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The Human Element of AI Transformation

Discover ways to effectively navigate through AI transformation. Only 4% of companies say they’re creating real value from their AI investments. The key differentiator is how well organizations manage the human side of implementation. 

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What to Look for in a Professional Recruiting Firm

Recently, Forbes named The Jacobson Group to its 2019 List of America’s Best Recruiting Firms. We’re proud to share that we ranked in both of the list’s categories: executive search and professional recruiting. The main purpose of the Forbes list is to help companies select the right recruiting firms for their needs. There are a number of options when selecting a recruiting partner and weighing the similarities, benefits, pros and cons can be challenging. Typically, companies rank the following qualities very important when making their selection: Presentation of quality talent and well-vetted candidates Understanding of business and specific needs Easy to work with Insurance industry-specific knowledge Timely communication Experience with similar positions These are all valuable and important criteria. However, many reputable agencies meet these standards to varying degrees. Throughout our nearly 50 years of experience providing talent to the insurance industry, we’ve found there are a number of additional factors that can help ensure the best fit and a successful outcome. It’s a partnership. Choose a firm that focuses on the best interests of your organization and is able to act as a consultant and true business partner. The right recruiting firm should know your industry well and have the experience and expertise to serve as a trusted advisor in helping make informed hiring decisions. Keep in mind whoever you partner with is going to represent you to the talent community, so it’s important to choose wisely. Both what they know and who they know matters. Often, organizations will enlist the help of a third-party firm after exhausting their own efforts. It’s vital that your recruiting firm’s talent network and resources are substantial enough to add real value, rather than simply duplicate previous efforts. For example, as a niche firm with nearly five decades of service to the insurance industry, Jacobson has built an extensive professional network. Yet while it’s often said, “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” we believe it is a blend of both. A deep knowledge and understanding of the industry, coupled with an extensive talent network is a formula for success. If you want quality talent, you have to get creative. With record low unemployment in the insurance industry, there are more jobs than there are qualified professionals to fill them. Compounded by the aging insurance workforce, it’s likely the tight labor market won’t be changing anytime soon. Simply said, it’s a candidate’s market and employees are no longer the ones in the drivers’ seats. In order to hire quality talent, insurers and their recruiting firms need to get creative. Today’s talent community is passive and often bombarded with recruiter inquiries. Candidates must be wooed by potential opportunities in order to want to move forward. Recruiters should have a thorough understanding of the market and leverage this knowledge to craft thoughtful messaging focused on why a position is desirable for the candidate. In addition to messaging, recruiters should recognize remote work is now common and relocation is not necessary to acquire top talent. Getting creative with workplace accommodations is essential in tapping into an even larger candidate pool. Communication is key. In any good partnership, frequent and clear communication is key to producing successful outcomes; it’s no different with your recruiting partners. Engaging in regular dialogue about your search strategy, the talent pipeline, candidates under consideration and next steps is essential. This enables you to act quickly and avoid missing out on candidates who would otherwise move forward with organizations that show greater interest and motivation. Flexibility enables continual optimization. During the sourcing process, certain criteria may require adjustments such as desired skills, title, credentials or compensation. Recruiting firms should be able to provide insight into the talent community and make adjustments to the candidate flow based on this information. While candidate criteria is typically set early on in the process, your team should be nimble in listening to the marketplace and adjusting as needed. Ambassadors can help share your story. Insurers in smaller markets likely have great name recognition within their own cities, but may be unknown outside the immediate vicinity. When casting a wide net, it’s hard to get professionals, especially passive candidates, to take an unfamiliar call. By enlisting a recruiting firm with name recognition, it’s more likely these candidates will entertain the opportunity. Additionally, your recruiting firm should serve as an ambassador, educating candidates about your company and articulating why it might be a good fit. There are a number of factors that should go into choosing the right team to take on your positions. Especially in a tight labor market, your recruiting partner is essential in expanding your reach and creating a tailored strategy that will result in success. If you are interested in learning more or hearing about how Jacobson handles professional recruiting assignments for our clients, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Developing a New Type of Leader

In today's quickly changing business environment, insurers must focus on identifying their leaders and determining best practices for developing their strengths. By doing so, organizations will be well-positioned to navigate through current and future challenges.

