Get Cracking On Recruitment

The first image conjured up for many students when the word insurance is used, is a figure dressed in expensive clothes; someone serious, humourless, powerful, brash, slick and shifty, according to focus groups conducted by The Insurance Institute of Canada. It seems Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black is the picture of insurance.

Right on the heels of that is the stereotype of the travelling salesman.

Thoughts around insurance tend to go straight to the negative, not only for consumers in general, but for students, as well: Insurance is evil, insurance companies are out to rip you off, there are no benefits to paying insurance. In fact, there are some who have such a negative view of insurance that pests is a subcategory of insurance on Wikipedia. It seems someone felt so strongly about the insurance industry that they took the time to create a link between insurance and vermin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Insurance)

While overcoming negative stereotypes about the insurance industry is certainly beneficial to boost consumer confidence, the need is far greater when it relates to attracting new faces into the industry.

The insurance industry is facing a recruitment and retention problem, which will only increase over the next five to 10 years, according to the Insurance Institute’s research study A Demographic Analysis of the Property & Casualty Insurance Industry in Canada, 2007-2017.

As a large number of Baby Boomers look to retire from the insurance industry, there are currently not enough students or young persons interested in filling those vacant roles.

In 1976 the entry to exit ratio in the Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Leasing industry was 3.5, by 2006 it had dropped to 0.6, according to the Labour Force Survey in the Institute’s report. Census data in the report shows that the entry to exit ratio for insurance adjusters and claims examiners was 1.2 in 1991 and by 2001 had dropped to 0.5.

“The entry to exit ratio is horrendous,” Heather Matthews, chair of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association’s (CIAA) career recruitment planning committee, notes.

She went on to note that while there exists a temporary lag in the retiring of Baby Boomers due to the current economic situation, the industry cannot lull itself into a false sense of security, because when these Boomers have recouped their losses they will retire and there will still be proportionately far more people leaving than coming in.

Most currently working in the insurance field are there because they “fell into the job.” Other more recent additions to the field, stumbled into insurance while looking for a stable, long-term career after having worked in other industries that didn’t prove to be as stable.

Elliott Spagat, program coordinator for the business — insurance program at Seneca College, notes that about 50 per cent of the students in his class have family members in insurance, while another 25 per cent fall into it by accident because the insurance program is the first business program that appears on the school’s website. There are roughly 25 per cent who are there because they thought it was an interesting program.

These figures suggest that there is an opportunity for the industry to target college students, no longer relying on filling positions through happenstance. There is, however, a large question market as to how the industry can recruit the next generation of insurance professionals.

For customers and those not considering a career in insurance, insurance is boring, slow moving, lacking innovation and full or bureaucratic red tape.

For those currently working in the field, or studying to eventually enter the field, insurance is exciting, ever changing and recession-proof.

Two parallel views of the same industry show the gap between those working in the field and those not even considering working in the field.

How to bridge the gap between those two viewpoints must be determined sooner rather than later.

Reasons for not choosing insurance

Aviva Canada sponsored two separate Harris/Decima surveys of 1,000 Canadians in early 2008. The consumer surveys found that more than one-third of the 1,000 polled believe that insurance companies are all the same, 71 per cent believe that insurance companies are always looking to increase prices and 61 per cent believe the industry hides behind complicated legal jargon to avoid paying claims. More than 50 per cent of Canadians surveyed hold a negative perception of home and auto insurance companies. Only 21 per cent agree that insurers are “genuinely interested in helping their customers,” while 40 per cent disagree with this statement.

If this is the consensus of the general public, there is little doubt that young students might feel the same way about the insurance industry.

Job seekers gravitate to companies they know and can connect with, Helen Bozinovski, senior vice president of human resources for Aviva Canada Inc., notes.

