Engagement

Local employers

To ensure your local institute and council are at the forefront of the local market, its important to forge relationships with the key corporate organisations that operate within your region.

Positive relationships with the local market will ensure that your institute can benefit in a number of ways; from attracting new members on to council through to utilising local contacts as a source of technical event planning. Furthermore it opens your local institute proposition up to a wider audience, including non-members.

One of the easiest ways to identify the key organisations within your region is to analyse your monthly membership data which gives an overview of your member’s place of work.

Your Membership Secretary will have access to this data which can be accessed via the My LI tab.

When you have identified any key companies in your region you can then seek out the main contacts or individuals you will want to contact in order to develop a positive relationship. This may require researching online, phoning up the organisations in question or through networking. Remember to utilise your council members to do this – they may already have relationships with the organisations in question.

Once you have engaged with key local organisations hopefully this should lead to the basis of a long term, mutually beneficial relationship, which can prove beneficial for the future succession planning of your local institute council.

Following feedback from institutes we have created a document that highlights the benefits that come from companies working with their local institute and how they can get involved. There is a print PDF file available if you wish to have physical copies printed, a digital version and PowerPoint template that can be utilised, please see the links below

What data does your local institute have access to?

Every Sunday evening the CII uploads an electronic copy of your local institute’s membership data to this site this can be found in the membership secretary page under tools. A nominated council member, normally the Membership Secretary or Secretary will be able to access this data. The membership data is supplied in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (.xls or .xlsx file) for ease of use and analysis.

The membership spreadsheet will contain key information on all members that are affiliated to your local institute.

This includes:

Personal information (name, pin number, address)
Professional details (employer - if provided)
Membership information (start date of membership)

This information is invaluable in helping your institute determine how best to serve its members but can also be used to adequately target members with communications that are relevant and fit for purpose.

We are currently working on several developments for this data set – this includes:

Accurate overview of the organisation each of your members works for (if provided)
Regular overview of lapses and resignations for your institute

Communications data – email addresses

Please note all communications issued to your members must be actioned via the integrated e-flyer tool which sits within your website CMS – your institute’s communications officer or your Regional Membership Manager will be able to provide you with more information on this key tool. Please note we longer provide email addresses as part the weekly membership data to ensure that we reduce the risk of any data breaches and associated fines. Your institute’s latest communications data is uploaded into your websites CMS at the start of each week. We advise institutes NOT to keep any communication lists due to the need to maintain ongoing GDPR permissions.

We are also currently working on several developments on the communications data you receive via the integrated e-flyer system – this includes:

New member data – uploaded directly into the system – allowing you to communicate to new members about your institute’s proposition, we will also be developing a stand-alone e-flyer you can utilise.
Members – under the age of 40 – institutes have requested a data set for members under the age of 40.


Additional data sets – qualifications and exams
The following data sets can be requested via your Regional Membership Manager - qualification and awards data, data around examinations sat by your members and active examination vouchers held by your members. Simply contact your Regional Membership Manager for more information. Your RMM will normally be able to provide this information to you within five working days.

Additional data sets – chartered and key corporates
Your Regional Membership Manager can provide you with an overview of any chartered firms with a local head office. If you require additional information about key corporates and other key businesses in your area, then your RMM will happily broker a relationship with a member of the CIIs business development team.

National data
As part of our monthly regional membership report we now provide an overview of the following: overall month on month CII Group membership figures, the breakdown of CPD events being offered by the entire local institute network and key national exam figures including overview of any complaints or issues faced across the UK. Please ensure this report is tabled at your council meeting. For more information on how to get the most out of this data set or to request a training session, please speak with your Regional membership manager.

Chartered firms

More and more individuals and companies are becoming Chartered or achieving Chartered Status. Chartered status is a symbol of technical competence. It demonstrates that you are at the forefront of your profession and serves as a mark of trust with consumers, employers and business connections.

Visit www.cii.co.uk/membership/chartered for information on the status and titles available.

