Formal training

Formal training at Swiss Re combines technical, professional and leadership skills training. We design our training internally or in collaboration with leading external partners and deliver it through our long-established Swiss Re Academy. In late 2016, we introduced some new “blended learning” professional skills training which embraces the 70/20/10 principles.

Swiss Re Academy provides a portfolio of blended learning, combining face-toface learning, combining face-to-face learning, eLearning, peer-to-peer coaching and virtual classrooms. Together, they offer a flexible approach to learning. Our courses are well received by our employees; for instance, in leadership skills training we scored 4.39 out of 5 in 2016 (highest score ever recorded). Swiss Re Academy has developed extensive professional and personal development curricula to respond to changing business needs. Currently, we offer more than 1 000 different training courses. Our employees attend training in areas as diverse as underwriting, finance, sales and negotiation, leadership, diversity and inclusion, interpersonal skills, project management, office tools and language skills. Certain courses, such as compliance training, are mandatory.

In 2016, all our employees took part in our development and training programmes. They completed 231 826 hours of training overall, averaging 15.3 hours and USD 919 per employee. This drop in per-capita training expenses is directly related to the increase in online learning and the decrease in classroom trainings. In addition, each of our Business Units organises a considerable amount of specialist training.

A total of 836 employees participated in sales training during 2016, with the average feedback score of 4.45 (out of 5). This standard exceeds industry benchmarks. We recommend that employees who work directly with our clients invest at least two days per year in formal sales training. Also in 2016, we launched a tailored three-year development plan “Reinsurance Finance: Own your development” for our finance employees. This courses were attended by more than 1 500 employees in 2016.

In line with our flexible development and training philosophy, the Swiss Re Academy intranet site gives our employees easy access to our global learning catalogue, links to regional learning offerings and a multimedia library. Close to 78% of our training is delivered through eLearning formats. This reduces the need for our employees to travel and spend time away from the office, while supporting our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.