A random poll conducted by Daniel Plant, a third year commerce student at Queen’s University, of his peers in the economics and commerce programs found that:

• there is confusion about the insurance industry and what career opportunities exist;

• there is no recruitment or communication with young graduates;

• the insurance industry is viewed as a fallback plan when other options are not available;

• nobody knows what people in the industry do;

• insurance is boring;

• there is a lack of education about the potential within the industry — the potential for marketers, sales, finance, accounting staff, etc;

• there is no contact with people in the field. Successful recruiters bring the CEO in to talk to graduates, which sends a strong message to young graduates that they are the future and important. The CEO is able to discuss the different aspects and divisions of the company because they have worked their way up;

• more marketing is necessary — while the insurance industry sponsors events there is no mention about what the industry actually does and the variety the insurance industry offers.

It’s not just Queen’s University students who notice a lack of presence on campus. Cyrus Molavi, a third year Bachelor of Commerce student at University of Victoria, notes that he is interested in pursuing a career in government and banking upon graduation, partially due to the strong on-campus visibility and the availability of co-op jobs.

“I have never considered a career in insurance,” Molavi notes. “Insurance is only tangentially mentioned in class, and there is little, if not no, campus education or participation from major insurance industry players.”

Further to that is the lack of insurance-related jobs posted on university career sites. As an example, Plant notes that on the Queen’s University career postings, out of 298 postings aimed at economics majors in February of this year, two were insurance-related, both at Lombard and for a graduating student. There were no summer or co-op positions available, which would allow much of the training to be completed prior to graduation, Plant points out.

According to Plant, all the financial, accounting and corporate firms offer summers positions. “Perhaps Lombard and their associates in the industry would have more luck if they opened the door.”

Perhaps it’s worthwhile for the industry to question those students that did make the conscious decision to enter the industry in order to gain insights on what the draw is that shatters the stereotypes. Ask any insurance program student, and typically they’ll tell you that when they announced to family and friends their career plans, the remarks they received were less than congratulatory. Rather, they were often met with comments about travelling salespeople, how much of a rip-off insurance is, how premiums are too high and how
parasitic the industry is.

Still, these students that choose the industry cite the opportunity for challenging careers with growth, advancement opportunities and good earning potential, Elaine McCormick, director of human resources at Cunningham Lindsey Canada, notes.

What’s attractive about the industry

For those who have seen past the stereotypes, the industry is very rewarding. The idea of dealing with and measuring risk is what attracts Kyle Vickers to insurance. Currently Vickers is a first-year student in Seneca College’s business — insurance program. Furthermore, the freedom of movement around the industry is appealing to him.

“It sounds like there’s very little monotony, it’s always moving around, so there’s new legislation or new kinds of risk that people are trying to insure,” Vickers notes. “But the job security is definitely there, too.”

Nelio Jordao, graduating business — insurance student at Seneca College, agrees that the stability is a draw, as is the money that can be made.

For Jessica Cuvaj, graduating business — insurance student at Fanshawe College, the opportunity for movement within the industry is a huge draw.

“I love the job security and I love that you can do so much with it,” she says. “I want to get into claims, but I love that if it doesn’t work out for me, it’s just another experience and . . . you can take what you learned and move into a different area. I like the options.”

According to the Insurance Institute, students are most interested in a career that demonstrates variety: different roles (brokers, underwriters, adjusters, and more), different skill sets required (knowledge gained in a different sector can be applied in insurance), different types of insurance, different types of things insured (insurance is everywhere), different points of entry, etc.

For others, the insurance industry proved to be a lucrative second career, one guaranteed to be there in the long haul.

Daniel Levesque, student adjuster at Plant Hope Adjusters, had spent his young adult life assuming he would take over the family business. Unfortunately, due to the economy, he was forced to close the consumer electronics store. While attending a staff party at his wife’s office, he happened to meet another guest at the event, Gilbert Fournier, an adjuster at Plant Hope. Levesque assumed that a job in insurance meant sales, which peaked his interest due to his background. But Fournier told him that he was an adjuster; he doesn’t sell anything. Levesque began researching insurance adjusters — learning that there is investigation and interaction with people and the public. “And I said that job is a job for me,” Levesque chuckles. “It’s a job that you don’t sit in your office every day, you can go out and you see new people.”

He likes that he works in an industry where the product is a necessity.