Local institutes can celebrate Individual and Corporate Chartered status in a number of ways; this will celebrate professionalism and formulate relationships with key organisations which can lead to long term, mutually beneficial relationships.

This could include recognising achievement via your Annual Dinner or Awards Ceremony, local and regional communications such as event guides and newsletters, your website and social media sites, a congratulations letter to new Chartered Firms or a joint celebratory event with other professional bodies.

To find out more about chartered firms speak with your Regional Membership Manager.

Personal Finance Society (PFS)

The Personal Finance Society (PFS), is the largest professional body for individual financial advisers in the UK market. PFS members are likely to account for a significant percentage of your local institute’s membership.

For most local institutes, these members are likely to number between 25-40% of their total membership, but for some institutes it’s as high as 50% or more. Your Membership Secretary will have access to your membership data and should be able to provide you with a breakdown of these figures.

Many local institutes engage with their PFS members to deliver events that support their learning and development.

It has long been good practice to encourage at least one financial services representative to serve on your local council. This will ensure that your local institute is delivering member services that meet the needs of all your members, not just those working within the insurance sector.

The PFS has local committees that work on a regional basis as opposed to the CII model of individual local institutes. Therefore, it is likely that several of your neighbouring CII local institutes are part of the same PFS region. Consider contacting the local committee for advice and support.

Discover Risk game

Promoting the profession

As a professional body we are at the forefront of promoting careers in insurance and financial services, to ensure we attract, retain and develop the best talent the UK has to offer. We are also committed to increasing public trust in our profession and giving back to the local communities that we serve.

The CII conducts a series of outreach initiatives across schools, colleges, and universities.

Schools & colleges

Discover Risk: Promoting our profession within schools, colleges and universities locally has never been easier, thanks to the Discover Risk. As well as introducing students to the world of risk, this game is designed to increase students' employability skills such as team working, communication and problem-solving. Equally, they create opportunities for local employers to build links with their future talent.

The Discover Risk workshop involves 20-35 students, takes approximately 90 minutes to run and splits students into teams to work through several scenarios.

My Personal Finance Skills: The My Personal Finance Skills initiative delivers free financial education workshops to schools & colleges across the UK through a network of Education Champions (volunteer members).

Workshops cover important personal finance topics such as the first payslip, staying safe from scams, making decisions and risk (relating to insurance) and much more. The initiative also includes the Discover Fortunes workshops that is like Discover Risk but targeted at personal finance.

The CII can provide full materials and training for any local institutes that wish to deliver one of these workshops and diversify their offer to local school &c colleges.

The aim of this programme is increasing financial capability, building public trust in the profession, and giving back to the community. Now, more than ever, financial resilience is vital.

NB: Covid-19 & outreach in schools/colleges
Due to the ongoing pandemic, programme delivery is moving online for the time being with workshops being delivered via a school’s platform of choice. Material has been adapted for use virtually.

Discover Risk Training Webinar

This webinar explains the Discover Risk programme and how to use it effectively.

Discover Fortunes Training Webinar

This webinar explains the Discover Fortune programme and how to use it effectively.

Higher Education – Education Partnerships

For the Academic year 2020/2021 and going forward a very different landscape due to the Covid19 pandemic is expected. For many universities, much of their delivery scheduled for the academic year and beyond will be on-line with limited time on campus.

To that end, Careers and Employability in Insurance and Financial Planning webinars will be rolled out to align with university timetabling. From May-July 2020 four very successful webinars took place and determined how the formerly face-to-face seminar would be received; great feedback was received from students in attendance.

Where CII/PFS members wish to participate, a high-level outline is summarised below. The commitment for professionals from both insurance and financial planning is 75mins of their professional time predominantly between 12-2pm of a weekday. The content follows the following format:

Who we are and what we do - qualifications
Membership
Careers in Insurance and Financial Planning
Career Stories – Professionals are to share who they are, what they do, and how they secured their role in Insurance or Financial Planning
Q&A – Moderated by Education Partnerships Manager – An opportunity for the cohort to ask the panel questions based on what they have heard or anything they would like to ask regarding their career options.

