Garret Gray is the president of Global Insurance Solutions at CoreLogic.
There is a common saying in the insurance industry that nobody decides to work in insurance, but rather, they end up in insurance due to random circumstances. As an industry, I think we need to work together to change the perception of insurance and encourage people to pursue this impactful career path.
Attracting younger individuals to the insurance industry is more critical today than ever, because the industry is predicted to lose approximately 400,000 workers by 2036 due to attrition. When individuals leave the insurance workforce for retirement or other reasons, the industry loses more than just personnel. What goes with these experts is institutional knowledge and experience.
The impact of the Great Resignation may have waned in the property insurance industry, but the competition for skilled employees remains a significant concern as property insurance companies have continued to struggle to fill the gaps and anticipate losses.
For the insurance industry, it’s time to focus on bringing and retaining more qualified talent to the industry. This can be accomplished by the following measures:
Shifting Perceptions By Making An Impact
When discussing careers in insurance, particularly for recruitment, it is essential to emphasize insurance professionals’ daily impact on people’s lives.
Many people left their jobs during the Great Resignation because they sought more meaningful work. They wanted to find work where they could make a difference. In the insurance industry, professionals can change people’s lives. Talk about impact.
Highlight the impact of claims professionals’ work on homes and people’s lives beyond the insurance policy, as they play a crucial role in ensuring the safety of homes and facilitating swift recovery after a claim has been made. Companies should also accentuate the importance these roles have on customer communication and their ability to provide positive policyholder experiences.
This ability to impact people drives so many individuals to insurance careers, and it shouldn’t be a “best-kept secret.” By focusing on how careers in insurance can improve lives and create thriving communities, the industry can continue to bring and retain new professionals into these roles.
Embracing Technology For A Better Future
Property insurance carriers can make a difference by providing their employees and the industry with insurance technology (insurtech) that leverages artificial intelligence (AI). (Disclosure: My company provides solutions for this, as do others.)
AI is beneficial to the insurance industry because it:
• Automates and optimizes workflows to eliminate manual administrative tasks.
• Enables insurers to do more work virtually.
• Analyzes large quantities of data and produces meaningful insights so employees don’t have to parse massive amounts of information.
Because AI can assist with the hard skills of underwriting and claims processes, insurance companies can recruit candidates with the soft skills required to be most successful as an insurance professional: communication, conflict management and emotional intelligence.
Let candidates know how the organization has leveraged AI to improve their work experience so employees can focus on the human element of their jobs.
Meeting Candidates Where They Are—And With What They Want
Insurance companies and organizations that support the industry need to attract candidates with long-term goals. There is a clear case to hire members of Generation Y (also known as Millennials) and Generation Z.
Companies need a defined digital presence to attract Millennials and Gen-Z. This includes leveraging active, relevant websites and social media accounts to tell their story—to talk about the lives and the communities they impact.
If the brand resonates with a candidate during the application process, they’ll likely want to ensure that the company culture is a focus and often find this as important as compensation.
Building an engaging online presence is crucial to showing the company’s human side. This includes taking advantage of social media videos, which Gen-Z consumes voraciously. Videos that show a day in the life of insurance professionals, the results of their work for policyholders, the career progression in insurance and even leveraging industry influencers can engage prospective employees and help them understand the impact this work has. This type of content also creates a desire to be part of it.
Insurance companies should also leverage social media channels and company websites to discuss community outreach and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Young professionals seeking work don’t just look for job descriptions; they also want to understand the company’s ethos, operation and impact.
And, of course, insurance companies need to make sure that all job listings are posted on a mobile-friendly website that is relevant to these generations so job seekers can apply to positions using their phones. Gen-Z, after all, is the first generation that does not know a world without the internet and mobile devices.
The Insurance Industry’s Call To Action
The property insurance industry is currently faced with the challenge of filling the gaps being left open by all of the Baby Boomers who are and will be leaving the insurance industry in the next several years. More work is needed—and more people desiring to help others—to see insurance careers as a desirable profession. Insurance companies must deploy meaningful strategies and create workable resources for their employees that keep them more fulfilled in their day-to-day working lives.
We all have a part to play in shifting the external perception of insurance as a mundane career that one happens to fall into, to the desirable exciting and impactful career it is. This is not your grandfather’s industry anymore!
With the right communication strategies and up-to-date technology in place, organizations can successfully overcome workforce challenges. The popularity of insurance careers can increase by recruiting from a more extensive and highly qualified pool of talent. It’s all about focusing on the heart of insurance: the people who make it work and being involved in building more resilient and thriving communities.
