claims adjuster

sales representative

customer service representative

insurance broker

business analyst

OTIP (Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan)

OTIP offers a good salary, decent benefits and you don't work weekends and that's it really. It's a good pay cheque with reasonable work life balance. You may have to work to an afternoon shift which is to 7:00pm.

It's inbound call center work providing Health/Dental and Life Insurance to Teachers. It's stressful, frustrating and can be very draining. That in it of itself isn't so bad if you didn't have to clean up after your coworkers. Either via members calling back or callbacks. Call center agents are broken up into teams and the ones to who know what there doing, who are organized will inevitably end up being assigned callbacks of team members who are not. Essentially the good agents end up doing more work which in turn leads burn out and in some cases they eventually leave. It's understandable if a team member is on vacation but when they aren't and are unable manage there time effectively it shows the inefficiency of the training provided.

Management varies and in some cases you may find what may result in disciplinary action with one manager won't go anywhere with another if at all.

For an Inbound BSR dealing with Health/Dental Life Insurance there isn't much upward mobility. The positions available still within the call center are even more stressful. 

There are people I worked with who are great. Some are still there and many who are not.

Management created an environment of chaos.  Instead of utilizing their leaders they had to help fix the problems OTIP was encountering, they approved bandaid solution, after bandaid solution.  Time should have been taken for process improvement much earlier than it was.  Instead, the decision was made to very rapidly hire many reps, and then subsequently they had to let them go, or not renew their contracts, even if they were solid employees.  This created a very high level of stress and anxiety in the Group Call Centre.

The process for performance management meant that most reps were placed on performance plans only having been in their role for 4 months, however, there is a very large learning curve for the role, especially because of the constantly changing information and processes.  

Management was not supportive and was more set on creating reasons for employee failure, instead of helping employees succeed. Many high performing employees were misjudged and let go due to poor leadership.

Support from HR was very lacking!

Benefits coverage decreased, and employee cost to LTD sky rocketed.

Training took almost 10 weeks to complete because they're stuck with a patchwork of a bunch of outdated systems.  I had the exact same job at a different company and they had 1 system that did everything OTIP needs 7 systems to do.  Most of the managers have never actually done the job, you're constantly nagged about your performance indicators and they're extremely nitpicky, if you don't say EXACTLY what they tell you to you get points docked. Outside of your standard breaks and lunch, you have 2 minutes of "flex time", meaning if you take longer than 2 minutes to use the bathroom during your shift, you'll get flagged, and your manager will ask you about it.  Dealing with the claims department is a nightmare because the people who process the claims don't even work for OTIP, they work for Manulife and you can only communicate with them through one of the outdated systems, then claims issues don't get resolved and you'll be left to deal with frustrated members.  By the time I quit, 6 months after starting, over half of the 20+ people I was hired with had also quit, so take that for what it's worth... 

The folks at OTIP that I have worked with and for genuinely seem to care about their coworkers. The worklife balance is good and there are lots of benefits and flexibility to working at the company.

On the negative side of things, the company is still growing into shape and is not quite mature yet. Processes are not in place, rules and regulations are not solidified, and the technology / IT department is still finding its footing. You sometimes don't have the tools you need to work and it can take a long time to get them. The company is slow to adapt and does not readily accept change.

There is no clear or outlined path for improvement or career growth. It is important to know that you will have to set your own path and actively push for position changes, raises etc. You will likely have to propose promotions to your manager and do the work to create the new role yourself, rather than expecting a role to exist and that you can "climb" into it. This can be great if you're a go-getter and frustrating if you don't like ambiguity. 

I would say that OTIP is a great, low stress workplace with a ton of opportunity for operational improvement.

I had heard good thing about OTIP so I applied and was hired.

While the company seemed decent enough at first, it quickly deteriorated.

Training is very fast and seemed rushed. If you don’t absorb 100% of what they train you, the job will be even more difficult then it already is. 

Micromanaged from your first call. You are constantly being watched as if it’s grade school, regardless if you’re performance is decent or not. No consistency amongst management. 

Bureaucracy for even completing the simplest tasks and no communication between departments. Systems are outdated and far too many are required for basic transactions, so huge margin for errors to be made. 

HR even threatened employees against negative reviews which should be a huge red flag. 

The only positive is most of the folks calling are professional and friendly, otherwise this job would be complete unbearable. 

As costs increase across the region, the pay is not keeping up for the amount of effort for the BSR position. 

New employees who have just been hired have been hired on with a higher salary, therefore new people are making more than the employees who have stuck with the company through the NUMEROUS hardships faced.

Systems don't work, it makes your job harder.

Angry members calling in to complain, you can expect to be yelled at multiple times a day.

People call in sick because they are stressed, and instead of working on making the workplace better for employees they make changes that just worsen the conditions.

Management, please take a hard look at the environment right now. 10-20 people are on leave, 10-20 people call in sick each day. It's not illness, its mental stress and anxiety that employees experience working for this company.  Many more leaves will be on the way, as well as turnover. We are promised it will get better and easier, and we're still waiting for that two years in.

OTIP is a wonderful employer to work for.  It's a place that truly cares about their employees and has an admirable motive to support the education community.  There is true work-life balance and a focus on employee wellbeing.  The wellness program, zen room (complete with massage chair) and the active social club are just a few of the extras that make your day at work more enjoyable.  OTIP believes in personal development and promotes the continual learning of its employees.  Since joining OTIP I have been impressed with the structured and organized approach to project management and the constant communication from the CEO and Presidents.  OTIP is growing rapidly and it's future looks very bright.  I feel lucky to work for such a great employer.

I was hired on a contract and was told there would be lots of opportunity to be hired on permanent when my contract ended. For 8 months they told me I was doing a great job and was put in several ongoing training classes and told by my manager I would not have had all this extra training if there weren't keeping me. Two weeks before my contract ended I was brought into a room and told they had decided not to renew any contracts as they no longer needed the contract workers. The management team never seems to know whats going on. Management will tell you they are looking into things and never get back to you. The pay and hours are great. But management is really poor and they lead you on to avoid and conflict.

Life at OTIP has been very fast paced from day 1.  OTIP has seen considerable growth with the awarding of the provincial educational works benefit plans.  Preparation and delivery of this growth has been one of the most challenging, yet enjoyable aspect of the job.  The culture is very employee oriented.  I have expanded my experience in defining the team direction, stabilizing key business processes and designing the data architecture for repatriating corporate data.  With the adoption of operations I had the opportunity to introduce a new service culture that increased executive satisfaction by 30% in the first 6 months.  The only real limitation is the limited room for career advancement.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Most co-workers are friendly enough.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Virtual training during Covid made it very difficult. Not enough time was given to training before being set on your own, then back into training for something else, before you had any muscle memory/repetition skills from the first training round. Too  fast paced a position for the short training/practice time.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Was wfh, have no idea on the office environment or culture. Never interacted with anyone other than via phone.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hectic, lots of calls, little time to breathe or go to the washroom.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Claims adjuster 18 salaries reported	$69,397 per year
Sales representative 12 salaries reported	$62,809 per year
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$50,833 per year
Insurance broker 7 salaries reported	$62,275 per year
Business analyst 9 salaries reported	$80,790 per year

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