According to US Bank’s December 2000 Simply Business, the U.S. will have 151 million jobs, but only 141 million workers by 2006. Other forecasts predict the same dire situation. How might this affect your agency’s hiring practices? Get some answers in this document by Chris Burand.
From small towns to large cities, agents are having trouble finding employees. Unfortunately, employee shortages are only going to get worse. This is a problem that insurance agencies have never faced before. The implications are huge. Not only will finding employees be tough, but the shortage means that agencies will spend more money and time on training, take additional measures to prevent losing employees, and pay higher wages — and for less qualified employees. To afford wages (and higher benefit costs because the workforce is aging), agencies must become more productive. Today’s average revenues per person will be inadequate in a few short years, especially if companies continue decreasing compensation. Agencies must learn to make do with less.
Less qualified employees will need more training, and training requires money. Prepare today by implementing and following good procedures that will decrease training time and increase training effectiveness — which will, in turn, increase productivity. Build your capital reserves now so that you can afford quality training that will reward you with good results.
Poaching good employees from other agencies will become more prevalent. It has already become a serious problem in certain areas. Moreover, all industries will be scrambling for employees, and good workers will be valuable to other industries, not just insurance. If one area exists in which agency owners shouldn’t be penny wise and pound foolish, it’s in compensating good employees — not just by insurance industry standards, but compared with business in general.
Our industry has never faced such staffing problems — and they’re only going to get worse. Tackling the problem now will give you a huge competitive advantage tomorrow!