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Education in the insurance industry should focus on teaching more soft skills, an expert has said.
Gurnaik Tiyur, co-founder of education app CPD Anytime, said that while a focus on technical training can be helpful, the industry should look to further develop soft skills to meet the changing needs of clients.
“I think that there is a lot of training on that side of the business, that is probably more important than the technical side, that is missing and that is something I’d like to see a lot more of in insurance education,” Tiyur told Insurance Business. “Anyone can become a technical expert pretty quickly, you just read up, but that doesn’t help you when you are trying to grow your portfolio or look after your clients’ interests.”
Tiyur said that currently the industry’s soft skills training is “very poor” and lags behind other industries.
For brokers looking to boost their own, or their staff’s, soft skills, Tiyur recommended branching out from traditional educational providers and listening to podcasts available for the general business community.
“It may not be insurance related but the most successful habits are across all industries,” Tiyur continued. “You want to look at what someone might be doing in IT or physiotherapy, media, whatever it may be - you are trying to employ the same habits and apply the same principles to try and grow yourself.”
While soft skills, such as negotiation techniques, networking skills and verbal and written communication training, may not be legislated in a similar way to other CPD requirements, Tiyur said that the impact good soft skills training can have on a brokerage highlights their importance.
“You find your relationships are deeper and your sales strike rate is better because you know how to get to the core of the problem of what your concern is or what someone’s comfort levels are,” Tiyur said.
For principles and leaders, he added that the example they set on all facets of their education will resonate with their staff and help boost the learning and development opportunities within their businesses.
“If you have an appetite to learn, that will resonate with your staff,” he remarked. “If you, as a principle, don’t promote education and continual development of yourself and your staff, why would your staff do it?”