The Rise of Collaboration in Compliance

Traditionally, insurance organizations have consisted of siloed departments that are each responsible for specific parts of the business. As the industry evolves, insurers are responding to a shifting environment and finding value in working with more agility and efficiency. Collaboration among departments is becoming more important than ever. Effective collaboration helps break down barriers among teams, leading to more fluid and streamlined processes. This enables insurers to harness the strengths of individual departments and strategically leverage those skills across the organization. Additionally, by working more closely together, employees are better able to understand other departments’ roles, motivations and success metrics. As a result, organizations with a culture of collaboration are able to optimize resources to deliver projects on time and within scope. Collaboration is important within all departments; however, as the industry undergoes a number of regulations and shifts, compliance is an area that is currently top of mind for many insurers. Governance, risk management and compliance teams touch most projects and, especially with direct to consumer products, ramifications can occur as a result of misalignment. However, the compliance department is often brought in too late, causing a delay in a project’s completion and resulting in redundant work. By working closely with these teams early on, departments can ensure they are aligned throughout the entirety of a project and avoid roadblocks that cost both time and money.   Best Practices for Collaboration When creating a culture of collaboration, ensuring employees understand its purpose and desired value is vital for success. In our experience, some of the most seamless transitions we’ve seen have been the result of individuals who moved from different areas of the organization into compliance roles. This dual perspective creates an opportunity to bridge teams and develop a common understanding. While shifting talent to other departments may not always be feasible, it demonstrates one of the keys to collaboration success: a willingness to understand different teams’ goals and drivers, while proactively creating processes to improve interactions. There are several additional best practices that can help insurers adopt a culture of collaboration, not just with compliance, but among all teams. Gain support from leadership. It’s vital to get buy-in and support from the top-down. Organizational leadership and management teams can set an example by visibly working with one another and encouraging their teams to leverage the knowledge and skill sets of other departments. Appoint collaboration ambassadors. In addition to getting leadership involved, appoint individuals who can become ambassadors of change. These individuals should have an understanding of the importance of collaboration and be able to model and share its benefits with peers. Expect growing pains. As teams begin to work more closely together, there will be bumps along the way. Anticipate these hiccups and encourage teams to view them as opportunities to learn and enhance processes.   Engage Subject Matter Experts to help with the transition. As with most special projects, it’s important that employees are able to dedicate time to exploring and defining the collaboration process. To help mitigate day-to-day work, it may be necessary to bring in temporary talent to ensure departments are able to stay up and running at a normal pace. Communicate. Communication is vital to success. Ensure leadership and management teams are explaining the shift to collaboration in a consistent way. This should include how employees will be impacted, the desired benefits, changes to employees’ specific roles and responsibilities, and workload expectations. Create a forum for open communication and encourage discussion around questions and concerns. Celebrate successes and reward a collaborative mindset. Employees should proactively seek out ways to better work together. Encourage a true culture shift by acknowledging and celebrating these efforts throughout the organization. While getting started with collaboration may seem daunting, the potential pay-off is well worth it. By starting with leadership, enlisting temporary support to help staff focus on the process and proactively seeking to understand and assist other teams, departments can break down silos and work most effectively.

Compass 12.2: Developing a New Type of Leader

This issue's feature article explores the importance of growing and developing leaders who can inspire and propel the organization's success. Jacobson's JoJo Harris discusses how to identify future leaders and best practices for developing their strengths. By doing so, organizations will be well-positioned to navigate through current and future challenges.

Where Does Insurance Stand In Gender Equality?

Published in ON THE RISK Organizations are expanding beyond their borders, and a traditional work environment is no longer sustainable to meet the reality of today's business world. Creating an inclusive workplace is an important undertaking that insurers must excel at in order to thrive today and tomorrow. Reprinted with permission of ON THE RISK, Journal of the Academy of Life Underwriting.