“For me, it’s like as if I won the lottery,” Levesque says of working as an adjuster. “I wanted to have a good job and I wanted to work. I want to be able to serve people and be busy.”

For others, insurance was not even on the radar while going to school.

When Sameer Ahmad first started his MBA at the Ivey School of Business, his intent was to focus on the financial industry, initially in the corporate banking sector, but also opportunities that would provide a flavour of the various areas in the industry. He ended up working in insurance completely by chance. Ahmad, who graduated in September 2008, happened across a Prudential plc posting on the career website wherein participants would work in various areas of the companies business, including insurance, for 18-25 month assignments over a period of four to five years.

As he works in the field in Vietnam, Ahmed, senior manager in the corporate strategy department at Prudential, is learning that insurance is certainly not boring compared to banking, and that there are so many parts of the world where there is tremendous room for growth, especially in Asia.

Ways To Improve

While the industry definitely affords a lot of opportunity for those who choose to enter it, finding a way to intrigue young students has proved challenging. There is a general consensus that the industry needs to become more involved with high school, college and university students, but how to go about doing this does not always have a straightforward and surefire solution.

Campus involvement and student recruitment at the college and university level is one area that needs improving.

“If there was more awareness about the industry in general, and the reputation of the industry was positive, there would be more interest in a career in insurance from students,” Molavi points out.

This could be done through information nights, sports and event sponsorship on-campus fundraisers, as students become very familiar with the companies that are at events on a regular basis.

Molavi gives an example of a small technology company that supports the student’s society at UVic and because of this, the company’s co-op position is one of the most hotly contested. “Everyone knows who they are and many are considering pursuing a job there after graduation,” he adds.

Christina Welton, branch manager for Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes at McLarens Canada, notes that in addition to the events, the industry needs to be visible at job fairs and on university and college websites to help make the business a little less mystifying.

“We have an exciting array of potential for the students or anyone else looking for employment but if they don’t know about us, how can they consider us?” she notes.

Cuvaj agrees there needs to be more presence at job fairs. She went to a recent career fair at Fanshawe College and out of roughly 60 companies, there were only two insurance companies present.

Students need to be informed of all the possibilities that exist for a career in the insurance industry, an industry which is not only personally, but financially rewarding as well.

The industry would be more attractive if people saw the type of work that had to be done — that it is challenging and rewarding and helps people in the end, Plant says.

The word insurance does not in itself attract or lure young people into the industry, Wendy Fralick, AVP of quality and education/privacy officer at Cunningham Lindsey Canada notes. Young people want to choose careers that are highly exciting and they are often attractive to jobs that have a large capacity for great creativity. “It does not take a lot of communication with students to open their eyes to the fact that insurance adjusting can be just that — an exciting career,” she notes. “There is a sense of belonging in the insurance industry,” Fralick, who sits on the CIAA’s career recruitment planning committee, notes. “Although it is a huge industry, there are many industry associations that bring people together and everyone has something in common and the industry can be quite social.”

Expressing the benefits during face-to-face time with students is essential. Letting them know that the industry offers stability, variety, recognition, rewards, advancement, challenges and community reach.

Furthermore, the breadth of career options as well as the education levels, personality types and experience that are sought for various roles: risk manager, underwriter, marketing representative, claims adjuster, loss control specialist, appraiser, broker and agent, claims investigator, actuary, needs to be expressed, Carey-Ann Oestreicher, vice president of business development and communications at The Insurance Institute of Canada, suggests.

“I think part of the solution is some in-the-trenches work,” Matthews notes. “We have to educate people,” about the career options available in the industry. Starting this education at the high school level is another suggestion for increasing interest in the industry. Students most often are only aware of careers their parents have or their friends’ parents have, and even at that, it’s usuall
y just a passing awareness.

“If kids were to have people to answer questions if they are interested — and you can’t force anybody to do anything — but just generally answering questions and making information about the industry available to them in a way they can understand,” Cuvaj notes, “then there’s something there for them to look in to.”

Welton, who sits on the CIAA’s career recruitment planning committee, agrees that if students understood what job availabilities there are in the industry, they would start to consider them and enter the education stream to allow that potential.

