The insurance industry is way behind the times. There are no opportunities for me to advance my career. It’s a stale industry that fails to embrace change.
We’ve heard it all before.
The talent market image of the insurance industry is not a very positive one. Many individuals view insurance as an out-of-date, antiquated labor market that offers little room for growth. As such, recruiting talent, at all levels, is extremely challenging. As the industry continues to see low unemployment rates, a greying workforce and an increasing demand for talent, recruitment is only going to get more and more difficult.
The key to combating this worsening skills gap is to find new talent to fill the industry’s in-demand positions. But finding interested talent for what is deemed a “less desirable” industry is not easy, and we, as a whole, are not doing enough to change the public’s perception of our field.
But just how can we combat these inaccurate stereotypes? What can we do to make insurance more attractive?
The key is rebranding. But individual insurance organizations cannot take on the project of disproving the current industry stereotypes by themselves. The sector as a whole needs to join together and collaboratively work toward promoting the many positive aspects of a career in insurance. We must focus on highlighting the attractive benefits that we, as an industry, offer to professionals.
It may be surprising to learn that many of the key perks sought after by today’s talent, are cross-generational. From Millennials to Baby Boomers, employees are looking for workplace flexibility, respect, guidance and a work/life balance—all things offered with a career in insurance. In order to attract these professionals, we must start showcasing how our organizational cultures foster collaboration, promote and support mentoring, nurture innovation and demonstrate corporate responsibility.
The industry also needs to position itself as tech-savvy and cutting-edge. Insurance organizations should promote any involvement with hot button trends such as analytics and big data. Organizations should stay on top of the latest tech trends and advances to ensure our employees have the technology needed to function at the highest level. We must embrace social media and all of its potential by being not only present, but engaged, on popular social media sites including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Members of the younger generation, as well as many of today’s more established professionals, utilize social networks for their career research and networking.
It is only by updating and rebranding our image that the insurance industry can successfully combat the impending talent shortage. We must follow the lead taken by so many other business sectors, including logistics and healthcare, to position insurance as “modern,” “cool,” and a “great place to work.” The stakes are high lest we continue to lose ground to more proactive industries that have already dedicated themselves to rebuilding their image.