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... x No Thanks Loading.. Agency Team Building 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Eric Moberg This content has not been rated yet. AGENCY TEAM BUILDING by Eric Moberg &# 160 The internal workings of every agency depend on the employees interacting effectively on a daily basis. Cooperation and communication among employees is necessary for them to do their jobs and for the agency to prosper. None of them can work in a vacuum. The exchange of information regarding changes in the marketplace, new policy provisions, and new underwriting guidelines-not to mention the communication of agency procedures, successes, and failures-is essential for people to perform their jobs. As we gain information, it's very important to communicate it to our co-workers. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION The exchange of information within the agency occurs in numerous ways. One of the most common is through employees' informal conversation; one employee may become aware of some important information and relays it to another employee in normal conversation. Although this can be an effective method of communication between two people, it doesn't pass the information on to all who may need to know it. To make sure that information is properly communicated to everyone who needs to know it, a more formal method should be used. Communication between departments is essential to serving the insured effectively. In many cases, an agency's departments don't effectively communicate with one another. They need to, because Commercial accounts can become Personal accounts, and vice versa. Almost all accounts have the potential to become Life, Health, or Group accounts. Opportunities exist to benefit the agency as well as the ...

... : Are you sure you want to deactivate your CompleteMarkets Company Profile Deactivate Cancel Loading.. About Us Services Jobs PR Newsletters Employees Articles Blog Photos Group Connections Reviews IMMS Library Immerse yourself in our stacks. Take some time and browse through our library. We have thousands of articles, checklists, tip sheets, sales letters, and more! Communications Marketing Customer Service Planning Finance/Accounting Risk Management Human Resources Selling Legal and E&O Technology Life/Financial Services Glossaries Management Resources & Links Categories Popular Recent All Back Agency Team Building 4/30/2013 10:43:12 PM by CompleteMarkets Editor , Eric Moberg This content has not been rated yet. AGENCY TEAM BUILDING by Eric Moberg &# 160 The internal workings of every agency depend on the employees interacting effectively on a daily basis. Cooperation and communication among employees is necessary for them to do their jobs and for the agency to prosper. None of them can work in a vacuum. The exchange of information regarding changes in the marketplace, new policy provisions, and new underwriting guidelines-not to mention the communication of agency procedures, successes, and failures-is essential for people to perform their jobs. As we gain information, it's very important to communicate it to our co-workers. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION The exchange of information within the agency occurs in numerous ways. One of the most common is through employees' informal conversation; one employee may become aware of some important information and relays it to another employee in normal conversation. Although this can be an effective method of communication between two people, it doesn't pass the information on to all who may ...

... your job site's safety and health protection. These consultants do not issue citations, propose penalties or routinely provide information about you or your workplace conditions to the federal inspection staff. State government agencies deliver these services which are funded substantially by federal OSHA. To request a consultation, you need to contact a state office. The addresses appear later in this CD literature. Because employers, not employees, are subject to legal sanctions of the Act, you will have the option of deciding whether employees or their representatives will participate in the on-site consultation visit. Consultants, however, will be required to explain that OSHA allows employee participation during inspections. While the on-site consultants do not write citations, issue proposed penalties, or routinely provide consultation information to the inspection staff, it is expected that employers will cooperate broadly with the recommendations of the consultants and achieve compliance with the job safety and health law voluntarily. Any conditions of IMMINENT DANGER identified by the consultant must be resolved immediately. Such conditions are rare, but if they are found during an on-site consultation visit, you must take immediate corrective action. Please note that if immediate action is not taken, OSHA requires that the consultant immediately notify his or her supervisor so that appropriate enforcement action can be taken as prescribed by regulation. The agreement between OSHA and the state to provide on-site consultation also requires the consultant to ensure that any serious' hazards be eliminated. These are hazards from which it is reasonably predictable that death or serious physical harm could result. When a consultant finds such a situation, he or she must notify you and give ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Voluntary Protection Programs 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. INFORMATION DATE 19920602 DESCRIPTION USDOL Program Highlights, 92-10 SUBJECT Voluntary Protection Programs U.S. Department of Labor Program Highlights Fact Sheet No. OSHA 92-10 VOLUNTARY PROTECTION PROGRAMS Do you have an effective safety and health program? Is your injury and/or illness rate lower than the average for your industry? Do managers and employees work together to prevent accidents and eliminate hazards? Would you like to develop a more cooperative relationship with OSHA? If so, your company may be a candidate for one of OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs-Star, Merit or the Demonstration Program. Designed to augment OSHA's enforcement efforts, these programs encourage and recognize excellence in occupational safety and health. Only those companies which demonstrate commitment to workplace safety and health beyond the requirements of the OSHA standards-especially at senior management levels-are eligible. Participation exempts a worksite from OSHA's programmed inspections. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS An effective, ongoing safety and health program. A strong safety and health program exemplifies commitment to the prevention of occupational illness and injury beyond satisfying the requirements of OSHA standards. It is the central element which qualifies a company for participation in the Voluntary Protection Programs. Companies participating in Merit and Star are expected to have comprehensive programs including elements such as employee participation and annual comprehensive self-evaluation. OSHA assesses the effectiveness of the program through a number of measures including on-site review. Cooperation. A cooperative atmosphere is essential to make voluntary protection work. Construction companies are required to use a labor-management approach which includes joint labor-management safety and health ...

