From co-developing ‘shared language’ to invite psychological safety, to designing ‘QBE passports’ to embed inclusion from the onboarding stages, learn about the initiatives QBE is using to embed belonging at its core.

If you want to know what inclusion looks like at QBE, listen closely to how our people talk to each other.

You might hear someone say, “Challenge welcome” before sharing a new idea in a meeting. Or another person asking, “Have we heard all voices?” to invite quieter perspectives into the discussion.

These phrases have become part of our everyday vocabulary – and that’s exactly the point.

Our Shared Language initiative was born from the belief that culture is created, reinforced and changed through the small moments of conversation that happen every day. We wanted to give our people the words – and the permission – to speak up in ways that feel safe, respectful and authentic.

The idea emerged from a company-wide ‘culture hackathon’ that we held a few years ago, where our people were invited to suggest practical ways to help us better live our values. One of the most popular ideas was deceptively simple: create short, memorable phrases people could use “in the flow of work” to openly share perspectives and challenge the status quo.  

Our culture team took that seed of an idea and co-created a library of phrases with input from our global network of culture champions. The goal was to make sure the language worked across all our regions and resonated in different cultural contexts.

We launched the phrases through leadership role-modelling, storytelling and even a little creativity, including custom GIFs that aligned with a specific phrase were embedded into Microsoft Teams so people could share them visually. 

Whether in a town hall or a chat message, these phrases have become shorthand for our values in action.

Our shared language includes:

• “Challenge welcome.” A signal that respectful debate is encouraged. 
• “Have we heard all voices?” A gentle nudge to invite input from everyone. 
• “Does that pass the DNA test?” A prompt to check alignment with our values.
• “Together everyone achieves more” to celebrate collaboration
• “Think big, start small” to encourage innovation

This year, we crowdsourced new additions – “Let’s fix, not fault”, “When in doubt, call it out” and “What’s the flip side?” – all designed to help teams stay curious, constructive and forward-looking.

What started as a small experiment has evolved into a global practice that creates an environment where our 13000+ colleagues feel empowered to contribute openly in real-time.

Why language matters

We often think of inclusion as something achieved through policy or program design, but in reality, it lives or dies in the everyday. A phrase like “Have we heard all voices?” might sound simple, but it gives everyone in the room a socially agreed tool to pause and check bias.

These small prompts change the dynamic. They shift the responsibility for inclusion from HR or senior leaders to everyone, and they make challenging conversations easier because the language has already been normalised.

Crucially, our shared language wasn’t imposed from above. It came from our people. Because of that, it feels authentic and it belongs to everyone.

It’s now so embedded that I’ve regularly seen senior executives using the phrases naturally in meetings. That visibility sends a clear message: inclusion is not a “program”; it’s how we work.

Backed by listening and evidence

The Shared Language initiative didn’t emerge in isolation. It sits within a broader culture system grounded in evidence and accountability.

Each year, we run global ”Voice” surveys designed to measure belonging, inclusion and psychological safety across our workforce. We intentionally evolve the questions each year to test new hypotheses and retire those that no longer provide insight.

In addition to the quantitative data, we host deep-dive focus groups – made up of randomly selected, representative groups of our people – to explore why certain patterns exist. These sessions surface valuable context, including the stories or assumptions that shape our behaviour.

The insights feed into an annual culture report shared with our Group board. We present both what helps and what hinders, because transparency builds trust. This approach has strengthened our ability to have open conversations about culture at every level, focusing on a nuanced picture, not a perfect one.

The Shared Language project was one of the first initiatives born from that listening loop – a practical response to what employees told us they needed: simple, safe ways to call out behaviour and invite diverse opinions.

QBE is a finalist in the 2025 AHRI Awards and Scholarships program. Sign up to attend the celebration event in Melbourne on 5 December.

Turning belonging into a measurable goal

Belonging is one of the metrics we actively track in our engagement surveys. We know that when people feel they belong, they’re more engaged, innovative and likely to stay – all of which  help support positive business outcomes.

Our employee networks play a key role here. Groups like QBE Pride, Open Mind and our Workability Group help shape initiatives that build visibility and connection. They also act as advisers when we see gaps in belonging data for specific cohorts.

In fact, collaboration across networks inspired one of our proudest achievements: the development of a four-part podcast exploring the intersection of neurodivergence and LGBTQ+ identity with internal and external experts, and those with lived experience.

This focus on intersectionality is important to us as a business because we understand that if one aspect of your identity is marginalised, that can be really challenging, but the impact compounds when multiple aspects of your identity are marginalised.

The project was about more than awareness. It offered practical steps for leaders and peers to support neurodivergent colleagues and create psychological safety, while also amplifying voices that are too often unheard. For us, that’s what intersectionality looks like in action.

I feel really proud that this is not only supporting our people to do their part in creating a more neuroinclusive culture, but that it’s also publicly available information. So we can share these learnings and resources with other organisations.

“We wanted to give our people the words – and the permission – to speak up in ways that feel safe, respectful and authentic.”

Inclusion by design

The same thinking – embedding inclusion into everyday processes – underpins other initiatives at QBE.

Our QBE Passport is a simple one-pager that employees complete and share with their manager and team. It includes details like name pronunciation, pronouns and three prompts: How do you work at your best? What motivates you? What’s important to you?

The Passport helps teams have conversations that might otherwise take years to emerge organically, and it’s now a standard part of our onboarding experience.

We’ve also created Inclusive Recruitment Principles to help design bias out of hiring processes. The principles guide managers on practical steps, such as limiting job ad requirements to six, avoiding questions about previous salary, and ensuring we are hiring diverse perspectives and experiences that enrich the organisation, rather than seeking sameness. 

Talent Acquisition and Inclusion teams meet quarterly to review progress, ensuring these principles stay alive rather than gather dust. These check-ins create two-way learning, as recruiters deepen their understanding of inclusion, and inclusion leaders hear firsthand what works on the ground.

The thread that connects all these initiatives is language – not just the phrases of our Shared Language, but the shared vocabulary of trust, curiosity and accountability that underpins how we work.

When we introduced “Challenge welcome”, we weren’t just teaching people a slogan. We were signaling a move towards a workplace where diverse opinions are not only accepted but invited and expected.

That shift shows up in engagement scores, in the stories we hear from our employee networks, in the way our people now speak about their work, and in the fact that our inclusion work has led us to being nominated for the Most Inclusive Workplace award at AHRI’s 2025 Awards and Scholarships program.

Inclusion isn’t about grand gestures. It’s built in moments – a phrase, a question, a pause to make space for another voice. At QBE, those moments happen thousands of times a day. And that’s how language, quite literally, changes culture.

Sophie Roberts is the Head of Culture and Inclusion at QBE.