With education in the insurance industry a hot topic, an
Insurance Business poll has revealed that 73% of insurance professionals do not believe a bachelor degree should be mandated as a minimum requirement for a job in the insurance industry.
The poll of more than 150 insurance professionals found an over-whelming response from industry professionals backing a university-free path to the insurance industry.
David Lamb, CEO of Sportscover agreed, as he believes that it isn’t only a by-the-books education that is needed for the industry to continue to thrive.
“It depends on the role they are involved in,” Lamb said of the survey question.
“I think one of the things that we miss at the moment is the balance between soft skills and hard skills.”
Lamb stressed that while a university education is beneficial for some roles, there are also many skills needed on the job that will be lacking if the industry relies solely on university graduates.
“So many people come with an important and well valued piece of paper in hard skills but so little in relation to relationship building skills, negotiation skills, and emotional intelligence.
“I would like to see a greater emphasis on what I call the soft skills in relation to people management, people’s interactions, people’s drive, people’s sales focus, all those types of things.”
Winner of the
Generation i Youth Development and Employer of the Year award at last year’s Australian Insurance Industry Awards, Sportscover offer members of staff a “personal business coach,” to help foster professional development on the job and Lamb said that investing time in industry professionals is paramount to business success.
“I think a degree is a relevant qualification for a number of insurance roles but I wouldn’t say it’s a pre-requisite as a carte blanche and I’d say one thing we do lack is making sure we spend the time to invest in people and teach them some of the soft skills in the business as opposed to just purely just the skills they can get from a university.”
