Inside the recently launched NCCI Academy
Gain exclusive insights into the workers’ comp education program designed for new and seasoned insurance pros.
Aiming to reinforce the fundamentals of workers’ compensation as well as delve into more complex matters, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has launched the NCCI Academy featuring a curriculum-based online learning portal.
“Carriers have been looking for resources to teach their employees about the workers’ compensation industry,” Bill Donnell, president and CEO of NCCI, said in a release. “Designed with input from more than a dozen insurers, NCCI Academy is a valuable extension to in-house training programs.”
The program’s initial offerings, which are exclusively for NCCI affiliates, include 25 modules in the following five learning paths:
- Intro to workers’ comp and NCCI.
- Classification basics.
- Experience rating basics.
- Experience rating worksheet.
- Experience rating ownership.
“While we tailored the program to include fundamental, as well as more advanced subjects, it was also built to complement any insurer-based education program,” says Mark Mileusnic, chief customer operations officer for NCCI.
Offering some exclusive insights into the new program, Mileusnic fielded a few questions from PropertyCasualty360.com.
PC360: When developing the courses for NCCI Academy, what were some of the most pressing needs of workers’ compensation professionals you hoped to address?
Mileusnic: As our work environment has changed, so has our industry’s workforce. The growing combination of retirements, a new generation of talent coming into the industry and evolving learning needs were driving forces in developing NCCI Academy. These were also the recurring themes that we were hearing from our insurer affiliates.
PC360: What portion of NCCI Academy excites you the most? How is this program going to move the workers’ compensation sector forward?
Mileusnic: Two things: First, we’ve got a great combination of foundational as well as more expert knowledge elements included in our curriculum and we have a growing list of courses that users will have access to in the coming months. Second, we’ve seen just a tremendous reaction to NCCI Academy’s introduction. Carrier feedback indicates that the curriculum is responding to a real need and filling a knowledge gap that will directly impact the development of their teams’ skill set.
PC360: How long, on average, does the program take to complete?
Mileusnic: Each module is about five to eight minutes in length, so a learning path takes less than an hour, including the knowledge check at the end. However, you don’t have to complete it all at once. NCCI Academy provides a logical learning sequence and keeps track of your progress, so if you need to stop and come back later, you can pick up right where you left off.
PC360: In addition to the certificate, what will insurance professionals who complete the program take away?
Mileusnic: This program provides a well-rounded understanding of our workers’ compensation system, critical knowledge of how different components of the system interact and an opportunity to elevate learning as we continue to release new modules/learning paths. Users can also easily highlight their module completion by sharing transcripts with their managers.
PC360: When can NCCI insurers anticipate seeing other courses in the program become available? What are some of the topics future courses will cover?
Mileusnic: We have dozens of additional modules already in development that we plan to release in early 2022. Topics will include rate making, the classification inspection system and more. Our curriculum updates will allow for an ongoing and robust workers’ compensation-focused learning experience.
PC360: How has the response been since you launched NCCI Academy and what are you hearing from insurers?
Mileusnic: The feedback has been overwhelming! Since our late October launch, we’ve already issued hundreds of certificates of completion to insurance company professionals representing close to 200 companies. That activity really validates the broad need and appetite for this kind of training. We couldn’t be happier with the results, and we are looking forward to seeing them continue to grow in the coming months!
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