Breaking the Truth: The Cost of Vacancy

As you’ve probably noticed, it is taking longer to fill positions than ever before—that is, if you can fill them at all. Fewer qualified candidates are submitting their resumes and your recruiters have no choice but to tirelessly tap passive industry professionals hoping the opportunity catches their interest. How did we get here?  As many insurance thought leaders have been warning for years, the long-predicted talent crunch is hitting the insurance industry with incredible force. According to the latest iteration of The Jacobson Group and Aon’s Semi-Annual Insurance Labor Outlook Study, a growing demand for staff and positive outlook for business revenues has continued to make it difficult to recruit for most positions. A pending mass exodus of experienced professionals and virtually non-existent unemployment have set the perfect stage for a candidate-driven market, which is only going to intensify for the foreseeable future. Yet some insurers simply dismiss this grim talent forecast. Instead, they rely upon their remaining employees to take up the slack and divide the additional workload among themselves, falsely associating it with immediate cost savings. But what some employers underestimate is the overall financial impact of a vacancy. When an employee retires or leaves his or her position for an opportunity with another company, a gap is created and your organization can count on increased expenses in overtime and decreased job production and business opportunities. Calculate the Potential Loss Let me help you visualize this. According to Harvard University, an average employee’s value for an organization is three times his or her salary. Let’s take an actuary for example. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found the median annual wage for actuaries was $101,560 in 2017. Imagine that professional is working for an organization with 300 total employees. How much money would that company lose when the actuary leaves? Recent reports show it took an average of 45.6 working days to fill a position in the financial services industry in 2017. If the actuary is in a higher-level position, the vacancy period would undoubtedly be longer. The below graphic demonstrates how to calculate the cost of vacancy based on this information.  The total cost of this actuarial vacancy would be $60,406. Of course, multiple job openings further compound this cost. This illustration is likely already frightening, but you also need to consider what the formula does not necessarily include when calculating lost revenues. Although it may seem like your remaining employees are handling increased workloads well, they are likely struggling to keep up. While short-term they may certainly be happy with the possibility of working overtime and enjoy adding additional value to their organizations, the sacrificed work/life balance and added stress become an insidious danger. Consequently, employees might feel taken advantage of, burn out or be less motivated to perform their responsibilities, which can drive turnover rates and ultimately push the cost of vacancy even higher. You should also consider the amount of knowledge and experience lost when an employee leaves the organization. In many cases, employees give a two-week notice to their managers, which starts the transition and hand-off period. But let’s be honest: do you think the employees leaving their positions are giving their absolute best those last couple weeks? While there are some professionals who will strive to bring matters to a successful conclusion, it is safe to assume most will not. Also, is two weeks really enough for professionals to transfer all of their know-how and skills to others? And of course, the losses are even greater if exiting employees are in higher-impact positions. When considering all of the different addends that contribute to the real cost of vacancy, you have the right to be concerned, especially since retirements and resignations are not always anticipated. How can you be better prepared? Alter the Future Most importantly, insurers must focus on reevaluating their salary levels to retain top talent. Demonstrating that your organization competitively compensates its employees is a must to stand out in today’s talent marketplace. When professionals are satisfied with their compensation, they are less inclined to leave a current position for a new opportunity. High salary levels also make competitors think twice before making an offer to your employees. Intentional corporate culture is another a key ingredient in preventing employee turnover. Bottom line: employees should feel content working for your organization. It is no longer enough to stay in a transactional employer-employee relationship. It is important insurers treat their workforces with empathy and respect, focusing on supporting their individual career journeys and meeting their needs. Even if you follow these steps and start investing in creating an engaging, vibrant workplace full of satisfied professionals, some employees are going to leave their positions. Establishing a relationship with a recruiting firm can give you unique solutions for mitigating the cost of these vacancies. Insurance recruiting firms with a strong understanding of the labor market and its current trends can expand your talent pool and provide appropriate and timely temporary staffing solutions when needed. Not only can they help you stop hemorrhaging money, they can also provide useful insights for managing your contract employees to maximize their productivity and impact. Quality human resources firms are not just proficient in providing temporary stop gaps. They can also act as valuable partners who can equip you with appropriate contingency plans and workforce management strategies. It is best to look for a boutique search firm with unique access to a network of experienced, talented professionals. A reliable partner can also offer proven consultative insights into how your organization can prepare for today’s challenging recruitment reality. One thing is certain. Some are underestimating the true cost of vacancy in today’s competitive talent landscape. Those who understand the value of retaining professionals and aim to make necessary adjustments to keep employees in their positions will stay ahead of their competition. To successfully navigate the evolving industry marketplace, insurers ultimately need to achieve employer-of-choice recognition and establish beneficial partnerships.    

Cultivating an Inclusive Boardroom: The New Board Mandate

Insurance leaders recognize the importance of diversity; yet, the boardroom has been slow to evolve. By accelerating gender diversity at all levels, organizations can begin to take the necessary steps to close the gender gap and continue to diversify the boardroom beyond gender.

