How brokers can broaden their recruiting lens

Who are you going to hire?

It’s a key question as Canada’s property and casualty (P&C) insurance brokers look to simultaneously broaden diversity within their teams and solve a hiring crisis that’s persisted for nearly a decade.

One way firms are filling out teams is by hiring more people from traditionally underrepresented groups, says Canadian Underwriter’s 2024 Brokerage DEI survey that asked industry respondents about various issues around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The research, now in its third year, was made possible with the support of Sovereign Insurance.

In a new question for 2024’s survey, more than half (54%) of brokers say they’ve hired someone from one of several groups. Among them 40% say they’ve hired visible minorities, including South Asian, East Asian, Black, Filipino, Middle Eastern, Latinx, etc.

Further, it finds 28% have hired recent immigrants to Canada, 25% have hired those whose primary languages aren’t either English or French and 24% have hired members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. And, there is overlap among underrepresented groups within those percentages.

Providing advantage

Firms also say they’re increasingly hiring people raised in economically disadvantaged families (19%) and members of Indigenous, First Nations, Metis or Inuit communities (19%). People with visible disabilities were hired by 11% of respondents.

“We are open to hiring anyone who we feel will excel in a role,” says one Gen X brokerage owner in Ontario. “We also understand there are those who lack the resources to have had a stronger education and we take that into account.”

And, while 10% of respondents say they’ve never hired anyone from the listed groups, most of those are among the 36% reporting they’ve never hired anyone for any position at their firms.

While those at organizations with some level of diversity within senior leadership are most likely to hire from the identified groups (ranging from 55% to 58% of respondents), 42% of those at firms with no diversity in leadership also report making diverse hires.

One contributing factor could be the shift in recent years toward online job recruitment platforms like Indeed and ZipRecruiter. “When you post a job for an entry level role on [those sites], 90% of the applicants are new to Canada or fill a diversity categorization,” notes a Gen X brokerage owner in a large city in Ontario.

And a respondent in a smaller community out West echoes an emphasis seen in past surveys that the industry is ready to hire any qualified candidates: “My company will hire anyone who is qualified to do the job regardless of any disabilities, race, etc.”

Work environment

In another new question, this year’s survey also finds a majority (68%) of Canada’s P&C insurance brokerage community believes new hires from traditionally marginalized communities or diverse hires are treated the same as everyone else at their companies.

And only 20% say people hired from those groups are given special advantages.

The Top 3 affirmative responses note some tendency (8%) to offer people from the listed groups flexible working arrangements or access to mentorship and support networks (8%). Another 7% of respondents note managers are flexible about time off for cultural holidays or celebrations.

Verbatim responses show most brokerage employees aren’t fussed by any of this.

“The time off work for cultural holidays or celebrations does not personally bother me,” notes one Ontario Gen X respondent. “I don’t believe that it’s something that should be taken away from people who follow other celebrations that are not ‘traditional’ to Canadian society.”

Plus, they echo past surveys in which respondents emphasized willingness to build talent once good hires are identified. “We hire best candidate for role and look to help build skills and strengths to promote diverse candidates,” says a millennial woman in a large city out West.

Feature image by iStock.com/SrdjanPav