The Education Partnerships Manager works closely with local insurance institute and personal finance society members to enable engagement with the local universities in respect of the above approach. The Education Partnerships Manager encourages students to become members of the CII/PFS. The benefits of the webinars are:

University students’ engagement is an opportunity to secure future members of local institutes and societies to enable succession planning.
University students are encouraged to attend CPD events to inform their essays/assignments/projects; build and strengthen their soft skills and also build their employer network to secure a role, placement or work experience in the profession.
Local institute and society members may leverage the opportunities of participating in webinars to demonstrate CSR.
In some cases, the access to new talent may enable SMEs to secure new talent without the cost of recruitment consultancy or recruitment costs.

See an overview site on careers in insurance or financial planning primarily for students and new talent to the profession https://www.ciistepforward.co.uk/ which is a resource used to a) introduce the profession and b) enable expression of interest for membership.

Finally, any queries on introduction and working with universities, contact the Education Partnerships Manager at EducationPartnershipCoordinator@cii.co.uk

The CII supporting local institutes

The CII can supply a PowerPoint presentation and supporting materials for those wishing to attend a career fair or present at a local school, college, or university. In addition to this, the CII can supply any relevant materials to assist in the training and delivery of the My Personal Finance Skills initiative.

Whenever local institutes plan something, we encourage you to contact us so that we know what is taking place and to ensure there is no cross-over with our own activities.

In addition, local institutes could help engage with key organisations to provide work experience and/or taster opportunities for those students who are particularly interested in gaining experience.

Contact us

For more information speak to your Regional Membership Manager or email George Tsounias (Education Relationship Manager) at george.tsounias@cii.co.uk (for schools/colleges).

What resources are available for career days?

The CII offers a few resources for local institutes to promote the benefits of a career in insurance for students.

If you are attending a careers event at school, there are 2 options that can be used at career fairs.

The first being a future me leaflet, this can be printed and sent to institutes, please contact your RMM to organise this, please ensure that you give plenty of notice on requesting these, at least 3 weeks to ensure that this can be arranged.

The leaflet can be seen below.

You can also print the below QR code to have printed on your table for students to then go away with and look at after the fair.

The second leaflet that can be used has been created by the CII 2022/23 New Generation Programme Broking group. They have launched a new campaign to address the insurance industry’s talent gap, and common misconceptions around insurance careers.

Campaign assets are freely available for use, helping to strengthen the industry’s collective efforts in attracting new talent. The flyer can be downloaded below the file available is print ready and these will have to be printed by your council locally. If you follow the link here there is also a marketing images and a marketing video that they have created that you could play on your stand if you wish.

What programmes are available from the CII to encourage younger generations into the insurance profession

The CII has various programmes that have been created to help show people the benefits of becoming part of the profession, these are as follows:

FutureMe

FutureMe is the CII online career coaching platform, and has thousands of articles, podcasts, videos, courses and interactive tools to assist you in every part of your career, whether you need help adjusting to change, are looking for a new job, or just want to brush up on your skills.

T-levels

T-Levels are new two-year courses that are equivalent to three A-levels and are designed to provide students with the technical knowledge and practical skills needed for a specific industry. They are a combination of classroom learning and practical experience, with students spending around 20% of their time on work placements.

Aspire apprenticeships

Aspire apprenticeships are the CII’s purpose-built and standardised employer training programmes, convenient to use and help businesses access available funding. With training providers carefully selected by the Chartered Insurance Institute, our programmes provide apprentices with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that add real value.

Virtual work experience

Interested in a future in risk and finance? This programme will help lay the foundations as you explore the insurance profession. You may not have realised it, but insurance is a diverse profession with a variety of roles and opportunities for a financially rewarding career! You’ll learn more about all the different careers available and gain deeper insight through activities, quizzes and live webinars with insurance professionals.

Please see below a link to the resources for further information.

