Insuring professionalism

The CII has recently updated its training methodology for brokers, with the integration of its training system Broker Assess to Axa Campus in February. The combined service provides training services for more than 20,000 individuals at brokers and Norrie Erwin, appointed in his role as development director of general insurance last year, feels there is the potential to grow this number significantly. He thinks recent developments within broking, such as consolidation and a toughening of the competitive environment, has led to a healthier appetite among managers to seek professional qualifications for their staff. For the CII, this means ruling out its training system. Erwin comments: "The potential is to double the number of users. The integration of Axa Campus was a step up in scale and content." Erwin estimates around 15% to 20% of all broker staff are now CII qualified and so there is plenty of headroom for upping its distribution.

The aim is to further develop the training content especially in the areas of soft skills and technical knowledge. Around 250 hours of learning have been added to the schedule and a contract certainty e-learning module will be introduced in August. In order to lead the charge for business Steve Dutton has been appointed as business development management and will work with a small team. Meanwhile, Lisa Williams has joined from Aon to work as a bid manager to tailor training and development programmes to insurers and brokers.

Corporate certificate

Another recent development at the institute has been the introduction of the corporate CII certificate, which involves more than 90% of customer-facing staff needing to be members. In addition, a minimum of 50% of executive directors or partners need to be Chartered title-holders, or at least the equivalent. There is an annual cost involved ranging from £500, for those up to 10 staff, and £2000, for firms with over 250 staff. Chris Blackham, chief executive of the Layton Blackham Group and a Chartered Insurance Broker, has embraced the opportunity. He says: "We put a lot of effort into developing our people, both in terms of technical knowledge and overall professional practice. Chartered status provides concrete evidence of our approach and means we can confidently stand alongside accountants, solicitors and others in the professional arena."

In addition to brokers and insurers, the CII has been attempting to drive up the industry's reputation with a talent initiative targeted at schools and universities to reduce the numbers who 'fall into the industry'. The campaign has a huge task to make insurance attractive to youngsters, especially as the industry spends a large amount of time telling itself it is exciting but too often forgets to communicate this belief to outsiders. The CII's campaign will also be helped by the government's decision to begin teaching financial services at schools. The scheme has been launched by the new secretary for schools Ed Balls and is designed to prepare children for the financial necessities of adult life. A recent study by Jardine Lloyd Thompson showed that 54% of Britons do not know whether they are saving enough for retirement and 13% of 35 to 44-year-olds admitting they would rather visit the dentist than their pension adviser.

The CII's industry-led talent initiative has recently won a marketing award at the Association of Graduate Recruiters awards ceremony. The initiative won the award for 'the best integrated marketing campaign' at what some have described as the UK graduate recruiters 'Oscars'. Terry Hayday of the Lloyd's Market Association and member of the steering committee added, "Changing the perception of insurance is important for the long term survival of the profession, and the Lloyd's and the London market needs to attract the best of the next generation."

Further initiatives

The CII is launching further initiatives. From the first week of September the CII will be starting an apprenticeship initiative for 19 to 25 year olds. The scheme is geared for those brokers looking to upskill, in order to encourage vocation and qualification. There will be a mixture of training for soft skills, exams and rapport skills.

The CII, steeped in tradition, is also attempting to modernise its image with new London headquarters, probably with a shiny glass outer building. Although no venue has yet been decided upon, it is likely to be a world away from its existing home, which is a stone's throw away from the Guild Hall in Aldermanbury, complete with throne, portrait of the Queen and the Great Hall. Sandy Scott has changed his job title from director general to chief executive officer in another attempt to keep up with modernity.

With the onset of Financial Services Authority regulation and the money available to some of the larger players, it appears now is the time for the industry to embrace change and become as professional as possible, hopefully driving up the industry's reputation across schools, universities, new recruits and established professionals.

ESTABLISHED CAREER

Rugby fan Erwin has had a long and established career in insurance and following a spell at Legal and General where he became the youngest general insurance sales inspector at the age of 21, he moved to Norwich Union. After joining London and Edinburgh as general manager personal lines sales, the insurer was subsequently bought by Norwich Union in 1998. Erwin assumed the role of regional director financial markets across the newly created organisation of Norwich Union and CGU. At one stage he was in charge of £450m of premium income. Later, he worked in a retail capacity as head of insurance at the wealth management division of National Australia Group and then at Capita as sales director of their insurance division, where in just over three years the number of employees grew to more than 3500.