Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan - April 2020

ONTARIO TE ACHER S INSUR ANCE PL AN

Doing everything with its members in mind DIGITAL REPORT 2020

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

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Doing everything with its members in mind WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

JAKE MEGEARY

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O N TA R I O T E A C H E R S I N S U R A N C E P L A N

Stacey Rous, Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer, explains how OTIP’s unwavering dedication to its members is being augmented with technological developments

F

ounded iFounded in 1977 and currently managed and owned by four teaching affiliates (AEFO, ETFO, OECTA and

OSSTF) in Ontario, Canada, the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) was established on the 04

basis that nobody understands education better than educators. A not-for-profit organisation, OTIP is committed to providing the very best insurance benefits to its members, using its collective industry insights to go above and beyond the needs of the teaching and education professionals it serves.

Starting out handling long-term disability insurance, OTIP has subsequently grown to over 700 dedicated staff and covers a wide range of auto, home and health insurance.

Joining the company in 2016, Stacey Rous, EVP and CFO, came from an accountancy background originally, but gradually gained experience in insurance from some of the top companies in the sector, including Allianz. “I have a property, accident and sickness and group benefits background too,” she explains. “My career has really been about change:

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O N TA R I O T E A C H E R S I N S U R A N C E P L A N

“ Insurance is our business, but it’s the people we work with every day that are important” — Stacey Rous, Exec VP and Chief Financial Officer, OTIP

I adapt to change and I try to implement change very quickly in businesses.”

Rous considers her executive leadership skills and ability to identify problems and subsequently bolster a company’s operations and finances to be the reason OTIP sought her out. What sealed the deal for her was an outstanding corporate culture that clearly centralises the wants and needs of its members.

“It’s all about the people,” Rous says.

“Insurance is our business, but it’s the people we work with every day that are

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so important to our success.”

When she started with the company almost four years ago, Rous says that it was an intense transition period as OTIP was expanding. “I quickly saw that our project management office and parts of our operations were not adequately staffed and really needed ramping up.”

Meeting the workload demand required strong management skills and a clear vision of the company’s overall goals.

“You can use technology down the road after you ramp up your growth. You can’t do it in the beginning; you really need people to get something as large as what we were doing off the ground,” Rous explains.

The OTIP Story CLICK TO WATCH

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1:53

07 Utilising technology whilst always

service-oriented and we want people

keeping business people-centric is a

that have empathy and care for them.”

philosophy which informs both Rous’s

Therefore, OTIP is careful to ensure

approach to being a CFO and OTIP’s

that any technology introduced to the

method of operating. “Great success

company has the end-user in mind

is built on people, not on technol-

and will benefit their members directly.

ogy,” she says, “but technology is the

“It is so important to make sure that our

enabler that helps keep your work-

workforce is equipped with the neces-

force engaged.” For this reason, the

sary tools to be able to do their job

company seeks out individuals with

well. I always say, ‘we are not for profit,

creative flair, drive and passion to help

but we’re not for loss either.”

deliver quality and member-focused

Serving approximately 20% of the

services to Ontario’s education com-

teaching and education staff in the

munity. “At OTIP, our job is to look

province prior to 2016, she states

after our members, so we’re very

that OTIP now supports almost 100% w w w.o t ip . com

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- more than half a million members

across Ontario. With a vision of

and their dependents. “OTIP’s growth

always fulfilling the insurance needs

came from our expertise in the indus-

of the province’s educators, the

try and the backing of the four Ontario

company funnels any profits directly

teaching unions saying, ‘OTIP needs

back into its members’ benefits

to do this work’.” Taking a strong and

programmes. The ‘not for profit but

positive stance, OTIP operates with

not for loss’ attitude also means that

the conviction that once someone

the latest innovations in technology

experiences its service they won’t

are trialled and considered for use.

want to go anywhere else. The organi-

“We need those technologies because

sation achieves this by maintaining

as times change and new teach-

care and empathy for its members at

ers join the profession, they expect

all times, and this approach appears

choice in the platforms we offer

to be swiftly winning over educators

them,” explains Rous.

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OTIP Sponsorship of Schools Projects and Initiatives CLICK TO WATCH

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1:54

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O N TA R I O T E A C H E R S I N S U R A N C E P L A N

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One particular innovation which had

own this, and come up with a creative

a large impact is what OTIP calls ‘mid-

solution to solve this problem.” What

dleware’. In the wake of its increasing

resulted was the development of a

membership, Rous says, data was

unique computer programme which

being collected in very large quanti-

allowed OTIP to maximise its capac-

ties from over 70 school boards and

ity for data processing, allowing the

across four separate teaching unions.

company itself to produce a member’s

It was soon discovered that some of

eligibility for benefits. “OTIP is ‘in the

the information had been transmit-

middle’ between the school board and

ted incorrectly, causing hardship to

the member and that is how the term

members who were unable to access

‘middleware’ got coined,” explains

the benefits they needed. “We took a

Rous. “Now, instead of relying on

step back and said, ‘our members are

others to ensure our members’ infor-

in a crisis’,” she says, “We needed to

mation is accurate, OTIP has taken

E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE

Stacey Rous Stacey Rous is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at OTIP, Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan.

