Talent management

Sun Life is committed to excelling at being a hybrid organization. As a hybrid organization, we're working to ensure that hybrid working best practices are deeply embedded in how we work, driving strong employee engagement and experiences, delivering exceptional business performance, and setting the standard others will want to follow. Our approach is to test, learn and scale solutions that work for our employees and our business. Excelling at hybrid strategy has three focus areas:

• Career: Our people draw on future-ready skills to build fulfilling careers. They engage in virtually delivered learning journeys and identify areas of focus in their careers. Since implementing these strategies, we've seen increased movement in lateral roles and employee retention for participants. 
• Productivity: Our businesses sustain and enhance productivity to drive impact. We provide employees with tools and best practices to enhance their productivity, whether they are working from home or from one of our offices.
• Connection: Our people are connected to Sun Life and each other in ways that build our culture, belonging, engagement and facilitate knowledge transfer. We continue to upgrade our workspaces to support moments of togetherness and collaborative work, while piloting new ways of driving intentional connections within and across teams.

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

• Our e-learning portal, myLearning Navigator, contains more than 30,000 courses, tools and resources on everything from project management and leadership development, to Microsoft Teams tips and tricks. In 2024, 8,372 employees proactively chose to engage with content in myLearning Navigator, building skills and capabilities to develop in their careers and performance. In addition, 70% 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 emerging talent 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).
• Leadership development journeys for aspiring leaders to strengthen their skills for their current and for future roles.
• 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 various parts of North America and Asia build core management skills and capabilities.
• The Sun Life Executive Development Program, an immersive learning experience for senior leaders.
• The Sun Life Leadership Academy for all Assistant Vice Presidents 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, bi-annual performance reviews and ongoing check-ins on development progress and performance feedback.
• Quarterly engagement surveys and just-in-time pulse surveys.   
• Career planning sessions.  
• Internal and external social media platforms.