Your “CPCU Experience”
Members and Employers Reap Benefits of the “CPCU Experience”
The CPCU Society and the AICPCU are working together to enhance the “CPCU Experience,” which encompasses everything a CPCU experiences in his or her professional life, from first becoming aware of the CPCU designation, to conferment and CPCU Society membership, to helping colleagues become aware of and complete their own CPCU studies. As part of this strategic initiative, participants in the Society’s expert Member Opinion Panel were asked to relate their “CPCU Experiences.” According to the Panel, while personal satisfaction and growth and enhanced earnings figure prominently in the list of benefits they receive from their designation, employers also gain higher performing and more effective employees, who are confident and prepared for future opportunities in the property/casualty insurance industry.
Tap into a “Community of Winners”
Professor Arthur C. Brooks, Ph.D., in a study for the SmithBucklin’s William E. Smith Institute for Association Research called “Where the Winners Meet: Why Happier, More Successful People Gravitate Toward Associations,” found that members of professional associations have higher incomes and report greater job satisfaction than non-members, all else being equal. Based on an analysis of the 2004 General Social Survey of about 1,200 adults and the 2000 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, the paper also concludes that employers who support involvement in professional associations benefit from improved retention of these high-value employees, due to members higher morale and job satisfaction.
The findings of the Society’s “CPCU Experience” survey closely mirror those of Dr. Brooks: the CPCU Society provides members and their employers with access to a community of property/casualty insurance industry “winners.” And on top of being “winners,” Society members also commit to professional excellence, ongoing education, and ethical behavior!
Score Card
CPCUs included in the CPCU Society’s Member Opinion Panel were invited by e-mail Tuesday, March 4, 2008, to participate in a web-based survey to share their experiences as a student and as a CPCU. Survey details include:
Methodology: Web Survey
Survey Period: March 4 through March 18, 2008
Number of Panelists Participating: 174
The “CPCU Experience”
- Awareness: Employers are important sources of information about the CPCU. Seven out of ten CPCUs discover the designation through their employer, followed by one-third who hear about the designation from other CPCUs within their employer.
- CPCU Studies: While maintaining the rigor of the program, the AICPCU and CPCU Society are working to better support students in completing their CPCU studies. Measures to make CPCU courses more accessible or convenient are underway to address the length of time taken to complete the designation. (Two-thirds of the CPCUs on the panel took more than four years to complete their coursework.) Supportive communications from the AICPCU after failing a CPCU exam are designed to prevent students from becoming discouraged. (Just over one-half of the member panelists had to retake an exam.) CPCU “sponsors” to follow and encourage students throughout their CPCU studies, and more contacts with students as they progress through the program are other measures being launched to shorten the time to completion and prevent students from dropping out. The above initiatives are rated as valuable by 60 percent or more of the CPCUs in this survey, and should also benefit employers by increasing and accelerating their returns on investments in the CPCU program.
- CPCU Designation: Two thirds of CPCUs in the panel report earnings gains due to their designation, averaging 28% over their careers to date, and usually occurring within five years of conferment. Seventy percent believe their CPCU has helped them to advance their careers within the industry. Most CPCUs (about 90 percent or more) also agree that their designation makes them more effective employees, and allows them to perform their jobs better.
- CPCU Society Membership: Most member panelists (almost 90 percent) consider the most valuable Society benefits (networking, continuing technical education, alliance with an ethical code, and Society chapter and interest group activities) to be well worth the cost of annual Society dues. In addition, more than one-half believe that the ethical code and Society events, chapters and interest group activities are benefits not available to them elsewhere.
To Find Out More
Read the detailed findings of “Your CPCU Experience” (doc). Or e-mail Suzanne Kinsler, marketing and sales director of the CPCU Society.
Where the Winners Meet: Why Happier, More Successful People Gravitate Toward Associations, published in 2008 by The William E. Smith Institute for Association Research, established and funded by SmithBucklin Corporation. Reprinted, adapted or excerpted with permission from SmithBucklin, April 2008. Reports published by The William E. Smith Institute for Association Research are the property of SmithBucklin Corporation and are protected by the copyright laws of the United States.
|
