Farm Mutal Re (Canada) has undertaken an innovation journey focused on being a beacon of mutual innovation, carving a pathway for its future and empowering its member community. Its innovation is centred around developing employee skillset with its Innovation Rotational Programme, a tiered approach to promote skill development, and its Innovation Academy, an 18-month programme focused on growing innovation talent from within the organisation. Farm Mutual Re invests in its employees and has introduced an Innovation Recognition Initiative focused on acknowledging those that are engaged in innovation programmes.
Over the past few years, Farm Mutual Re has been on an innovation journey focused on being a beacon of mutual innovation, carving a pathway for its future and empowering its member community. Recognising the rapid and accelerating rate of change, Farm Mutual Re has taken a directed approach to bring its innovation pursuits to life.
An important part of this journey centres on one of Farm Mutual Re’s most important assets – its people. Bringing an innovation strategy to life relies on the collective understanding of not only why focusing on the future matters, but also how everyone at the organisation is empowered to help build that future.
That’s why Farm Mutual Re has committed to creating a culture of innovation across the company through distinct employee skill set growth programmes that offer choice, applied learning, and the opportunity to take action, with a sense of ‘play’ along the way.
Innovation Rotational Programme
The first of Farm Mutual Re’s employee skill set growth programmes is the Innovation Rotational Programme. This programme takes a tiered approach to promote skill development, as employees only advance through the programme when they put their learnings into action. It is entirely self-selected and self-directed by employees, providing learning options to those passionate about their growth and professional development. Throughout the programme, they learn innovation principles such as how to frame the problem they want to solve, how to test their assumptions, and how to embrace failing fast.
Any employee can choose to participate, but the speed of their progress is up to them. To move through the various tiers of the programme, the employee must demonstrate how they have applied their new learnings, such as how to frame a problem, in their day-to-day work. There are different milestones required to advance through each tier, and there are different benefits to both the employee and the organisation based on what is achieved. Each tier is clearly defined, and recognition is focused on specific outcomes to ensure the programme is delivering on its key objectives.
Ultimately, Farm Mutual Re has recognised the importance of applied learning as a mechanism for change. Where other organisations may provide rewards for courses completed, this approach rewards individuals for putting their learnings into action.
“While developing our innovation strategy, we recognised the need for employees to be empowered in how they engage innovation, knowing that not every employee will choose to participate. For those who do, they have the opportunity to be on the cusp of change, and their renewed skill sets demonstrate their interest in growing at Farm Mutual Re.” – Andrea Kerswill, AVP, Innovation and Digital Enablement
Innovation Academy
To double-down on these efforts, Farm Mutual Re introduced its very own Innovation Academy. The Innovation Academy is an 18-month programme focused on growing innovation talent from within the organisation, and any employee across Farm Mutual Re is able to apply.
Internal employees apply to participate in this programme and compete for a full-time position on the Innovation and Digital Enablement team. They focus on one or two disciplines, such as research, engineering, design or product management. They are not only supported with hands-on learning, but also have the opportunity to take external courses and accreditation toward their area of focus.
After successful completion of the 18-month programme, the employee graduates into a full-time specialist role on the team. This internal focus enables Farm Mutual Re to demonstrate its commitment to growing talent from within and has the added benefit of bringing institutional knowledge to a brand-new team.
Published May 2024
Innovation Recognition Initiative
Recognising accomplishments across any organisation builds a sense of purpose and community. How organisations choose to recognise employee growth and excellence is an important part of demonstrating organisational commitment to employees.
That’s why Farm Mutual Re introduced an Innovation Recognition initiative focused on acknowledging those that are engaged in innovation programmes. The initiative rewards employees with a Lego® career builder kit, where employees choose their own figurine and accessories. As employees progress through the programmes, they receive commemorative Lego® bricks that showcase their applied learning. Bricks can also be received for workshops, project participation, or departmental events like a Hackathon.
Bringing a sense of ‘play’ to skill set growth and development, the recognition initiative establishes an innovation culture that thinks and does things differently, brick by brick. In turn, this focuses on supporting employee engagement and retention, demonstrating an applied approach that aims to build team cohesion, and a culture of innovation. Over time, the bricks proudly showcase a career of collected outcomes.
Investing in employees
Farm Mutual Re is committed to bringing its innovation pursuits to life and is demonstrating that commitment by investing in its people. Since launching in early 2023, the programmes have had high participation rates, with over half of the organisation’s employees engaged in the Innovation Rotational Programme. The Innovation Academy will also see its first graduate in mid-2024.
About Farm Mutual Re
Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan was established in 1959 by Ontario Mutuals to provide efficient and effective reinsurance support to the mutual system.
With Farm Mutual Re’s support, community-based mutual insurers can continue to provide personal service while offering the same security as a multi-national organisation.
Farm Mutual Re’s stability is grounded in its financial strength as well as the long-term relationships it cultivates with its partners which includes reinsurers in Canada, the United States, and selected markets around the world.
