Employees may dig their heels in on hybrid work
February 22, 2024 Alyssa Di SabatinoWorking five days a week in an insurance office is a thing of the past, industry experts are saying. But P&C industry leaders are still debating whether client experience, workplace culture, and productivity gels with a hybrid work model. “Within…
What younger job candidates want from P&C insurance jobs
January 18, 2024 Steve Whitelaw, Applied Systems CanadaCanada’s P&C insurance industry needs to adapt in three key areas to better recruit and retain prospects among Millennials and Gen Z. First, it should teach recruits tech skills specific to the P&C industry. Second, it should use digital technology…
How firms are training tomorrow’s talent
January 8, 2024 Alyssa Di SabatinoIntermediate and senior underwriting positions are opening up across the industry. That has firms looking for ways to cultivate junior underwriters into successive roles. The issue, though, is that learning curves can be steep for new hires. Up-and-coming underwriters are…
How to recruit underwriters when job candidates get multiple offers
November 30, 2023 Alyssa Di SabatinoCompetition for available qualified underwriting talent is fierce. “We’ve got candidates in the mix that will often have two or three offers in hand,” said Stefan Rolfe, associate director of insurance at Impact Recruitment. “And they can often bounce one…
Addressing a shortage of qualified commercial underwriters
November 28, 2023 Alyssa Di SabatinoNicholas Hudescu is a rarity in the insurance industry. The 23-year-old attended Wilfrid Laurier University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree specializing in insurance and risk management. While there, he joined the student-run Laurier Insurance and Risk Association (LIRA)…
How Canadian P&C firms are developing diversity
November 16, 2023 Alyssa Di SabatinoRegardless of where Canadian brokerages are in their efforts to build diverse workplaces, they generally agree on three good ways to get there. When asked what actions brokerages could take to increase diversity, survey respondents advocated promoting diverse talent to…
How deliberate, diverse recruiting can fill brokers’ talent gaps
November 8, 2023 Alyssa Di SabatinoProperty and casualty (P&C) brokerages continue to report trouble finding qualified new recruits. That’s led many in the P&C insurance industry to suggest firms widen the hiring lens and open recruitment to a more diverse range of candidates. It seems…
Top 3 ways Canada’s insurance brokerages promote diversity
April 6, 2023 Philip PoradoRegardless of how far along Canadian brokerages are in their efforts to build diverse workplaces, they are in general agreement about the best ways to get there. And that’s the case even among firms that acknowledge they haven’t yet made…
Which factors impact DEI programs at P&C brokerages
April 3, 2023 Philip PoradoThe size of a Canadian P&C brokerage and the makeup of its senior leadership continues to drive whether employees have access to formal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. A Canadian Underwriter online survey, fielded in Jan. and Feb. 2023, and…
Steps to improve talent recruiting efforts
December 13, 2021 by Jason ContantA few relatively simple changes can make a big difference in recruiting efforts for mid-size firms, two workforce management firms said in a recent blog. First, rewrite job postings and descriptions to emphasize the benefits of working for you instead of your specs…
How important is non-insurance talent for MGAs?
November 29, 2018 by Jason ContantLooking outside the insurance industry appears to be a tried-and-true approach to recruiting talent, executives of managing general agents said Tuesday at the Insurance-Canada.ca’s MGA Technology Symposium in Toronto. “We’ve had success actually looking for people with skills, rather than…
How this commercial brokerage addresses skills shortages
October 14, 2018 by Greg MeckbachBrokerage owners in some regions are struggling to find staff who know commercial lines. “There are very few people (in Saskatchewan) who understand commercial insurance deeply,” said David Reidy, president and CEO of Regina-based commercial brokerage Henderson Insurance Inc. To…