... Editor , Troy Campbell This content has not been rated yet. The day of the annual performance review is the one you most look forward to during your work life. (Ha!) Systems for evaluating performance have been developed by personnel specialists over the years in an attempt to improve productivity. Many of these systems remain in place without much focus on what's happening today. The intentions of the review are honorable, but the productivity results are dismal. Often, the review only causes dissatisfaction and unhappiness. The apprehension many share about evaluations usually include thoughts like, How much of a raise am I (not) going to get, ' or, How bad am I going to get reamed? ' Instead, the focus should be on obtaining quality feedback to improve technical skills, team-member cooperation, or self-esteem. It's no secret why IBM is known for its incredible service. All staff members establish quarterly, measurable goals with supervisors, then receive quality feedback each quarter relating to those goals through their work performance. In Michael LeBoeuf's book, The Greatest Management Principle in the World, what gets measured and rewarded gets repeated. It is our responsibility to help management understand and agree what a good job looks like, attach measurable and observable behaviors to it, then earn the appropriate reward. Incorporate reasonable accountability into your job performance, criteria, and review standards. While you work, improve customer services, increase sales, and account-develop activity. Try not to let clients cancel easily. Provide prompt turnaround for service requests. Follow up, especially with those not expecting to hear from ...

... necessary objectivity and financial skills. Purchasing Officer. In the past, the purchasing officer often had the responsibility of buying insurance. It's now more clearly understood that insurance is not a commodity to be purchased, but an element of a total risk-management program. Except in rare instances, the purchasing officer should have little or nothing to do with insurance or risk management. Chief Engineer. The chief of public works, chief engineer, or similar official may be responsible for maintaining building values and informing the risk manager of any changes-deletions or additions of properties and change in costs or values. This person will also frequently supervise the issuance of contracts to contractors. These contain insurance and indemnity provisions that should be carefully worded and supervised. The chief engineer may also design and maintain loss-prevention equipment, so close cooperation with the risk manager is essential. Counsel. The chief legal officer writes contracts that usually contain indemnity or insurance provisions. His work strongly affects risk assumption. He may also have a responsibility for supervising liability or Workers Compensation (except for large liability claims), although this is a specialized function better handled by specialist claims adjusters. Whoever carries the mantle of risk manager will need to communicate closely with all the officer just mentioned. When Is a Full-Time Risk Manager Justified? As an organization grows, its risks become more complex, insurance premiums rise, and loss assumption capability grows. A point will be reached when a full-time risk manager should be placed on the staff. Though each situation is unique, some guidelines can help. There are two points that, if quantified, will ...

... Getting Off The Treadmill 4/30/2013 by Al Diamond , CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. Three agencies we visited had problems so similar that we decided to see just how many agents have the same experience, and the same problems. The key issue for each agency owner was extreme frustration. When probed for a better focus on the issues, each owner expressed the same sentiments: They don't know how to get new customers without seeming to degrade themselves to their existing customers, and without selling on price. They don't know how to deal with customers who seem to care only about cost. Their producers aren't motivated, and they don't know how to instill that motivation. Their CSRs appear to be processors rather than professionals. Their carriers are demanding, but not cooperative. The company reps who see both sides are cynical, unrealistic in their expectations, and unhelpful in solving agents' problems. The result of this frustration is the demotivation of agency principals, which only accelerates agency mergers, acquisitions, and other associations (clusters, service centers, virtual insurance agencies, and so on) . None of these problems are insoluble. Agencies around the country have attacked and solved each one of the issues. The solution lies in how to view the problem! For some people, the problem causes less pain than the solution-so they continue to complain about problems without taking the actions necessary to solve them. No one can help agents who are so deeply rooted in the past that they can't adapt to the insurance industry's changing conditions. No, carriers are no ...

