7 minute read
Finding Talent for Your Agency -Strategies for Success
Finding and hiring the right employees was already a challenge and COVID-19 has made that process even more difficult in this era of social distancing and working remotely.
Claudia St. John of Affinity HR Group moderated a discussion during the IIA of IL Virtual CONVO between J’ai Brown, HR Director at Hub International in Chicago and Mark and Christine Bailey, Co-Owners of Bailey Family Insurance in Springfield, who shared their unique perspectives on hiring in the insurance industry.
When asked where they are finding talent, J’ai Brown shared that she has joined LinkedIn groups for specific organizations and associations to help build relationships among the target audiences. Christine Bailey added that prospecting on LinkedIn can help agencies home in on graduates of local colleges and other candidates within your community.
While they do find LinkedIn a useful tool, Mark and Christine Bailey had more success with a job posting on Facebook. The Bailey’s produced a recruitment video, using just an iPhone camera and microphone, according to Mark. Culture plays a huge role at Bailey Family Insurance and Christine said they looped in the whole team when making the video so employees could share why they enjoy working at the agency to help convey the culture to prospective candidates. To ensure candidates will fit well with the existing team, current employees have been included in parts of the interview and onboarding process.
By Jennifer Jacobs
Employee referral programs have been successful at HUB where they provide a financial incentive for employees that bring in qualified candidates and an added incentive if the recommended individual makes it through the first round of interviews as well. A final referral incentive is paid when the new hire has completed a specified period of service. J’ai said that at HUB they encourage their existing employees to serve as a “talent scout” always looking for ideal candidates. Employees are encouraged to share their stories about why they value the organization and the benefits they find appealing. The motivation for referrals is twofold, according to J’ai because employees like to work with good people that they know and they value the financial incentives as well. As a larger agency, HUB is often filling roles from unlicensed individuals to producers and another way J’ai finds talent is by keeping a record of former qualified applicants in order to build a pipeline of prospect for positions that are filled often and could have an opening in the future.
When it comes to the type of candidates they are looking to hire, Bailey Family Insurance is not focused on hiring for experience. Too often, agencies want someone who is experienced and can hit the ground running, but those candidates are harder to find. Mark and Christine focus on hiring for attitude, personality and potential sales ability. Mark emphasized that there are tools and training resources available to teach processes and the carriers should have support to help train new employees on how to use their systems. On hiring inexperienced employees, Mark said he likes to see a new team member grow from the ground up and the agency can train them the “right” way to do things. continued...
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J’ai is looking to fill positions with a wide range of experience. HUB has recently launched an exposure program for junior-level positions and for those looking to pivot to insurance, when aims to educate those who aren’t familiar with the industry on careers in insurance. The program, which went virtual due to COVID, features employees from a variety of positions within the organization who share information about the position and the skills and personality that are a good fit for those positions. One of the challenges, J’ai said, is overcoming the stigma that insurance isn’t that attractive as a career option. Mark also said that he has found people aren’t interested in a “sales” career and he would like to see independent agents sharing their story more often and educating the public on how insurance can change lives when clients are sold the proper protection. On the topic of how candidates have changed in recent years, Mark shared that he has noticed a change in the communication the agency receives from the candidates. While the norm used to be for candidates to send a follow up note of thanks or ask questions that they didn’t think of during the interview process, he finds these communications are happening less and less. Communication is a culture issues that may need to be shared. In closing, the group discussed how COVID-19 impacted their processes. Both Christine and J’ai shared that the first interview is a phone screening and then they proceed with virtual interviews conducted via web meeting such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Hangout, etc. These virtual meetings take the place of those in-person interviews that had been the norm. When a face-toface meeting is deemed necessary and acceptable to employees and candidates, both agencies have social distancing procedures. J’ai also shared that onboarding is done virtually at HUB now which has been more convenient than before when branch employees traveled to the main office for part of the onboarding process. The company also utilizes a panel of Executive and Leadership Team members to educate new employees the network of individuals that can participate from across the organization in these onboarding and networking sessions. Claudia is a big proponent of company SWAG and recommended that employees get some type of branded apparel, business cards and other logo items, especially if they are being onboarded remotely to make them feel more connected to the team. She also encouraged agencies to consider the way in which remote work can open up the possibility of hiring qualified candidates that are outside of your local community.
Jennifer Jacobs is the Director of Human Resources for the IIA of IL. She can be reached at jjacobs@iiaofil.org or (217)
transferrable skill and is important no matter the role, according to J’ai. She noted that every generation is in the workplace now and there is a learning curve on all sides. She stressed the importance of having uncomfortable conversations around expectations for communication, 6 dress code and any other business REASONS
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