CAREER DEVELOPMENT - AGENCY TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
'What career development guidelines would you suggest for a young person entering the industry, and what steps would you recommend to an agency for implementing these guidelines?'
Jane Gardner Bowers
Schumann & Welch Washington,
New Jersey
'Career-pathing' used to mean moving from position to higher position or from job to higher-paying job, with the eventual goal of breaking into management (climbing the ladder of success). But in many organizations today, career-pathing has been redefined in the framework of a newer, more flattened organizational design, one that cuts out the middle manager.
The emphasis in this new design is on cross-functionality. Rather than working upwards through a hierarchy, employees concentrate on acquiring new skills. Through the process of skills acquisition and cross-functionality, the goal of career-pathing becomes the development of highly expert independent teams which see the business process through from start to finish. In other words, the team finds, sells, and services prospects. Associates are thus empowered to help determine their mission and to get to the real job of meeting client needs; former supervisors act as facilitators (support), not as directors (bosses).
At Bowers, Schumann & Welch, we've formed units called 'self-directed business teams,' under the direction of a general manager. In this organizational design, producers, customer service reps, and telemarketers work together toward common goals in specific target markets and share in the profits of the team's efforts. Employees become experts in their targeted markets and develop strong relationships with carriers. They work on improving service to clients, improving the quality of the book of business, and on increasing their client base.
One thing these teams need is the ongoing opportunity for learning. We've supported our teams by setting up a continuing education training facility called Insurance University (Insure U) which offers technical courses from the American Institute, other top technical courses, and personal development courses on an ongoing basis.
Self-directed business teams also provide opportunities for skills improvement and incentive for people to cross-train and become cross-functional. As needs arise, team members stand in for one another by completing the work of the team and focusing on the end product of the team's efforts rather than the job functions specified in old-style job descriptions. While I'm not suggesting the 'service personality' will ever become a 'sales personality,' I am certain that blurring of traditional boundaries is possible under the team configuration. The end result of career-pathing is to produce multi-skilled experts who can underwrite, rate, place, sell, and service.
With this flattened organizational design, employees are paid for their skills and bonused for performance. Individuals move forward on the career path by moving from less complex to more complex (and probably higher priced) target markets, by improving and increasing skills.
The entire team shares in the profit. By focusing on the profitability of the book of business, loss control, contingency income, and commission income become concerns for every agency staff member, not just management. The greatest advantage with self-directed business teams is that the team concentrates on pleasing the client rather than the boss - to regain excellence.
Neville Harriman
Simcoe Erie Group
Burlington,
Ontario
To develop a career path for the future entrepreneur in the independent agency system, we need to visualize the insurance industry in the year 2000.
The industry will be highly automated in the sale of Personal and Commercial insurance products. Through government regulation, Personal insurance products (Home and Automobile) will have high policy limits, and Comprehensive coverages will be available to all consumers with regulated pricing. Most Commercial Lines products will be priced, underwritten, packaged, and audited through automation with mid-term policy changes incorporated into the policy. The servicing of Personal Lines and many Commercial products will be done by the insurer.
The independent agent will be more involved as a specialist to sell, design, and service complex insurance products. The affluent Personal Lines client, the complex Commercial/Industrial account, and specialty programs for a particular industry will become the forte of the independent agent. The technical and sales expertise of the P/C agent focused in these areas will encompass Life, Health, Workers Compensation, and risk management along industry lines (i.e., hospitality, construction, pharmaceuticals, transportation, etc.).
This means the agent will assume more the role of a specialized insurance consultant with a specific expertise in an industry and related applications of finance, underwriting, marketing, claims, and risk management. Major insurers in these markets will be closely aligned with specialized agents having in-house automated underwriting, policy issuance, and claims-settlement authority.
A significant downsizing of many industries during the next five years will cause displacement in the workforce. The new independent agent career trainees will be individuals from other industries, highly educated with university degrees and varied work experience (engineering, the sciences, accounting, nursing, business).
The career path for new agents will involve an initial two-year training commitment which will involve sales, marketing, underwriting, actuarial, specialized product knowledge, claims, and risk management. Essential to the success of the new agent will be pre-qualification as a salesperson and production of business. The process will involve some employment to meet the financial commitment required.
Following the two-year introduction period, the new agent would continue to receive upgraded training from the employer while pursuing CPCU, CIC, and/or ARM studies.
The automation of the insurance industry and the ability of the agent to focus on expertise in specific industries will provide the agent with a rewarding career, recognized for his or her professionalism. This expertise will provide a rewarding career path that will enable the agent to prepare for the year 2000.