Getting into the profession (cii.co.uk)

Engaging with young professionals

A Young Professionals Group enables your institute to engage and empower the younger members of your institute. It is a great way to get their buy-in and give them the experience of running a small sub-council while ensuring the needs and interests of all members under 35 years of age are represented.

These groups can be as big or small as is appropriate for your institute; and typically they are for members under the age of 35.

To establish how many young members your institute has contact your Membership Secretary who has access to your Membership Data.

A Young Professionals Group's events should be designed for the institute's younger members as they progress through the early stages of their career. This should be from an educational and social perspective, with a mixture of social events, plus seminars or workshops based around appropriate soft skills and technical topics, with a focus on helping increase their knowledge base and confidence within the market.

Other professional bodies

Formulating relationships with other professional bodies can often increase your local membership proposition by opening doors to events and activities that will often be of professional interest to your members. For example, the insurance industry is intrinsically linked with areas such as fraud and compliance, both of which have their own professional bodies.

By establishing links with like minded organisations, your local institute could aim to run co-branded events, some of which can be subsidised by supporting organisations to reduce costs and increase attendance.

You may also want to consider opening your technical and social events to members of other local professional bodies. This can either be done in return for a small fee to cover costs, or for free, in return for the option of local CII members to attend events run by the supporting professional bodies for no charge.

Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA)

uk.accaglobal.com

British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA)

www.biba.org.uk

Business Link

www.businesslink.gov.uk

Charetered Institute of Management Accountants

www.cimaglobal.com

Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters

www.cila.co.uk

Chartered Institute of Marketing

www.cim.co.uk

Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD)

www.cipd.co.uk

Chartered Management Institute

www.managers.org.uk

Chartered Quality Institute

www.thecqi.org

Compliance Institute (CI)

www.complianceinstitute.co.uk

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)

www.fsb.org.uk

National Enterprise Network (NFEA)

www.nfea.com

Institute of Business Consulting

www.ibconsulting.org.uk

Institute of Financial Planning

www.financialplanning.org.uk

Institute of Legal Executives

www.ilex.org.uk

Learning Skills Council (LSC)

www.lsc.gov.uk

Law Society

www.lawsociety.org.uk

Personal Finance Society

www.thepfs.org

Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

www.rics.org

FAQ

CII membership onboarding

When someone becomes a new CII member, details on getting involved with your local institute have now been included.

The points where this is referenced in the new member journey are:

Welcome email that is sent within 24 hours of a new member joining
Welcome webinar these are run once a quarter for new members

Please see below a timeline for new member onboarding as well as a membership overview sheet that is also available alongside the presentation in the welcome webinar.

The CIIs Professional Map

The Professional Map is a career development tool for insurance and personal finance professionals that sets out what it means to be a well-rounded professional today.

The Professional Map has been developed through extensive research and collaboration with a range of leaders and practitioners across the insurance profession – both in the UK and overseas. It combines insight from organisations of different size and type around the key competencies exemplified by successful professionals, at each stage of their careers.

Whatever level your members are at, the Professional Map will be for them. It can help gain an insight into what they need to do to achieve peak performance; guide their business or career; drive a positive working culture; and boost their professional development.

At the heart of the Professional Map are three competencies your members need, to succeed in the workplace, meet business goals and drive good customer outcomes.

Technical Expertise refers to the role-specific knowledge and skills needed to do their job, i.e. what they know.

Behaviours refer to the actions and attitudes they demonstrate in the way they make decisions and approach work and working relationships, i.e. how they apply what they know.

Enablers refer to the awareness and understanding of aspects of the working environment that enable professional practice. For example, in order to behave within a regulated environment (behaviour) you need to know the regulations (enabler).

To find out more please go to the Professional Map micro-site which will enable your members to identify training needs and to prepare for appraisals, career development and planning, job applications and progression.

Please feel free to promote the CIIs Professional Map at all your local events and activities.

If you would like one of the CIIs corporate development team to present on the Professional Map at council or at one of your local events, then please contact your Regional Membership Manager.