Institute report shows P&C industry ‘hiding its light under a bushel’

Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry already scores well in many of the things industry employees say they want from their employers, as suggested in the latest results of the Insurance Institute of Canada’s 2022-23 demographics research report.

And therefore, in its recruitment efforts, the P&C insurance industry should be confident about tooting its own horn and spreading the good news more broadly, observes Peter Hohman, president and CEO of the Insurance Institute of Canada.

“If you look at [the] list of what people are looking for in terms of a great employment experience, the industry is actually doing really, very well,” Hohman told CU in an interview about the report’s results. “It ticks most of those boxes as you go through the report.

“To me, what that tells us is that in terms of the talent gap…our real issue is getting the message out. As the old saying goes, we’ve got to stop ‘hiding our light under a bushel’ and really shine a light on those dynamic, purposeful, and impactful careers.”

The Insurance Institute of Canada has undertaken five industry demographics research studies since 2007. Its most recent 2022-23 demographics research released Thursday, Demographic: Analysis of the P&C Insurance Industry in Canada 2022 to 2026, was conducted by the Conference Board of Canada.

Demographic asked more than 4,700 industry employees online about what they considered to be important factors in a good employer. Top factors included:

• A competitive compensation package
• Flexible work arrangements
• Good healthcare and other benefits
• Good pension benefits
• Adequate paid time off (e.g., vacation, sick days)
• Full-time, permanent employment
• More recently, a positive working relationship with management and co-workers

What the survey shows

Compensation

Regarding compensation, the industry has upped its game over the past 16 years, the recent report suggests.

“From 2007 to 2017, salaries increased 19.7% from roughly $59,000 to $71,000,” the 2022-23 demographics report states. “Since the last [2017] report, the approximated average salary of respondents grew an additional 15.6% and now sits at $83,275. This is well above the Canadian average of $54,450.59.”

Workplace flexibility

On the topic of workplace flexibility, in a 2022 HR survey undertaken for the report, “69% of respondents had a remote work policy prior to the pandemic,” the demographic survey states. “This proved to be a key factor in mitigating labour market challenges in the industry.”

In a new survey question, the Conference Board of Canada asked more than 4,100 P&C insurance industry professionals how often they would like to work remotely.

About half (49%) of P&C industry employees said they preferred to work entirely remotely, while the other half preferred to be in the office between one and four days a week. Of those who preferred working in the office, 14% said they wanted to work four days in the office, 15% said three days, 10% said two days, and 11% said one day.

Employee mental health and well-being 

Industry employers are also focusing efforts on promoting the mental health and well-being of their employees, particularly after the challenges of working through the pandemic.

The 2022 HR survey done for the report showed absenteeism rates are up, and voluntary turnover rates jumped 15.8% between 2017 and 2022, as opposed to 9.1% between 2017 and 2012, suggesting that more people are leaving their jobs. One suggested reason in the report is that employees’ stress has increased because their work and home lives have blended together since the pandemic.

“Research shows many organizations are boosting investments in employee mental health support, including extra paid time off, organization-wide mental health days, and increased mental health training,” the 2023 report observes.

“This trend is expected to continue over the next three years, wherein 50% of insurance plan sponsors anticipate higher investments in mental health support programs. Survey results show that strong employee well-being and mental health programs ranked second among issues that are expected to impact retention in the next two years.”

Job satisfaction

P&C insurance employees were asked to rank their job satisfaction on a five-point scale. “Overall, employees are satisfied with their current employment situation,” the report states. “With a weighted score of 4.0, they viewed their employment in the P&C insurance industry in a positive light and remain happy with their current employer.”

Stable employment

And if new recruits are looking for stable, long-term permanent employment, the demographics numbers suggest the Canadian P&C insurance industry is the place to be. Job satisfaction also shows in the report’s metrics on tenure, which tends to be long, and unaffected by massive social and labour disruption caused by the pandemic.

“Workers often enjoy long careers in the P&C insurance industry,” the report notes. “Tenure in the industry is sustained. Over half of survey respondents in 2022 had been in the industry 10 years or more.”

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series of articles that will discuss the findings of the Insurance Institute of Canada’s demographics research study.

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/nataliaspb