How top P&C CEOs are taking on the challenge of an ageing workforce

For Alister Campbell, CEO of the Guarantee Company of North America, a good underwriter is the complete opposite of a new car.

“Underwriters get better with mileage,” he said during a CEO panel at the 2012 Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario Annual Convention in Toronto this week. “They need to make mistakes, they need to learn, they need to really understand exposure.”

Many in the industry probably wouldn’t disagree with him. The problem is that an ageing labour force is forcing insurers to consider how to attract talent and continue providing the best underwriting experience to their brokers.

The Insurance Institute of Canada has estimated that by 2017, 25% of the current labour force in the property and casualty industry could retire, with even higher projections for the British Columbia workforce. 

Retirement age isn’t necessarily stagnant anymore though, with Canadians living longer, healthier lives, Campbell pointed out. For him, that means the real challenge is nurturing experienced underwriters while still creating career paths for those in junior roles.

In 2007, the Insurance Institute began a research initiative on demographics in the P&C industry, and the challenges that come with an ageing workforce. Its second research report from 2009 provided recommendations for tackling major demographic issues in the coming years.

At The Dominion, the company used the institute’s research as a jumping off point and took a similar approach to understanding its own demographic issues and addressing gaps in positions, noted its president and CEO George Cooke.

The result were what he called aggressive programs to resolve issues as timely as possible. Cooke suggested brokers could do the same by looking inside their own organizations.

Extending training programs to brokers is one approach to addressing a shortage of experienced people. Economical Insurance took its own training and education initiatives and extended them to brokers in the past year, president and CEO Karen Gavan noted during the panel. By the end of this year, the company will have completed 115 workshops for its broker partners, she added.

Intact Insurance is also planning to train 1000 brokers on commercial lines underwriting next year, its president Jean Francois Blais noted. For him, the industry also needs to sell itself more. 

Investing more time talking about the industry at colleges and universities has been an important step, said Aviva Canada president and CEO Maurice Tulloch. Five years ago, it was attracting second-tier students, but now the absolute best are beginning to enter the industry, especially through partnerships between the industry and schools, he noted.