Debbie Atkins, IFoA Head of EngagementIFoA’s Head of Engagement, Debbie Atkins, marks Volunteers’ Week and celebrates one of the IFoA’s greatest assets: our volunteers who continue to dedicate their time and energy to the actuarial profession throughout the global crisis.

The first week of June is Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), a chance to celebrate and thank IFoA volunteers.

Our volunteers are central to everything the IFoA does. This year alone, we are supported by more than 4,000 individuals, IFoA members and non-members (lay) from other professions, based all around the world, and their contributions have continued unabated during the global coronavirus crisis.

We are grateful to all, from those who give their time and energy to maintaining our ‘business as usual’, from afar and amidst the disruption to their everyday lives, to the 550 individuals who have recently volunteered to support the IFoA COVID-19 Action Taskforce (ICAT).

Remote volunteering

Fortunately, when the COVID-19 crisis emerged, the IFoA was already well advanced in using digital technologies to allow remote volunteering.

IFoA Fellow, Steve Wilson makes his volunteering contributions from his base in Switzerland. He said: “I’m not a ‘digital native’, but I have spent nearly all my career in multinationals and have seen the huge benefits of developments in technology on the way we work.

“When colleagues and team members are in different continents, or, indeed, on ‘lockdown’, the ability to connect and work together digitally - with video conferencing, shared documents and so on - is simply transformational.

“So, I’ve found it natural and rewarding to participate in IFoA initiatives without needing to set foot in London or Edinburgh and I don’t give a moment’s thought to the physical location of myself or the colleagues with whom I’m collaborating.”

Fellow, Martin Noble fulfilled his role as Chair of the General Insurance Practice Board from 2017 to 2019 using these technologies.

He said: “When I took on the Chair role in 2017, we had reached a point where video conferencing technology – IFoA uses one called ‘BlueJeans’ – could provide an excellent alternative when meeting in person wasn’t possible.

“When I relocated with work from London to Hong Kong in mid-2018, video conferencing became an essential part of maintaining relationships with the IFoA executive and directors, and keeping projects moving with my colleagues on the Board and in working parties.

“While as meeting chair you need to work a little harder on video calls to encourage and ensure engagement from others, the technology enables greater participation from others in far-flung locations, and that adds diversity and insight.”

83% satisfaction rating

Our vision is for each volunteer to feel valued and supported, and to ensure that IFoA volunteering is a rewarding experience. 

Each year, we ask our volunteers to give us a simple satisfaction rating. This benchmark helps us track our progress against our vision and our latest survey, carried out at the beginning of 2020, has returned a fantastic 83% ‘satisfied / very satisfied’ result.

We have been carrying out this simple survey since 2015 and this is the highest satisfaction rating to date.  

Delivery of this vision is key to ensuring that the IFoA remains a strong and member-driven organisation.

To help achieve this, we welcome feedback from volunteers at any time during the year. We also welcome any pointers as to colleagues – be they volunteers or a member of the IFoA staff – you feel should be recognised for an outstanding contribution.

Since 2012, we have given our volunteers silver volunteer recognition lapel pins to recognise our volunteers (plus a gold version for Council members). As we all adjust to the ‘new normal’, we encourage our volunteer community to make use of our new digital volunteer recognition pin, for use on email signatures and sharing on social media.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering for the IFoA, to request your volunteer recognition pin, or digital badge, to nominate someone for an outstanding contribution, or to request to be notified when a particular opportunity arises, please contact Debbie Atkins, Head of Engagement.

Get involved

Make the most of your IFoA membership and find a volunteering opportunity.