New communities replace GI Societies
Publication date:
28 April 2023
Last updated:
18 December 2023
Author(s):
Tim Groves, Programme Development and Partnerships Manager
As part of our Strategic Plan, we have committed to refreshing and renewing our governance and identity to ensure both the CII and PFS can flourish as professional membership bodies. As a first step, we are moving away from using our three Society brands for insurance brokers, claims and underwriting professionals.
Members told us that they found it confusing to become a member of not just the CII, but also a Local Insurance Institute and a Society. In future, we will refer to professional communities of members led by boards of expert practitioners. The Personal Finance Society and Society of Mortgage Professionals are not affected by these changes. In due course, we will seek to identify other ways in which our organisation – unique in having two membership bodies – can speak for, and across, the insurance, financial planning and mortgage advice professions.
Why have we done this?
GI members told us that they found the previous proposition confusing, and that it felt like the Societies were separate bodies from the CII, rather than a key feature of their membership.
What have you done?
We’ve made it simpler to understand the CII’s offer by launching new CII professional community pages on our website and LinkedIn. The web pages will be the home of new content, including dedicated programmes of CPD, and provide further information about each community and their boards. The LinkedIn pages will provide forums for discussion across each of the three communities.
We’ll also be launching new monthly newsletters tailored to each community that also contain more general CII content. In addition, we’ll be developing ways that our community boards might be able to better link up with Local Insurance Institutes. For example, will be bringing board members together with volunteers from across the network in June to workshop ideas for how we can provide even greater support to the wider CII membership.
Will you still have boards?
During the last six months we have focused on recruiting additional community board members and we now have a wealth of highly experienced senior practitioners, from a diverse range of backgrounds, who are all passionate about serving their communities and working with the CII.
What will change?
We had already moved away from producing society e-zines, which only went to members in that Society, and instead launched a six-monthly community supplement inside the CII Journal. This means that each specialist community can always stay abreast of what is going on in the other sectors, which could help them develop their careers.