services that can help create a more secure future for themselves and their families.
Can you share an example of how your DE&I efforts have positively impacted your organization?
We have been really proud of the work our business divisions and teams have been doing to advance DE&I. We’re building on the success of those division-based DE&I efforts with new, company-wide DE&I action teams — four cross-functional groups that are aligned with a focus area to support furthering an environment and culture where all employees have a sense of belonging. Each team is made up of employees from all levels, aligned subject matter experts, one leader and one executive sponsor. The initial teams are focusing on DE&I capacity building, diversifying the talent pipeline, centering employees’ needs and voice and inclusive leadership and accountability.
As we look ahead to 2025, Symetra Retirement Sales & Distribution will continue to lean into critical programs and partnerships, including BISA and our participation on the BISA DE&I Committee and annual Women's Networking event sponsorship; the Association for Wholesaling Diversity (AWD); and our own Symetra Women’s Action Group (SWAG), a new coalition that promotes collaboration and allyship among women leaders in financial services.
What role does senior management play in driving and sustaining DE&I initiatives in your organization?
Led by our CEO, Margaret Meister, our DE&I Office, and a gender-balanced senior leadership team, we are striving to build a company that’s every bit as diverse as the customers we serve. We’re dedicated to equitable hiring and opportunities for advancement, career development and personal growth.
Senior leadership team members serve as executive sponsors for each of our eight employee resource groups, and our senior leaders actively support our internal teams and our business partners through their participation at industry events and activities focused on promoting diversity and inclusion.
Critical to achieving our vision of “creating a world where more people have access to financial freedom” is expanding how we think about meeting the needs of more diverse customer segments through more inclusive product and experience designs, distribution and marketing approaches.
In partnership with our divisional executives, we have developed an initial approach and focus for inclusive marketplace efforts to give more people access to financial freedom. They will be centered around three critical aspects of our business:
- Delivering inclusive product and capability solutions that are attractive and appropriate for diverse populations.
- Leveraging marketing strategies that reflect and represent the changing demographics, needs and diversity of our consumers.
- Identifying and nurturing distribution relationships that will provide access, engagement and trust to more diverse consumer groups.
How do you ensure that DE&I remains a priority and continues to evolve within your organization?
Our DE&I priorities sit squarely within our Symetra Empowers vision. Each priority aligns to growing and shaping our business, social and community engagement and our employee experience. All of them are truly enterprise wide and connected to every line of business. Importantly, we recognize that building DE&I at Symetra is not a sprint. It will take time and very deliberate efforts to see success, but we are making good progress and are optimistic about the future.
What advice would you give to other organizations that want to prioritize DE&I?
Do it! At its heart, DE&I is about cultivating an environment and culture where all employees have a sense of belonging – being seen, heard, supported and valued for their contributions, identities and humanity. It's a simple but powerful principle — ensuring opportunity for all. When we prioritize DE&I, we're not just doing the right thing; we’re unlocking the full potential of every individual and team. Just like diversifying an investment portfolio helps protect against risk and boost returns, fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce brings fresh perspectives, drives innovation and strengthens an organization in meaningful ways. By embracing DE&I, we not only create a more welcoming and supportive environment but also set ourselves up for greater success and resilience in today’s complex world.
Dayna Cerrone, Vice President, Bank and Wirehouse Channel, Retirement Division, Symetra
Dayna Cerrone, a veteran financial professional with over 32 years of industry experience, joined Symetra in 2013. She is vice president for Symetra’s retirement division responsible for leading sales and distribution, which includes the wholesaling and relationship management teams for the bank and wire channels.
Cerrone resides in Ft. Collins, Colorado with her husband Frankie and their three daughters. They enjoy tennis, travel and entertaining around Frankie’s brick oven, where he the delivers his famous Neapolitan-style pizza secrets.