One poll asked participants about the biggest barriers facing parents — especially mothers — in progressing their careers in insurance. The top response (30%) was the structural imbalance baked into the industry: it remains male-dominated, and women still take the vast majority of parental leave. This often slows their progression, creates gaps in networks, and makes it harder to sustain visibility in key moments.
23% of respondents pointed to something less structural but just as limiting: outdated attitudes and assumptions. When someone becomes a parent, there’s often a quiet — and sometimes unconscious — shift in how their commitment is perceived. In our coaching work we frequently see how this creates a double bind: parents are expected to be ‘always on’ to prove they’re still ambitious but often judged for doing so.
Yet when we asked what organisations are doing to support parents, the gap between intention and action became clear. While 16% and 11% of participants said their firms offer enhanced maternity and paternity leave respectively, just 2% said they offer parental coaching — and only 3% provide training for line managers on how to support returning parents.
This matters. In our coaching work across financial and professional services, we consistently hear how pivotal that return to work phase is — for confidence, performance, and retention. Supportive line management, targeted coaching, and clear expectations can make all the difference. And yet, in insurance, many organisations are still working out where to start.
What stood out to us is how far the insurance industry still has to go compared to other areas of financial services. In legal, consulting and banking firms, structured parental support — including coaching and manager training — is becoming standard practice. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s smart business. It improves retention. It supports gender balance. It helps create cultures where all talent can thrive. It signals that firms recognise the challenges (and joys!) of being a working parent and want to do what they can to support this population.
At The Tall Wall, we help organisations close that gap. We coach working parents before, during and after parental leave. We equip managers with the tools, language and confidence they need to lead with empathy and clarity. And we work with leadership teams to challenge assumptions, build more inclusive cultures, and embed support in a way that’s commercially sound and practically useful.
The good news? There’s a clear appetite to do more. But good intentions need to be matched with investment — not just financial, but cultural. Because when organisations get this right, the results are powerful: more engaged employees, more consistent career progression, and a workplace that reflects the reality of modern life. The investment does not have to be huge – a webinar for line managers is a great first step, for example.
Insurance has a real opportunity to lead — not just catch up. The question is: what’s the next step? It starts with action: giving parents the support they need, and equipping managers to lead with empathy and clarity. Because inclusion isn’t a policy — it’s a practice.
If you’d like to explore how parental coaching or manager training could work in your organisation, we’d love to talk. You can contact us at hello@thetallwall.com, to learn more about our approach. We’re always happy to share ideas, insights, or examples of what’s working in other firms — and help you shape a solution that fits.