Institute launches new phase of industry-wide recruitment initiative

Supporting an industry-wide effort to bring new talent into the Canadian property and casualty industry, the Insurance Institute of Canada today introduced its ‘Accelerated Competence Series,’ a program of five new learning modules for industry hires.

“The Accelerated Competence Series will address the need to expedite the onboarding of new hires so they can function in their roles as quickly as possible and provide a consistent orientation program for new hires across the industry,” Institute president and CEO Peter Hohman says of the new learning modules.

The five self-paced, online products include short learning videos with an AI-generated virtual instructor, and can be completed within the first few weeks of being hired.

“The fun thing is, these are all audio and video products, and they’re narrated with a virtual, AI-generated host, which is very exciting for us,” Hohman told CU in January, preceding the launch. “So, we’re really moving into the digital, AI-developed type of learning product. Each will be about three hours in total length, so that’s enough [information] to get [recruits] up and running.”

The first training module of the Accelerated Competence Series provides a basic level of insurance knowledge for all people working in the industry. It is equally applicable to insurance professionals (brokers, agents, underwriters, adjusters) and people working in support roles, such as human resources, information technology, data scientists, etc.

The next three training modules provide content to support new brokers/agents, underwriters and adjusters.

The final module is designed to support new commercial brokers, and may also benefit commercial underwriters.

All five products will be available in English and French.

“These new learning products are designed to be easily incorporated into our industry partners’ existing onboarding programs, and constitute the third phase of our Talent Gap initiative — our effort to attract new recruits to the industry,” says Hohman.

The first phase of the initiative, “Project Reframe,” was announced in January 2024.

As Hohman told CU at the time, Project Reframe is geared toward attracting people who might not know much about the insurance industry.

Backed up by social media, billboards, and a broad media campaign, Project Reframe is “a national bilingual, multimedia advertising campaign that really reframes the perception of what that insurance career is all about,” as Hohman describes it. “It’s rewarding, progressive, and it provides an impactful future for anyone looking for a purpose-driven career.”

Specifically, the campaign is targeting new graduates, career-changers, and newcomers to Canada.

The multimedia campaign drives people to the PurposeMeetsPassion.ca microsite, where prospective recruits can leave their contact information. They are then approached by people in the Insurance Institute’s Career Connections program, a career awareness program. Career Connections has been involved in the post-secondary system for many years, with partnerships with 13 different colleges and universities across the country.

The current campaign has broadened the scope of Career Connections’ public awareness initiatives.

The new learning modules introduced today serve a “bridging” function to give recruits a basic knowledge of the P&C insurance industry quickly.

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/Delmaine Donson