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The Importance of Continuing Education

Modern businesses operate in an era of constant technological, industrial, and regulatory disruption. 

A company’s ability to identify and adapt to these changes is paramount to its success. Business leaders and employees must continuously broaden their knowledge, adjust their strategies, and develop new skills, products, and services.

The best way to do that is to instill a culture of continuing education. Leaders and employees need to be encouraged to learn and innovate, and they need access to tools and resources that facilitate these activities. 

Continuing education doesn’t just make companies and employees smarter. It also creates a more engaged work environment and boosts a company’s appeal to job seekers. The best employees want to learn and expand their skill sets, and they gravitate toward companies that will support their professional development.

How a PIMA Membership Can Help With Continuing Education

PIMA is a community of more than 500 leaders in the insurance and financial services sector. Its members have countless opportunities to learn — both from the organization itself and its members. 

PIMA’s members-only online portal provides a space for members to share creative thoughts and ideas. Message boards and discussion groups are always active with conversations about changes within the industry. 

Members also can browse a library of industry-specific articles, whitepapers, infographics, case studies, and research — and they receive complimentary access to webinars and discounted rates at PIMA events, such as our semiannual conferences. 

PIMA actively creates and distributes original educational content to its members, such as monthly e-newsletters and semiannual digital magazines. To help companies remain compliant, PIMA publishes a legislative and regulatory state report, which is a compilation of changes that affect the selling and marketing of insurance products.

Legislative and regulatory topics include the General Data Protection Regulation, the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, the California Consumer Protection Act, and much more.

“Affinity 2030: Exploring Our Blind Spots for a Brighter Future,” one of PIMA’s research initiatives and a member-only benefit, uses insights from industry experts to make 10- to 15-year projections for brands that embrace the affinity model in the insurance and financial services world. The goal is to identify and explore “blind spots” that reveal growth opportunities for the brands PIMA serves.

These elements combine to make a PIMA membership an essential driver of continuing education. Members also use PIMA’s online resources to onboard and train employees, and executives bring their rising stars to our conferences as part of their professional development.

Here’s what some business leaders had to say about the educational value of a PIMA membership: 

• “I learn from PIMA, and then I use the knowledge I gain to help guide my team, my company, and even our CEO on where we should go next.”
• “I travel every week for work, always for a very specific reason. With PIMA, though, I get to step back a bit and be more strategic and plan.”
• “After a conference, I consolidate my notes. There are always nuggets I can pull from those to take back to my organization. Being at conferences makes you think differently — we’re all on the treadmill in our roles. You attend a PIMA conference and get the time and space to think strategically.”

Published on April 17, 2020.

PIMA^® (Professional Insurance Marketing Association^®) is a member-driven trade association focused exclusively on the group-sponsored benefits market.