During 2024, insurance brokerages and industry peak bodies renewed their efforts to deal with recruitment challenges. One indicator of progress can be found on the Insure Your Future website, a National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) initiative. This website now lists nearly 70 brokerages offering dozens of job opportunities across the country.
However, many industry stakeholders would agree with Rod Fitzgerald (pictured above) who expects the talent crunch to be one of 2025’s biggest issues for brokerages.
“Implementing effective talent acquisition and retention strategies will remain a significant challenge for many businesses,” said Fitzgerald, managing principal of LimeBox Consulting.
Fitzgerald launched his Perth-headquartered consulting firm late last year and specialises in advising insurance firms. He has more than three decades of industry experience, including running his own brokerage.
“Based on my conversations with insurance brokers, it's clear that talent acquisition remains a persistent challenge that won't be resolved anytime soon,” he said. “While training and developing new employees is ideal, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) struggle to allocate the necessary resources for this.”
Fitzgerald suggested that the relatively small size of many brokerage firms contributes to making attracting the right staff a challenge.
“With 80% of insurance broker businesses employing 20 employees or less, competing for experienced brokers and retaining them is a big issue,” he said.
Matthew Bates, managing director of Bell Partners Insurance, leads a brokerage of that size.
Bates said one way his firm is meeting the recruitment challenge is by fostering an environment that will attract younger employees.
The resurgence of industry events last year provided opportunities for insurance firms to brainstorm ways to overcome recruitment issues.
“It has been great to see a resurgence in industry event attendance, returning to pre-COVID levels,” said Fitzgerald. “It's wonderful to witness industry colleagues collaborating.”
Mentorships are another way of easing recruitment challenges and also training staff. In webinars and conferences, industry leaders have said mentorships help their employees pursue productive careers and improve inter-staff relationships, particularly between different generations.
In a recent CGU podcast, Natalie May, the firm’s executive manager for people, capability and communication, said they often end up teaching as much to the mentor as the mentee.
She added that insurance firms should be wary of falling into this trap and proposed that mentorships are a good way to avert it.
In September, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) launched a strategic plan to address the industry’s workforce challenges.
The Insurance Industry Talent Roadmap is a six-year plan that aims to meet current and future recruitment challenges.
“The sustainability and success of our industry relies on us being able to attract and retain talented individuals,” said the ICA’s CEO Andrew Hall in the Roadmap’s foreword.
Hall said the Roadmap provides a framework to help insurers work collectively but independently towards the goal of becoming the industry of choice for new and experienced talent.
Phase 1 of the framework includes the ICA partnering with universities to hold an annual recruitment drive. This phase also involves the ICA working with members to develop an advertising campaign to position the insurance industry as “[a] great place to build a career.”
“These efforts will help our industry grow stronger and more resilient,” said Hall.
Recruitment difficulties are just one of many issues facing brokers. Fitzgerald said keeping up with technology and customer demands are also major 2025 hurdles.
“Researching, allocating capital to, and implementing transformative technology solutions is essential for achieving cost efficiency while exceeding the ever-evolving expectations of our customers,” he said.
Despite the industry’s challenges, Fitzgerald is looking forward to the year ahead.
“Seeing the broking industry thrive is a passion of mine and I’m excited to see what 2025 can bring,” he said.
Are you an insurance broker? How is your firm approaching recruitment challenges? Please tell us below.