Virtual Leadership: How to Manage Remote Claims Staff

Today’s claims executives are concerned. Worry about how they will survive without their soon-to-retire skilled claims professionals keeps them up at night. Even worse, departments have fewer candidates on the bench to fill those soon-to-be vacant positions. Even when executives look outside their departments for talent, non-local candidates are less willing to relocate, as many of them consider flexible work arrangements a major benefit to consider in evaluating job opportunities. In today’s candidate-driven market, requiring physical presence for claims staff certainly complicates recruiting strategies. Work-at-home (WAH) is a popular practice for many industries already, but some insurers are reluctant to promise it to their employees and candidates. Requiring employees to commute to the office narrows the talent pool, restricting access to talented professionals who simply do not consider relocation a viable option. Some forward-thinking insurers who recognize WAH’s potential impact are making the transition to entertain a more expansive pool of candidates. What should modern claims executives consider when instituting WAH programs in order to derive the most benefit? Go Fully DigitalOf course, digitalization is already the utmost priority for any insurer looking to thrive in the evolving marketplace. Today’s policyholders expect claims departments to process applications more quickly and efficiently. They expect to handle less complex claims entirely through digital channels. Moreover, they demand to receive accurate real-time updates on their claims status online. “Patience” and “waiting” are not the cornerstone of best-in-class customer experiences. As a result, insurers understanding the value of optimizing customer experience are proactively investing in digitizing their departments and processes. But digitalization does not benefit just customers. As a matter of fact, the trend can also bring positive outcomes for claims executives who consider providing remote working options to their teams. By allowing customers to submit claims applications and supporting documents easily through their electronic devices, employees can have instant access to everything they need to process claims. It is important leaders ensure their claims department moves beyond legacy systems and closer to end-to-end digitalization, which will also reduce the need for staff members to be physically present at the office. Set Well-defined WAH PoliciesMany insurers continue to picture a typical WAH employee as a young professional with a personal laptop sitting in bed. Leaders often worry whether their employees may be tempted to slack off as a result of working too comfortably. They also question whether it is truly possible to manage WAH employees’ performance and engagement. And that is why claims executives should establish well-defined policies in regards to remote claims processors’ work environment and hours. WAH doesn’t mean people can work in coffee shops. WAH employees’ workspaces must meet technological and physical requirements. It is best if both sides set realistic guidelines on when and how certain tasks should be completed. It is also crucial leaders ensure their remote claims staff’s homes meet technological requirements. At the same time, managers must set clear and measurable deliverables and work with their employees to ensure remote staff members stay productive. For example, WAH employees should have access to high speed internet and have well-functioning phone systems installed in their workspaces to replicate what they would have in the office. In addition, the WAH workspace must be distraction-free and outfitted with any additional equipment necessary to perform job responsibilities. Invest in Onboarding and OffboardingJust because someone isn’t physically in the office doesn’t mean they require less training or onboarding. In fact, the level of training and onboarding must be same for all employees whether they work in or out of the office. Remote staff members are still critical contributors to departmental initiatives who participate in team meetings and projects as assimilated members of the organization. It is advisable claims leaders develop distinct remote employee management strategies and onboarding programs to ensure WAH professionals can quickly make an impact. At the same time, managers and supervisors should use offboarding programs as a means to evaluate their organization’s telecommuting program. Employees are likely to provide more honest feedback to their employers when leaving the organization. By conducting exit interviews and post-employment surveys, leaders can discover areas for improvement and ways to optimize their WAH programs. It is also best insurers continuously evaluate their WAH programs by regularly holding surveys or implementing open-door policies. Connect with Them, Virtually and PhysicallySome insurance leaders also worry remote employees will miss face-to-face interactions and thereby lose the connectivity and camaraderie that is prevalent in a traditional office environment. They are concerned WAH programs will lead to isolation, reduced productivity and lack of engagement. However, modern video conferencing programs, such as Skype, GoToMeeting and WebEx, can help employees facilitate strong teamwork and stay connected regardless of their locations. Online employee communication platforms, such as Yammer or Slack, allow WAH employees to build relationships with in-office and other remote staff and remain committed and connected to their work. But those video conferencing tools and corporate social platforms can only do so much. Claims teams should be spending some amount of time in-person. By holding annual company retreats, lunch gatherings or holiday parties, WAH employees and in-house staff can learn more about each other, deepen relationships and improve teamwork. Hosting in-office days would also enhance collaboration and camaraderie. As the war for talent deepens and the nature of claims continues to evolve, claims executives will need to consider providing WAH programs as a means to stay competitive in the evolving marketplace. But only with the right preparation can these programs provide substantial value for organizations. Leaders need to digitize their processes and work systems while setting clear policies and guidelines for employees working remotely. It is also crucial managers and supervisors pay keen attention when onboarding, training and offboarding their claims staff to increase efficiencies and maintain productivity. Insurers should wait no longer to embrace the virtual workforce and seize the opportunity WAH programs can provide for claims.

