Talent management

Sun Life’s focus on the future of work is about reimagining how we work, where we work and the evolving role of the workforce in delivering outcomes, so that we adapt to the changing circumstances of work. Our future of work strategy has several elements:

• Modern, people-focused workspaces: Over the past few years, we’ve renovated or built Sun Life workspaces that encourage new and diverse ways of working. These open, bright and activity-based spaces ensure that moments of togetherness, connection and collaboration can happen with ease. 
• Tools and resources to thrive: We're investing in the resources, tools and technology people are looking for to optimize productivity, creativity and collaboration in a hybrid environment. This includes collaboration experience rooms, and a more collaborative communication tool which integrates many of the digital tools our people use every day. 
• Hybrid work, flexible working: Our future of work journey is centred on hybrid - building more flexibility for our people and business as we serve Clients. We offer flextime work arrangements that enable employees to select their workday start and finish times. We also support opportunities to work short-term from another country. Under the policy, eligible employees can request to work outside of their home country for up to 20 workdays within a calendar year, depending on the destination country.  
• Anytime, anywhere skill development: To foster flexibility and autonomy in shaping their learning process, we provide hybrid training and flexible learning approaches to support our employees learning from any location. 

We offer in-house and online training and leadership development facilitated by internal and external experts for all employees and leaders. For example:  

• Our e-learning portal, myLearning Navigator, also accessible by mobile, contains more than 30,000 courses, tools and resources on everything from allyship, project management and leadership development, to Microsoft Teams tips and tricks. In 2023, 7,205 employees proactively chose to engage with content in myLearning Navigator, building skills and capabilities to develop in their careers and performance.  In addition, 84% of those who utilized the portal were repeat users.
• We offer job rotation, tuition help and experiential opportunities outside of an employee’s day-to-day role. For example, our gig marketplace gives employees the chance to work with teams across Sun Life on short-term projects, regardless of their location or employee level. This provides them with an opportunity to gain new skills and experience – putting employees in the driver’s seat of their own career.
• All employees must complete yearly training on a range of topics. This training is not about ticking a box. It’s focused on developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours to be risk-ready and help us protect our Clients, our brand and, most importantly, each other.
• For the most effective learning, employees can create a custom learning path based on their particular needs
• Virtual classrooms, simulation/gamification and social learning are among the technologies we offer to support diverse ways of learning

To ensure the future of our business, there is a pressing need to find and nurture next-gen employees and leaders. We have adopted many programs to help us build a strong talent pipeline. Examples include:

• Practical learning opportunities for people still in school (co-op and work-study arrangements)
• A Rotational Leadership Development Program that lets new grads explore different roles at Sun Life
• An experience leadership program, which fast tracks the development of top-talent directors into more senior roles
• The Sun Life Leadership Education and Development program, which helps new people leaders in North America and Asia build core management skills and capabilities
• The Sun Life Executive Development Program, an immersive learning experience for senior leaders  
• A leadership program for Sun Life employees in Bermuda, Canada and the U.S. that identify as Asian, Black or Hispanic-Latino 
• The Sun Life Leadership Academy for all AVP and above leaders, which supports cultural change through common learning experiences and embedding of new behaviours 
• The Dean Connor Sun Life Inclusion Scholarships for Black and Indigenous Students in Canada, which provides them with monetary support, a summer internship with Sun Life, a Sun Life mentor and a chance to be offered a full-time role with Sun Life after graduation
• Yearly talent reviews that help us identify and develop future senior leaders across Sun Life

We encourage open, two-way dialogue with our people and seek their input through various channels. These channels include: 

• Real-time feedback where employees provide and receive regular feedback from the people they work closely with 
• An annual goal-setting process, yearly performance reviews and ongoing leader and employee check-ins 
• Quarterly engagement surveys and just-in-time pulse surveys  
• Career planning sessions 
• Internal and external social media platforms