A young agent, the son of an agency owner, once said the problem with most agency principals is that they’re salespeople, and salespeople hate confrontation. The job of a salesperson is to never say no. Most people avoid confrontation because it carries an unpleasant connotation. The reality is that strong leadership is necessary for any business to survive.
Fact: No matter what standard is set, some employees will be unhappy.
Every employee has areas of strength and areas that need improvement. When agency management is unwilling to face the need to help an employee improve they’re doing no one a favor. The employee is the ultimate loser. A mediocre employee brings down the overall productivity and energy of the staff. The employee loses marketable skills when they perform at a lower work standard, which reduces their value on the job market. It increases the stress on principals in terminating the employee because they’re concerned the employee will have trouble finding another job.
The employee and the agency suffer because a bad employee reduces the productivity, profit, and ultimately the value of the agency in dollars. This might reduce income to the point of forcing the agency to sell or merge. In this situation, the agency won’t get the best sale price. The mediocre employees will be the first ones let go in a sale or merger because they won’t measure up.
SPECIFIC STANDARDS
Determine what skills are required of your staff and measure each employee against this standard. Then determine what resources are available to improve each employee in specific areas:
- Technical skills — do they really know the forms of the carriers represented?
- Computer skills — do they know how to maximize use of your agency management system?
- Communication skills, time management skills, and sales skills — what standards will place your agency above the competition?
REGULAR REVIEWS
Avoid annual reviews. They allow too much time to pass during which bad habits develop. In addition, both the employer and employee forget the good and bad over such a long period. At least every six months, or even better quarterly, review with the employee their development against the standards of the agency. Reward quickly, and remove staff that can’t meet the standards just as quickly.
BOTTOM LINE
Set standards for your agency and your staff. Do everyone a favor and enforce those standards consistently. Boost your agency proficiency and value.