Talent remains an acute and persisting challenge across the insurance industry, and Gallagher Canada is no stranger to the issue.
One good sign, however, is that turnover rates are slowing down, according to CEO Dave Partington (pictured).
“I think the churn in our industry is reduced, and we’re now seeing turnover go back to pre-pandemic levels,” Partington said. “But we are constantly focused on how we can continue to attract and retain new talent and bring experienced people into the organization and continue to develop them.”
The Gallagher Canada chief executive spoke to Insurance Business about how the firm built a comprehensive talent pipeline to ensure its future.
“We have a limited talent pool in the insurance industry,” he said. “Trying to find people with experience is difficult, which is why we’ve focused on bringing people from outside the industry over the last three or four years and building that pipeline ourselves rather than relying on retreading people from other organizations.”
Partington stressed that talent development is at the core of Gallagher’s culture and workforce strategy.
“We live by the ‘Gallagher Way,’ and one of our tenets is that ‘we can all improve and learn from one another’ — that’s at the heart of what we do from a development perspective, to continue to give people opportunities,” he said.
Gallagher’s intern programme, for instance, brings in around 500 individuals across North America for three months to get hands-on experience in the industry. In Canada, 49 interns participated in this year’s cohort.
“It’s particularly special because we allow our interns to shadow some of the top talents in our organization, so they spend a lot of time sitting in on client meetings and working on proposals. There’s a real opportunity for them to get insight into what insurance looks like,” Partington said.
“It demonstrates to people that insurance isn’t the career they think it is. It’s far more exciting, far more dynamic. They learn how insurance touches every part of our lives.”
Often, the exposure to the ins and outs of insurance is enough to inspire young talent to pursue full-fledged insurance careers at the end of their internship. Recently, Gallagher launched its Career Associates Programme (GCAP), which focuses on honing their skills to be successful producers, for those who want to pursue a career in insurance.
“We take the top performers from our intern programme, invite them into the organization, and put them into that two-year programme where we provide them with huge amounts of training,” Partington said.
“We’ll get them licenced and teach them our processes and systems and how to sell insurance and service clients.”
For several years, Gallagher has run a New Producer Development Programme for professionals who want to take their careers to the next level. Over 40 producers have been through the two-year program.
The programme includes group and one-on-one mentoring sessions and the opportunity to work with Gallagher’s top performers in Canada and overseas.
“This is for those who want to take the next step to become a senior producer with a huge book of business,” said Partington. “I call it an MBA in insurance production because they get to see the absolute best of what we can provide to our clients worldwide.”
A critical part of Gallagher Canada’s talent strategy is attracting individuals from other industries.
“We are also very cognizant of the need to bring in people who can deliver on the day-to-day service needs of our clients,” Partington told Insurance Business.
The CEO highlighted the Gallagher Insurance Fast Track Training programme, or GIFTT, as an innovative way to bring in individuals at all stages of their careers.
The six-month immersive learning opportunity has attracted a variety of talent, from stay-at-home mothers looking to restart work to mid-career professionals who shifted during the pandemic.
“I’m proud of that programme because we have a 90% retention rate, and 25% of people that have graduated the programme have already moved on and been promoted from their entry-level role,” Partington said.
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