A Decade of insight sponsored by the CIP Society! And you can help!

by Margaret Parent, Director, Professionals' Division 

The Insurance Institute, sponsored in part by the CIP Society, is pleased to have been conducting research on the industry’s changing workforce for a decade. The research has provided valuable insight to industry employers and to the Institute’s offerings to members and the industry. With the help of the Conference Board of Canada, whom the Institute contracted to conduct this 2017/18 research project, these latest findings will not only assess the changes that have taken place in the industry’s workforce since 2007 but also project implications going forward to 2027.

A primary concern from the start was the age profile of the industry:
a. The first snapshot in 2007, showed the industry as top heavy with too many Boomers (49%) and not enough millennials (12%).
b. Five years later in 2012, the industry had done a good job of recruiting millennials to a more representative proportion in the industry (27% millennials compared to 37% boomers).
c. Now five years later in 2017, with millennials making up a majority of the general labour market, we look forward to seeing what proportion of millennials make up the industry’s workforce today. Stay tuned as we analyze the data.

In 2017, additional concerns are keeping HR and executives up at night. These include:
• impact of technology on job types, functions and skill requirements;
• increased competition for key talent with other industries;
• significant advancements in risk, and to insurance products, services and delivery; as well as
• employee engagement issues like work/life balance, remote working, education and training, and diversity and inclusion.

We expect that the four-phases of industry-wide research currently underway, plus an analysis of Stats Canada’s 2016 Census data, will provide incredible insight into the industry’s changing workforce. The four phases of research include:

Phase 1 Survey of industry human resource professionals - Completed April – May, 2017
Phase 2 Demographic analysis of the industry's work force (census) - Completed July – October, 2017
Phase 3 Survey of current industry employees and/or Institute members - Ending November 30, 2017
Phase 4 Survey of executives and thought-leaders - Ending November 30, 2017

As part of phase 3 & 4 of this research project, we’ve invited industry employers to participate by sending the survey link to employees and executives to encourage participation.
• If your organization is able to participate, you will receive an email from your HR department inviting you to answer the survey.
• If your organization is not able to participate, then as a member, you will receive an email from the Insurance Institute inviting you to answer the survey.

This is your opportunity to contribute your perspectives to this important research!

The more people who respond to the surveys, the more robust data we’ll have on how you feel about working in insurance and how some of the changes in the industry may be impacting or will impact your roles and your organizations going forward.

Expected Key Outcomes of the Research:

1. An understanding of the major recruitment and retention challenges faced by employers in the P&C insurance industry, as well as potential strategies to mitigate these challenges.
2. Insights about how the skill requirements of the P&C insurance industry’s workforce are changing.
3. A comparison of how the P&C insurance industry’s demographic trends contrast with the rest of Canada’s labour force.
4. A understanding of the strategic implications of key emerging issues for the P&C insurance industry’s professional work force and appropriate recommendations to manage these challenges.
5. A 10-year outlook (2017-2027) projecting the potential change in the P&C insurance industry that may be attributable to demographic trends and to emerging issues.
6. Identification of the degree to which the perceptions of the industry (CEO, HR and employees) are consistent with the demographic realities and the key emerging issues that are likely to have the most influence on the composition of the industry’s future workforce.

Publishing and Presenting the Findings:

The Institute will publish two landmark reports in September 2018 providing a wealth of information on the industry’s workforce, namely: “A Demographic Analysis of the P&C Insurance Industry in Canada: 2017 – 2027” and the fourth report in the Institute’s Emerging Issues Research Series: “A Changing Workforce: Implications for the Insurance Industry in Canada.”

The CIP Society will host a series of seminar presentations on the research study across the country in Fall 2018 for the benefit of the industry. We look forward to presenting the findings, generating discussion on the changing workforce in the industry, and the implications for insurance organizations in Canada.