Boardroom View 1.1: Cultivating an Inclusive Boardroom

This issue's feature article explores the importance of diversity for future company success. By accelerating gender diversity in the boardroom, organizations across all sectors, including insurance, can begin to take the necessary steps to close the gender gap and continue to diversify the boardroom beyond gender.

2019 Underwriting Trends

How will the underwriting field change in 2019? From embracing automation to improving customer experience, underwriters must step up to meet new expectations in their organizations. Our guide discusses the top six trends we expect to see this year.

Ignite Gender Equality: Dare to Be the Spark

Elevating gender equality from mere conversations to meaningful actions and investments – truth or dare?  This International Women’s Day, we're reflecting on how to help other women step into their own power and be the inspiration to others that follow. Dare to be the spark and to push your organization to renew its commitment to achieving gender equality in the insurance industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 61.3 percent of insurance employees are women. Moreover, a 2017 Saint Joseph’s University study found 58 percent of surveyed insurance companies had two or more women on their boards, as opposed to only 34 percent in 2013. The insurance industry is in the midst of a monumental demographics shift and at long last is breaking away from its male-dominated legacy. Despite recent progress, we have significantly more work to do to achieve true workplace equality. Men still hold the overwhelming majority of senior-level roles, and historically only a very few women end up on the path to becoming CEO. Even today in the finance and insurance industries, women’s median earnings are only 60.4 percent of those of men. The current efforts toward gender equality are not enough and we need to accelerate now. If we were building a DIY toolkit for gender balance, workplace equality and inclusion acceleration, the building blocks would be relationships and networking, mentorships, and male allies. As Inga Beale once said, “Trust goes hand in hand with inclusion.” Remarkable accomplishments are possible when women support each other. Women often believe they have to do everything on their own. We don’t. Embrace networking and build trusted communities of friends and personal advisors. By intentionally working together, we can remove biases industrywide and eliminate barriers to a truly inclusive work environment. As women climb the corporate ladder, we labor under our own impossible expectations, striving to be “the best” at all times. The pressure of the “perfect gene” deters many talented women from voicing their opinions and stepping into their own power. Instead of celebrating accomplishments, many high-achievers singularly focus on their own limitations or perceived failures.   The truth is nobody is perfect. It is OK to make mistakes and to share those lessons so others on similar journeys can learn from us and dare to take risks. This life lesson must be passed down to female students considering careers in the industry. We should educate and coach these students to speak up confidently and understand what they can achieve. It will be too late to break the perfectionist curse if we wait until they’re on the job. Mentorship may be the secret weapon to permanently shattering the gender divide. As a grassroots movement, mentorship encourages professionals to share meaningful dialogues, identify opportunities and ignite positive changes. Mentors and mentees come together to learn, challenge and lift each other, collectively serving as a catalyst to fuel shifting bias, shape industry leaders and instill confidence. Perhaps insurance can take a page from larger STEM initiatives when it comes to inspiring young women. For example, famed mentor Edie Fraser, founder of Million Women Mentors and STEMconnector, has inspired many professionals, including myself, to mentor and sponsor women for break-out careers. By connecting young women with their role models, the initiative sparks the interest and confidence of girls and women to pursue and succeed in STEM careers and C-suite leadership opportunities. Fortunately, men have joined our cause and now stand as workplace allies for gender equality. They publicly advocate for workplace inclusivity and partner with women to convert misconceptions. Men are proactively encouraging other men to participate in women employee resource groups and conferences to identify and shift underlying biases. We must continue inviting enlightened males of all generations to join us. Their candid perspectives keep us honest. We learn from their fresh outlooks and they, in turn, learn much from us.Despite recent victories, a glass ceiling still persists, but its cracks are visible and growing. Change sometimes happens one relationship at a time. Dare to build our support networks, invite male colleagues to join us and inspire female students to create a new reality. Collaborative, bold and intentional actions can ignite everlasting changes and bring true workplace equality to the industry.  

Q1 2019 Labor Market Study Results Infographic

The results of the first quarter iteration of The Jacobson Group and Aon's 2019 U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study are now available. A valuable industry tool, the study examines data on insurance labor and revenue trends. Explore the staffing projections and hiring plans for the insurance industry this year in this infographic.