Gabriela Hrdlicka, graduating insurance student at Mohawk College, suggests finding a way to implement insurance into the business courses in schools. Currently, the courses cover the basics, such as economics, accounting and law, but there are no lessons on insurance.

There needs to be interaction with guidance and career counselors so that information about the insurance industry can be passed along to student, in addition to co-op placements and summer employment opportunities, McCormick, who sits on the CIAA’s career recruitment planning committee, notes.

Meetings should be set up with the various boards of education across the country to determine what venues are open to the industry to reach the student-wide population, Fralick adds. It must be determined, with their help, what the best age to introduce insurance to student is and how can specific education about the industry be implemented into the curriculum.

Matthews notes that the key to attracting youth seems to be a connection to mainstream media. She notes interest is definitely peaked when she discusses that adjusters are able to work on claims such as Hurricane Katrina and Heath Ledger’s death.

There is a great deal of grassroots work that needs to be done and those in the industry must become ambassadors; people must take time to get out to all levels of schools and talk about what the industry is really like, Matthews says.

“We truly have to create our own buzz and each company can start with their own staff,” she adds.

Another means for attracting new recruits to the industry is a mentorship or internship program. Brian Laur, manager of insurance and risk management for the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) runs an insurance intern program, wherein a qualified candidate from within the community is hired for a one-year working term with the risk management team. The corporation has substantial liability and property retentions and manages most claims internally.

The intern is enrolled in the Insurance Institute and begins working alongside the risk management department investigating liability and property losses. They attend mediations, landlord-tenant hearings, work with fire investigations, contractors, produce scope of damage reports, draft reports to our independent adjusters and lawyers, attend loss reduction inspections, interview claimants and witnesses and participate in claim settlements, Laur notes.

“Our goal is that by October, the intern will have two institute courses and a basic understanding of insurance and claim process making them suitable for employment as junior adjusters,” he notes.

These are students who have graduated from college or university and are looking for work experience. Often they are not familiar with insurance, they are looking for real-time job experience that they can use in the future, Laur notes. However, once they start working on the job, they start to enjoy the investigation and analyzing and responding to claims, in addition to the independence of the job.

“The current lad that’s working for me was typical, he didn’t really have any insurance background, he was looking for working experience,” Laur says. “He’s now convinced that he wants to be an independent adjuster and his friends who are all completing university are looking at him and he keeps coming in saying how do they get in.”

The idea of being an independent adjuster is almost considered an infectious disease among this intern’s friends, he says.

A mentorship program is a wonderful idea, because as opposed to youth being stuck in a classroom, they are out in the field and getting tangible hands-on experience, Welton says.

Turning The Ship Around

The internet is also a valuable marketing tool when reaching out to young students.

Students are often searching the web for educational choices that will lead them to an exciting career. In many cases the first introduction to insurance might be the only chance to lure them in to the industry, so it had better be interesting. “We must redefine insurance so that whoever is looking at the insurance link becomes immediately aware of the different choices within insurance, with information that promotes an exciting career for the reasons we all remain in this sector throughout our careers,” Fralick suggests.

Unfortunately, the negative perception about insurance has been around for so long and is so prevalent that it will take time, energy and dedication to turn this ship around, Fralick says. She recommends the formation of a strategic planning committee, with individuals from every sector of the industry to focus on:

• Defining the public’s perceptions that create a negative stereotype of the insurance industry;

• Re-defining the insurance industry’s vision as to what it is and how it would like the public to see it;

• Creating a strategic plan on how it can go forth in order to create this new image with delivery processes that are economically favourable and that will be most effective in reaching the public;

• Establishing realistic time frames;

• Determining accountability;

• Determining processes to measure success of public’s new perception of insurance industry

• Identifying successes and identifying images that should remain unchanged; and

• Revising the strategic plan as necessary.

“It will be a long journey but it is not a tough one, it simply takes time and passion,” Matthews says.

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“It will be a long journey, but it is not a tough one, it simply takes time and passion.”

~ Heather Matthews