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A small Canadian insurer with humble beginnings is attracting attention for its first-rate workplace culture.
Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company was recently recognized by Mediacorp Canada as one of Canada’s top small and medium-sized employers, an award that highlights SMEs with forward-thinking people programs. This marks the second consecutive year that the Canadian specialty insurance and surety company has landed on the list of top 100 employers, reinforcing that Trisura is on the right track.
“When you get an independent group who verifies that yes, you’re doing the right things, it’s really gratifying,” said Mike George, Trisura’s president and CEO.
In a competitive insurance market, standing out is harder to do than blending in, but Trisura has made the right moves to succeed as both a business and employer.
“We’re an insurance company – our products are easily copied,” said George. “The true differentiator and our real competitive advantage is our people and the culture that we’ve created. So, we very much value our team and our staff, and we invest a lot of time, energy, [and] effort into continuing to develop and cultivate them, and we’ve really worked hard at building a great corporate culture.”
Trisura’s top-notch human resources team had a hand in developing forward-looking approaches that align with what people want and expect in their careers, George told Insurance Business. Implementing a survey to ask employees what the company can do better, and then putting those suggestions into practice is just one strategy Trisura has used to stay ahead of the curve among a catalogue of other projects, from letting team members work from home and encouraging charitable work to implementing innovative education and training programs.
“We also recognize that in order to be really competitive in a service-oriented business, we have to be good at softer skills,” said George. That’s why the company has focused on presentation, negotiation and interpersonal skills to round out team members’ business acumen and abilities.
During a time of sharper focus on demographics in the insurance industry, Trisura has managed to bring younger people through its doors. Meeting their needs is part and parcel of creating a successful workplace culture.
“When we first started the company, the first 15 to 20 people in the door were more or less seasoned veterans,” explained George. “We’re now six times that size, so we’re 120 people today, and we’ve got a very young average age in terms of our workforce, and we have a lot of millennials and young folks who are roaming our halls. There’s no question that we’ve had to think about what are the things that make them tick and what are they interested in, and then trying to actually create an environment that they will not only enjoy, but they’ll thrive in.”
Insurance is a better place to work than ever before, added George. Professionals are no longer wasting time on paper shuffling and other mundane tasks, partly with the help of technology, which allows people in the business to focus on the best parts of the job. Trisura has focused on hiring the best candidates with the right education and experience, but, according to its leader, the level of the average person getting into the industry is overall higher today.
“It’s a much better place to be and certainly staffed by better, more qualified individuals than it was say 20, 30 years ago,” he explained.
