NICOLA Leo-Rhynie has spent the last 20 years earning her stripes in the insurance business.

Up to recently, she was the assistant vice-president in the Employee Benefits Division of Sagicor, having previously served the company’s Finance Department where she focussed on not only strategic planning and budgeting, but also on evaluating investment opportunities and capital allocation.

It is little wonder then that as at November 1 last year, Leo-Rhynie was promoted to vice-president of Employee Benefits Marketing — a role that puts her in charge of a team of 45 people who have as their focus the service of corporate and government groups for insurance and pension benefits products.

“My recent appointment has certainly been a rewarding achievement because it has come from commitment to a job I have found consistently fulfilling, working at a company which has given me numerous opportunities to grow and being a part of a hard-working, motivated team, which together has achieved significant growth for the business and the company,” she told Career & Education.

Her supervisor Errol McKenzie, executive vice-president for the Employee Benefits Division, had high praise for Leo-Rhynie from whom he expects great things.

“She was appointed based on years of consistent high performance, strong relationships with client and corporate Jamaica groups and strong leadership qualities in achieving high sales results,” he said. “I expect her to achieve all our sales and marketing objectives for Employee Benefits (and to find) business solutions for corporate and government clients in Employee Benefits.”

Leo-Rhynie has herself said she was well prepared for the new position and in an area from which she has derived considerable job satisfaction over the years.

“Working in Employee Benefits has been a unique and rewarding experience as it involves being part of a high-performance team that has grown the business into a market leader in all product lines in which we operate,” said the married mother of two who has so far served six years as a member of the Employee Benefits management team.

“The working environment gives us the freedom to introduce and explore new ideas and fresh thinking, but within clearly defined parameters of the standards we hold ourselves to of how we offer the best, most efficient product to our clients,” Leo-Rhynie added.

In 20 years, she said she has been driven by the need to understand “what drives both the organisation’s top and bottom line, and how our relationship with our clients, impacts our performance”.

According to Leo-Rhynie, she has every intention of doing a good job, bringing to the new post more than her wealth of experience, which began with the Insurance Company of the West Indies.

“I hope to bring to the new position, technical capabilities, significant experience gained and personal attributes which presents an opportunity for me to effectively lead a motivated, result-oriented team to continue to perform well,” she told Career & Education.

“Our team mandate will be to grow the business lines, in a very challenging market in which employers have to practise tight expense management but continue to want to be able to offer their employees as wide a range as possible of valued insurance options for their financial security and that of their families,” added Leo-Rhynie, who holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from the University of the West Indies and a master’s in business administration from the University of Wales (Manchester Business School).

Quizzed as to her areas of priority in the coming months, she said: “To ensure that we continue to pioneer in the market and provide our customers cost effective, innovative employee benefit solutions, offered through the most efficient delivery channels.”

And her advice to anyone interested in pursuing career advancement?

“In any career you want to pursue, set goals, be prepared to learn and grow from every opportunity and never relent until you achieve your goals,” said Leo-Rhynie, who admits to having stayed with Sagicor courtesy of the “nurturing culture which emphasised teamwork while encouraging initiative”.