The UAE is proud to be brimming with women who are consistently engaged in making the country even greater. Be it social issues, academics, politics, arts, or science, the women of the UAE have not only made their mark in every field, but have also been contributing towards making the UAE a place of equality and diversity. Emerging as an exemplary phenomenon for others, Racha Moukayed McClelland has paved her path as one of the finest women leaders of the UAE, having impeccable expertise across the verticals of literature, finance, insurance, healthcare management, and leadership.

Raised in the UAE, Racha entered the business world under the guidance of her father, but with time she managed to cement her position as an adorable people person and competent leader. Racha joined Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers, established by her father in 1999, worked her way up the ladder, and found herself appointed the managing director of the company in 2019, steering the company into the future ever since. Having a knack for challenges, Racha knows how to play her masterstrokes in the male-dominated patriarchal industry and doesn’t shy away from taking tough measures if the situation demands. Maintaining transparency in her behavior and attitude towards her employees, Racha upholds an enduring commitment with each of her employees, enabling them to perform together as a single and comprehensive unit. Racha engages in an exclusive interaction with Women Entrepreneur magazine.

Give Us A Brief Overview Of Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers. What Makes It Stand Apart From Other Players In The Industry?

Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers is part of Howden Broking group based in the UK. With more than 14,000 employees, it's one of the largest private brokers in the world. The notion to make a difference in everything we do is embedded in our ESG strategy, where we build a relationship with our people, partners, insurance companies, clients, and the community based on trust and friendship. Living in a vulnerable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, the risk is always there in terms of our health, natural disasters, and so on. We have amazing intrapreneurs on board to provide solutions pertaining to risk management and all lines of insurance that address the all-inclusive angles of it. Understanding our responsibility toward the environment, last year we started our climate risk and resilience department that offers amazing products related to climate change, such as volcanoes, carbon emissions, and more. We believe in conducting business legally, morally, and ethically to build sustainable business relations with our people, partners, clients, and with our community. Hence, we feel that we should be projecting those values and beliefs every day, not only at the workplace but as a part of our lifestyle.

What Motivated You To Foray Into The Firm That Provides Insurance Broking, Risk Management, And Claims Consulting Services Globally?

My father started Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers in 1999. He hired me because as a woman, he doubted I would be able to work in an environment of dignity and respect among employees. As I got involved, I began to understand the importance of insurance as a reactive solution that transfers risk from the individual and organization to the insurer. As brokers, we not only offer our customers multiple solutions, but also advise and guide them about protections they should get before they make an insurance decision. Insurance is there to protect, compensate, and help organizations better manage their cash flow, making it an interesting domain to work in.

What Are Some Of The Most Challenging Aspects Of Your Role As The Managing Director At Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers? How Do You Overcome Them?

I joined the company as a clerk with a salary of only AED2500, finally became an insurance specialist in Employee Benefits (EB), and then moved into the segment that deals with life and medical insurances. Transitioning from an assistant manager to the manager of the department, and then to Chief Operating Officer, I finally positioned myself as the MD of the company. During this interesting journey, I've learned that centralization is the worst enemy of any organization. We should empower our people to make decisions based on their roles and responsibilities, meanwhile mentoring them and building their leadership skills through training and example. Leaders can’t always make decisions because that would not allow employees to grow. When we don’t listen to our people, they’ll stop talking to us, with the result that we won’t know what’s going on in the organization and won’t be aware of potential problems. To build an environment of entrepreneurship; to have employees who are creative and innovative; to understand their needs; to have a high retention rate; and to create an environment where everyone develops into an expert within their field, we must be empathetic.

I have always believed in diversity in our talent pool; as an example, we have 13 nationalities from 13 countries with 60 percent of the employees are women. Regardless of gender, it’s about finding the right person who fits in the specific role within the organization, based on their skills, qualifications, expertise, and experience. We want to provide fair opportunities to everyone in the organization to come and help us build the business. And the last thing we want is for people to come just for a job; rather, they should truly to be a part of building the business. This is why the leadership needs to be visible and open instead of cloistered behind a locked door—I call it leadership by walking around.

"Based on a strong ESG strategy, we are building a sustainable business by putting people first, believing firmly that by taking care of our people, they will take care of us, the business, and our clients"

If we want to continue in a sustainable manner with a higher retention rate, we have to allow people to speak, share their worries and concerns with us, and meanwhile, and provide honest and timely feedback and constructive criticism to help them grow. Through empathy, be flexible, concerned, and appreciative of your workforce, offering them more than just a professional relationship. Because people follow people, if you're not a leader and if you don't lead by example, people won’t follow you. It’s that simple.

What Have Been The Most Significant Milestones You Have Achieved So Far In Your Professional Journey?

I am glad that I've been able to create a healthy organizational culture, where I not only motivate my team to do better, but we have become a family. To achieve this, you need to have the proper organization with the right roles and responsibilities identified for every position in the company, along with the escalation matrix. Everyone needs to know what is expected from them and from each other. The performance indicators, the workflows, and the governing policies are super and equally important. Another crucial part of our ESG-environmental, social, and governance—program are the government policies. They aren’t just written documents, but we review and conduct training on their contents and intent periodically.

I restructured the finance department to be the best, changing the payable and receivable structure. We're the only broker that doesn’t collect premiums in our bank and keep the invoices debated, instead issuing directly to the client to ensure transparency. This has helped us maintain a very healthy cash flow. We have clients on board for whom we’ve provided products and services throughout the years, and I thank my father who taught me how to build a business based on strong governing values.

In the market, we have good retention while maintaining the satisfaction of the clients by working hard to ensure we meet their needs, and we’re there when they need us. I do believe that it all starts by being genuine, authentic, and communicating the true purpose of the reason for our existence to our clients.

What Is The Future Roadmap You Have Envisaged For Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers?

Based on a strong ESG strategy, we are building a sustainable business by putting people first, believing firmly that by taking care of our people, they will take care of us, the business, and our clients. We attract the best and brightest and keep the momentum going. We help people to grow in the industry by allowing them to be more innovative and offering groundbreaking products in the market, such as our climate change insurance products among others. Without having competent and motivated talent on board and without having a healthy culture, we would not be able to deliver on our mission to make a difference. To do that successfully, we will continue leading by example, and help our people and our community in different ways-every day. The industry is changing continuously and so is the risk associated with it. By being flexible and receptive to different ideas and skill sets, we intend to welcome more talent on board that will enable us to keep sponsoring the people in our industry to do better.

Racha Moukayed Mcclelland, Managing Director, Howden Guardian Insurance Brokers

A competent industry stalwart, Racha is skilled in negotiation and analytical skills, operations analysis and management, coaching and mentoring, and sales. She holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and is regarded as an experienced executive with a demonstrated history of success working in the insurance industry.