Responsible for Finance and IT strategy, including financial operations of the company and accountable for the Project Management Office, Stacey is an accomplished financial executive known for achieving financial and service benchmarks by creating a compelling vision, clearly communicating strategies and providing strong leadership.

She has more than 25 years of progressive leadership experience in operational finance. Stacey has provided executive financial leadership to the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network, Allianz Global Assistance and Cowan Insurance Group of Companies.

Stacey is an MBA graduate from Athabasca University and holder of CPA designations in Canada and the US. Throughout her career, she has continued to seek educational opportunities and certifications that enhance her finance and operational capabilities, including: Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) designation, Certified Public Accountant (US designation) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation.

Outside of her role with OTIP, Stacey is actively involved in building strong partnerships with communities to make a positive impact on social issues such as social isolations, poverty, inequality and mental health. She currently serves on the Board of the YMCA for Kitchener Waterloo, the Canadian Mental Health Association for Waterloo Wellington and International Women’s Forum Waterloo.

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Success begins and ends with people.

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Our technology, people and processes help organizations simplify administration burden and increase productivity, while providing industry-leading member support.

Morneau Shepell takes a holistic approach to benefits administration, retirement services, absence management and employee assistance.

We provide the tools and expertise to help organizations solve complex problems to improve productivity and engagement, well-being, and financial security.

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“ You can use technology down the road after you ramp up your growth.

You can’t do it in the beginning; you really need people to get something as large as what we were doing off the ground” — Stacey Rous, Exec VP and Chief Financial Officer, OTIP

partnered with Brooklin Consulting, experts at productivity enhancement, to help us make the necessary changes to improve service and quality for our members.” Working with numerous insurance, tech and admin companies, one other partner singled out for special praise by Rous is the HR services company Morneau Shepell, which helped OTIP implement a new health and dental administration platform just prior to its explosive growth. “Morneau Shepell has been working with us since 2014. It has walked side-by-

control of the situation and brought

side with us, living through and

an operational stability that would not

helping OTIP with the difficult times

have been possible without the mid-

and always coming up with creative

dleware solution.”

ideas. Morneau Shepell really cares

As with any organisation, in

about our members and we couldn’t

order to deliver a superior service,

be where we are today without them.”

a company cannot function alone.

Other companies lauded by Rous

OTIP recognises this and has built

include Waterloo-based Economical

important partnerships with local and

Insurance (“they’re a huge partner

international businesses to assist in

for us”), Aviva Canada and Robotic

its mission. “Operational Excellence

Process Automation Implementation

is at the centre of the member jour-

Inc (RPAi Inc), the latter enabling

ney,” Rous explains. “Given our need

OTIP’s first utilisation of robotics.

to improve a number of temporary

“People sometimes get scared

and inefficient processes, we have

when they hear about robotics and w w w.o t ip . com

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CO M PAN Y FACT S

Serving approximately 20% of the education staff in the province prior to 2016, Rous states that OTIP now supports almost 100% - more than 500,000 members and their dependents.

15 automation because they think it will take away their jobs. However, robots are simply an extension of your workforce, designed to take away the repetitive administrative tasks and allow employees to focus on valueadded work for our members,” Rous emphasises. Demonstrating that OTIP is willing to try out anything if it appears beneficial for its membership, Rous clarifies: “what the company is doing today in robotics

“ At OTIP, our job is to look after our members, so we’re very serviceoriented and we want people that have empathy and can care for them” — Stacey Rous, Exec VP and Chief Financial Officer, OTIP

is small, but we’re branching out into other areas of the business to help with process automation.” w w w.o t ip . com

O N TA R I O T E A C H E R S I N S U R A N C E P L A N

Adding another crucial component to OTIP’s everyday computing infrastructure is Applied Systems’™ (AS) ‘Epic™ ’ Broker Management System.

A long-term provider of software solutions to the insurance sector, AS’s product allows OTIP to gain a holistic view of its business, integrating P&C, benefits and sales into one application. One of the most widely used agency management systems around the world, Epic provides OTIP with an essential method of managing rela16

tionships with its members, as well as

“ What we’re trying to do is take away the repetitive administrative tasks and allow them to focus on value-added work for our members” — Stacey Rous, Exec VP and Chief Financial Officer, OTIP

1977

Year founded

$1.6bn

Revenue in Canadian dollars

accounting functions and core administrative capabilities relating to insurance.

The last few years have been a challenging and transformative time for OTIP. Not only has the company striven to link technology to each member’s experience in a meaningful way, but recent events - such as the ongoing Ontario teacher strikes

700

Number of employees

- have conspired to make life for the province’s educators even more challenging. Despite this, the company is confident that no other business understands education from an insurance perspective as it does, and it is by bringing technology and people together that OTIP hopes to further distinguish itself. “We’re really about ease of doing business and ensuring that we can leverage the technology to get things right,” Rous states.

“Everything we do is for our members.”

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ONTARIO TEACHERS INSURANCE PLAN 125 NORTHFIELD DR WEST WATERLOO ONTARIO CANADA T + 1 800 267 6847 www.otip.com

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