The Ontario Broker - June 2019 - 30

VP, OPERATIONS

AMANDA KETELAARS

"Richard Branson said Take care of your employees and they'll take care of your clients. That's exactly what we're
trying to build here at Mitchell & Whale. If your team has a good feeling about where they work, they're going to
pass that on to the customer, so we never miss an opportunity to pump the tires on our teammates. Give them the
tools, give them the confidence and they'll drive the business forward. That's how we grow."
As VP of Operations, Amanda leads staffing and HR, and manages M&W's day-to-day operations in their
relatively new office space. They moved a year ago into a giant office with lots of space to expand. But it's very
apparent they're not willing to sacrifice culture in the quest for growth.
"Our challenge isn't attracting new talent, it's hiring for experience. Experienced brokers typically can't let go of
what's always been, so we bring in a lot of never evers. People who might not be experienced in insurance, but have
the right attitude, understand what we're trying to do and come to work every day excited about our mission-to
make insurance not suck.
"We've made the decision that it's okay to wait to find the right people and get them up-to-speed. There are some
amazing people out there. When we hire outside the industry, we'll get 400+ applications. I think people are
intrigued when they look us up online."
Amanda says winning IBAO's Innovator of the Year award two years ago initially brought a lot of people
to their door. Team referrals now play a big part of their recruitment strategy, and when they
do look for experience, they work with recruiting firms to find the right kind of candidates.
"There's a big learning curve to hiring strategically."
The team's grown from 2 to 50 teammates in four years, making pace of growth their
biggest challenge. "Our general philosophy is to continuously try new things. If they
work-continue to develop and grow. If they don't, move on. Don't let being right all
the time get in the way and become okay with things not always being perfect. A lot of
people are scared to make mistakes, but we're completely accepting of that reality. It's
true of everything we do.
"Our culture makes it okay to not always have a plan. One of our main
rules is to not ask for rules-we have our mission, or core values, and
that's it. Use good judgement and do the best you can. We wouldn't
have grown at this speed if we waited until everything was perfect."
How they train staff is a great example of M&W's try new things
approach. With two developers on their team, they built an
open database to update changing insurance company rules,
regulations and processes on the fly. With over 40 markets,
teammates rely on one another to keep up-to-date on the
latest changes. The database includes answers to common
questions and acts as a living, breathing document owned by
no one but built by everyone.
"We're building a team of people who want to make a
difference. Our industry has always operated on the
assumption that no one wants to buy insurance. What if
that's not the case? What if it's just the current process
and experience that suck, and what if those can change?
If we build a happy, insurance-positive workplace, that
positivity we cultivate in our teammates will be infectious
with our customers. The talent's here, and with Adam's
crazy brilliant squirrel brain, we just need to nurture it."

JUNE 2019

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The Ontario Broker - June 2019

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