Insurance Institute CEO on what 2024 holds for talent
Insurance Institute CEO on what 2024 holds for talent | Insurance Business Canada
Insurance News
Insurance Institute CEO on what 2024 holds for talent
“The industry is well suited to face this challenge,” says IIC CEO
Insurance News
By
David Saric
2024 will prove a challenging year for the insurance industry on many fronts, according to Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC) president and CEO Peter Hohman (pictured), and talent will be one key battleground.
“Talent is going to be an issue, and I’m happy to say that the Institute is going to be able to play a helping role in addressing the need to bring more people into the insurance industry,” Hohman said.
“The industry is well suited to face this challenge” – Hohman on talent
According to a 2023 report published by the IIC, the insurance industry faces numerous challenges where it comes to talent, recruitment and workplace satisfaction, including:
The lack of qualified external candidates and ‘The Great Resignation’ during the pandemic were identified as key issues hampering recruitment in the industry.
Employee referrals became a more crucial recruitment tool in the past two years.
Inter and intra- industry competition were the main retention challenges over the past two years. The strongest competition for labour comes from within the P&C industry.
Recruitment challenges varied widely throughout the country, the IIC found.
British Columbia and Quebec were the provinces that have had the most difficulty in recruiting P&C workers in the last two years.
Meanwhile, Ontario was ranked the most difficult province to retain P&C workers in the next two years.
While certain hurdles may persist in talent, acquisition and retention efforts, Hohman said he believes that “the industry is well suited to face these challenges.”
“The industry is investing a lot in education and training, which was important to young professionals,” he said. “There’s plenty of opportunity with upward mobility and career advancement, especially as we know that the more mature citizens in the industry are going to be stepping into retirement in the coming years.”
Elsewhere within the report, individual participants expressed higher satisfaction scores around the availability of educational development, flexible work schedules, health benefits and workplace inclusion in the insurance industry.
“We do know that employers have a lot of programs in place that are designed to really help people bring out the best in themselves in terms of their own development and really enjoying a career in the industry,” Hohman said.
Finding meaningful work
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) continues to remain a targeted recruitment practice across the insurance industry, with 65 per cent of respondents to the IIC’s survey stating that they are actively pursuing such objectives.
While acknowledging that more work still needs to be done, Hohman said that the insurance industry should use its diverse workforce as a selling point to younger professionals.
“We’re a very diverse industry and our statistics bear that out,” he said.
“25% of the industry identify as people of colour — it’s great to see that, and that is right on the Canadian census statistics.”
Furthermore, as younger generations look for careers that provide more meaningful work opportunities, it is crucial that insurers, brokers and other insurance companies leverage the industry’s ability to provide aid and support during a client’s most vulnerable and difficult times.
“People would find it particularly rewarding if someone suffered any type of loss, that an insurance professional is there to get that individual or that business or community get back up and running,” Hohman said.
What other challenges will the insurance industry face in 2024?
In the interview with Insurance Business, Hohman also shared where else the insurance industry might face challenges in 2024.
“I think the industry has a number of issues on their plate that they’re working away on,” he said. “Extreme weather really has a significant effect on the industry, not only on the primary carriers, but how that plays out with reinsurance.”
Hohman predicted that auto theft will continue to persist as an existential threat, with the industry having to deal with mounting losses caused by this widespread criminal activity.
“We have the whole issue around cyber, and how that’s going to play out even not only just in terms of your online presence, but as well as in vehicles that can be hacked into,” Hohman said.
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