Employee and management development

At Swiss Life, continuous professional development and regular investments in the employability of its employees are of paramount importance. Employees benefit from a broad range of training and development programmes. This is continuously reviewed, further developed and expanded by an expert committee in accordance with new needs and requirements. Various online learning platforms are available to employees, supplemented by physical training courses in line with strategic goals. The offering is freely accessible to all employees so that they can pursue further training in line with their individual needs in their day-to-day work, regardless of time or place. In terms of content, the offerings cover a wide range of topics, including professional development, personal development, time and stress management, organisation, languages, IT security, collaboration, error culture, digitalisation, use of AI, time management, communication or project management.

Within the Swiss Life Group, ambitious career starters have access to a wide range of vocational training courses, apprenticeships, internships, graduate and trainee programmes and combined university degrees. These offerings are part of a range of measures to secure its need for skilled workers. The focus here is on the professional development of junior staff, being able to offer exciting prospects after the end of their training and, linked to this, having as many junior staff as possible continue working at Swiss Life after they have completed their training.

Future first and second-level managers (team leaders and department heads), project managers and specialists are prepared for their future roles with specific programmes tailored to their needs. These programmes include training modules and project work that consistently address the latest management and specialist topics. In addition to the content-related topics, the training programmes also focus on networking and exchanging different perspectives.

The Swiss Life Group also offers transition assistance programmes to help staff maintain their employability and to provide support when leaving the world of work. For example, the Switzerland, Germany and France divisions offer specific courses and advice to help employees plan their professional future and retirement.

The Swiss Life divisions adapt the training programmes for employees and managers in line with their respective needs and supplement their offerings through targeted partnerships with educational institutions. Below are some examples of the offerings from across the divisions:

Swiss Life Switzerland

Employees have access to a broad internal training programme covering various topics such as cross-divisional cooperation, the decision-making culture, diversity and inclusion, dealing with mistakes, promoting lean management, and digitalisation. Employees also have unrestricted access to an external online self-learning platform. It offers attractive and up-to-date learning content, some with certification options, which employees can use in a self-determined manner or in conjunction with curated learning opportunities to promote their development and employability.

Sales Force employees are obliged to complete the insurance agent examination set by the Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association (VBV) or the certified insurance and pension advisor examination set by the Association for Continuous Education in the Financial Industry (IAF). After successfully completing one of the two qualifications, they are entered in the register of “Cicero” – the quality seal for professional insurance advice. Sales Force employees continuously develop their skills. To further their careers, advisors are obliged to obtain the qualification “dipl. Finanzberater/-in IAF” (certified financial advisor). This is an external training qualification that is recognised in the market and offered by the IAF (Association for Continuous Education in the Financial Industry). Training to become a “Finanzberater/-in mit eidg. Fachausweis” (Swiss-certified financial advisor) is the final step in the training offered and is completed on a voluntary basis.

The Swiss Life Switzerland Talent Pool Programme offers targeted development opportunities to employees who have the potential and motivation for roles and tasks with greater complexity and scope of impact. In order to further strengthen collaboration within the organisation, all managers also take part in a mandatory series of training courses and workshops to improve their leadership, ownership, collaboration and lean management skills. This helps lay the foundation to build on the strategic cultural initiative over the long term.

Swiss Life France

All employees are offered professional training courses in various areas, such as environmental insurance, health and tax-qualified insurance, life insurance, property and accident insurance and financial management. In addition, courses on languages, sales, wellbeing, time management, self-confidence, communication, culture and change, IT and digitalisation, project management, compliance and security are also available.

For the training and certification of sales and asset management staff, Swiss Life France has entered into partnerships with KEDGE Business School, EM Normandie Business School and Université Paris Dauphine – PSL.

The My Boost programme aims to develop and retain talented individuals in a targeted manner. This programme teaches openness, transversality, collective intelligence, innovation and creativity in order to enhance individual and collective performance and prepare talented staff for the challenges of tomorrow. A specific course is also offered for managers in cooperation with the KEDGE Business School.

Swiss Life Germany

Employees of Swiss Life Germany have access to a wide range of internal learning opportunities. Topics include personal development, professional training, time and stress management and organisation. The learning content can be completed in a self-determined manner across various platforms. The offering is complemented by a number of face-to-face events.

As part of initial training or studies, Swiss Life Germany works together at the Garching and Hanover locations with the respective universities of applied sciences, vocational schools and the Berufsbildungswerk der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft (BWV Munich). In addition, actuarial training in Garching takes place in close partnership with the German Association of Actuaries (DAV). Within our internal learning platform, our employees and advisors have numerous training opportunities at their disposal, for example to meet the statutory training period requirements as a minimum.

With internal programmes such as manager onboarding or the 18-month “LEAD” programme, Swiss Life Germany provides potential and new managers with targeted training so they can prepare for their management responsibilities and develop a comprehensive understanding of the business. Managers are supported here by experienced mentors.

Swiss Life International

Employees can apply for financial support and time off work to attend their individual training. In these training courses, employees can acquire specific skills and recognised qualifications in their field of expertise. In addition to these individual offerings, training is offered in the areas of compliance, security and data protection. Specially designed programmes are also offered for managers.

In addition to the formal training options, younger employees are supported in their day-to-day work by the strong culture of “enablement”, being given autonomy and assuming responsibility for their own career path.

Swiss Life Asset Managers

There is a wide range of education and training programmes available to encourage lifelong learning and professional development. The “AM Academy” serves as a central hub in this regard and offers a mix of formal training, social learning and practical experience. There is a core focus on management development, where managers actively coach and support the continuous growth of their team members.

All employees have opportunities to promote collaborative and trust-based cooperation in the sense of “high-performing teams”, to offer information on tools and methods, and to develop soft skills. In addition to internal programmes, Swiss Life Asset Managers works with various online platforms to provide its employees with access to self-learning courses in the areas of personal and professional development, languages and data skills.

Swiss Life Asset Managers sponsors various academic awards in the area of the promotion of young talent: Together with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, for example, it presents the Swiss Life Thesis Award for the best Bachelor’s and Master’s theses in the field of finance and sponsors the Swiss Life MFE Award (Master of Financial Engineering) at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Sponsorship of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Switzerland, a network for sustainable urban development, enables selected employees to take part in training courses and events. Livit, in cooperation with Wincasa, the school of the Swiss Real Estate Association (SVIT) and the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich (HWZ), offers a course leading to the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Real Estate Accounting.

Swiss Life Asset Managers offers a range of programmes specifically aimed at the development of both aspiring and experienced managers. These aim to support leaders on their career path, unleash the potential of their teams, embed the leadership philosophy in the working culture, and promote an inclusive leadership style.