... Obviously these personalities and goals come into conflict with each other. Without management intervention these differences could cause schisms that embitter the employees against each other in general terms. They will pick at each other at every opportunity to impress on you, the boss, that the other group is less concerned with the agency than they are. The answer to these conflicts lies in team building. The long-term goals of both producers and service/marketing staff are the same: grow the agency (and their compensation levels) through new business and the maintenance of renewals. In truth, these groups need each other because without the relationship and sales efforts, the agency would not achieve the growth it needs, and without the care to detail the agency would not maintain the relationship with the carriers that promote their cooperative efforts on behalf of the agency. In the heat of the battle, both groups forget this mutual dependence. Team building forces them to acknowledge their codependence in such a way that each group would certainly fail without the other. Team building begins with the assignment of producers and marketers/servicers to account development and maintenance. Making each responsible for the same accounts in practice requires them to work cooperatively. More importantly, cross-pollinating their compensation programs makes the teams work effectively. This means compensating the producers, in part, on the hit ratio of the marketers and compensating the marketers, in part, on the volume of new business written by their corresponding producers. The service/producer relationship is managed the same way based on compensating servicers on book of business growth (usually through added accounts ...

... TDD message referral phone: (800) 326-2577 OSHA HANDBOOK FOR SMALL BUSINESSES To the Small Business Employer Small business employers may have special problems in dealing with workplace safety and health hazards. Frequently, large corporations can afford the full-time services of safety engineers and industrial hygienists, whereas small firms often cannot. Yet the workplace hazards that cause thousands of injuries and illnesses every year are as prevalent in small businesses as in larger firms. That is why we have prepared this handbook to help small business employers establish their own safety and health programs. This booklet advises employers on how to manage safety and health protection at their own work-sites, and tells how to obtain free, on-site consultations by safety and health professionals. We at OSHA hope that each small business owner will recognize the value of positive, cooperative action-among employers, employees, and government- to provide safe and healthful workplaces throughout the nation. Tell us what you think, how our advice can be improved, or anything else we can do to help you in this vital effort. Dorothy L. Strunk Acting Assistant Secretary Occupational Safety and Health Administration CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION A Profit and Loss Statement Developing a Profitable Strategy for Handling Occupational Safety and Health II. A FOUR-POINT WORKPLACE PROGRAM Using the Four-Point Program Point One: Management Commitment and Employee Involvement Point Two: Work-Site Analysis Point Three: Hazard Prevention, and Control Point Four: Training for Employees, Supervisors, and Managers Documenting Your Activities. Safety and Health Record-keeping Injury/Illness Records Exposure Records and Others III. STARTING YOUR VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY Decide to Start Now Designating Responsibility Get Some Help ...

... your employer to correct the hazardous condition and remove endangered employees from the area. If your employer refuses, OSHA may post an Imminent danger' notice and may seek from the nearest federal district court for an order requiring the employer to remove the danger. Before the OSHA inspectors leave the workplace, they will inform all affected employees of the hazard. Refusing Dangerous Work OSHA can protect you if you are discharged or otherwise disciplined for refusing to perform a task that would expose you to imminent danger of death or serious injury, providing you have sought and been unable to obtain a remedy from your supervisor and there is insufficient time to have the condition corrected through filing a complaint with OSHA. You may also be protected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if you refuse dangerous work in cooperation with or on behalf of other workers. OSHA and the NLRB cooperate in refusal-to-work cases involving health or safety hazards. You may contact either agency to discuss your case if you have been punished for refusing dangerous work. You Cannot Be Penalized For Reporting A Hazard Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it is against the law for your employer to punish you for reporting a safety or health hazard. You cannot be discriminated against, fired, demoted, or otherwise penalized for complaining to your employer about a hazard, requesting an OSHA inspection, participating in union safety and health activities, or otherwise exercising your rights under the OSHA Act. If you believe you have been illegally punished, you must file your complaint with OSHA within 30 days for it to be timely. OSHA can take ...