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With the insurance industry leaving its sales culture behind to focus on client welfare, experts say now is the prime time to start targeting graduates with a very simple message – insurance advice can have a strong, positive impact on people’s lives.
The industry has been grappling with effective ways to attract new talent for some time, keen to alter the story that almost every current insurance worker will tell – “I never meant to work in insurance. I just fell into it.”
According to Crombie Lockwood talent manager Susan Wilson, a vital part of selling insurance as an attractive career path is tapping into the socially conscious nature of Generation Z. Crombie Lockwood’s recent Early Talent programme involved attracting graduates to try out for insurance broker roles, and Wilson says getting a clear message around what the industry is all about is vital.
“The most amazing people in the insurance industry are the ones that have a real sense of purpose, and those that really lead their mission statement wholeheartedly to ensure that clients can financially survive any insurable event,” Wilson told Insurance Business.
“The best people here don’t do their job in order to make budget – they do it because they can’t sleep at night if they think their clients aren’t covered properly. When recruiting for graduates, that’s what I really tapped into. This sense of purpose and community is really important to Millennials and Gen Z, and so I made sure to talk about what we’re doing to help people in this space.”
Wilson says making full use of online recruitment platforms is also vital, and, in some cases, you can even contact potential applicants directly through platforms such as LinkedIn. Knowing your target audience is also important, as you can gear your proposition towards a broad range of people – including those currently employed in other roles where they could have gained transferrable skills of knowledge.
“When searching for applicants, I tapped into multiple channels,” Wilson explained.
“I personally have some great contacts at various New Zealand universities, and so I used that to really get the word out. I also used NxtStep which is essentially the graduate version of Seek, and I proactively sent messages out on LinkedIn – and there, you can really target people who have worked in banks or retail for a few years, but are open to doing something different.”
“Ultimately it’s really about giving them the message of what this industry is all about, and that it does have a real sense of purpose,” she added. “There are lots of paths which can enable you to make a positive influence, but most people wouldn’t think of insurance as one of them, so it’s really important to convey all of the possibilities.”
Wendy Lenton, group executive of people and culture at Nib says hiring young people also brings significant benefit to organisations themselves, especially when it comes to social progressiveness and the proliferation of new ideas. She says introducing new technology into HR is also a vital part of engaging with both current and potential employees, especially for organisations looking to expand their ranks.
“I’ve got a young daughter who’s 20 – and I know that’s a sample size of one, but I can see her spirit,” Lenton said. “I know what she’s driven by and what’s driving the way that she thinks. I’ve learned so much from her.”
“I think the more we can learn from these young people the better, because it’s important that they have a voice within the organisations that they join,” Lenton explained. “Otherwise it will be a very slow journey of progress to where we need to be.”
When it comes to HR technology, Lenton says that sometimes, a bit of automation is not necessarily a bad idea – especially if it help leaders see at a glance what is happening within their organisations, and what might need to happen in the future.
“I’m very loud in driving the business case for HR technology, and I was recently discussing the idea of driving more robotic processing and machine learning into HR,” she explained.
“For me, that really drives the foundational activity that will allow team leaders to engage with the right people, and there’s a bit of software we’re looking at that I really love. It’s an avatar that will look at career opportunities with employers, and the people who spoke to me about it actually said, ‘You’re not going to like this, but it removes the conversation between the employer and the individual.’ And I said, ‘No, no, you’re incorrect. I love it.’ That’s because I think no-one is going to care more about their career than themselves.”
“In this sense, I think technology has a huge part to play in how leaders can help manage their people more effectively, and in bringing data to their fingertips,” Lenton concluded. “We should be creating better capability and better talent, and that’s all related to technology.”
