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ANZIIF CEO Prue Willsford has called on industry leaders to address presenteeism in the workplace, saying brokerages would perform far better if their staff were fully engaged.
“What does it mean to your business when people just show up and go through the motions without actually being truly engaged in their job?” Willsford asked attendees at the Steadfast Convention earlier this week. “What does it mean when they’re engaged in their job?
“Well, it means that they’re actually going to deliver more value to your clients and more value to you – being engaged means that they will just go that extra mile around service, they will be creative in their problem solving.”
Of course, creating and engaged workforce isn’t simple – in fact, a recent study by Aon found that just 24% of employees around the world identify as being highly engaged.
“We’ve actually got a real issue across all industries in having people truly engaged,” said Willsford. “However, a lot of studies say that having a learning-based environment is a great way to actually engage your staff.”
Research conducted by ANZIIF just last year found that 15% of insurance professionals under the age of 35 have moved companies in the last year, while 25% of them are considering doing so.
“The primary driver for them leaving is to grow,” said Willsford. “They want new opportunities, they want conscious learning opportunities.”
Furthermore, a report released just this week by recruitment giant Hays found that a massive 96% of the professionals surveyed consider upskilling as important or very important. The same study found that 84% would not consider a role that lacked skills development and 47% wouldn’t join an organisation that didn’t offer formal training opportunities.
Instilling a learning-based environment, Willsford says, will not only attract new employees and satisfy their need for personal and professional progression but it will also ensure businesses are equipped for the future.
“Ninety per cent (90%) of CEOs think that there are major disruptive forces - nearly all of them know that they don’t have all of the skills to adapt,” said Willsford, pointing to NAB’s recent announcement that it would be culling 6,000 positions to create 2,000 new ones as a prime example.
“The people they’re bringing in actually have quite different skills so one of the things for you to think about as leaders of people, and leaders of business, is: if we stand back and think about the strategy for our company, what are the skills that we are going to need over the next three years and what am I doing to lead myself and lead my people through that change?
“Great insurance brokers don’t fall out of the tree fully-formed, we have to make them - and making them is a long-term play and ultimately that comes down to your leadership as leaders in businesses and leaders of people.”
Willsford also shared one relatively simple method she herself uses in an attempt to create a learning-based environment within ANZIIF.
“The question I am trying to ask in the workplace most often is – what have you learned this week?” she told attendees. “I ask it of myself as well because I think encouraging that creativity, encouraging that learning and growth mindset is one of the most powerful ways of engaging yourself, your people and ultimately retaining your people and growing your business.”
