Navigating through the industry skills shortage

It’ll come as no surprise to anyone working in the insurance industry that, from a talent and skills perspective at least, things are tough.

With low unemployment fuelling increased wage demands, COVID-19 border closures stemming the fow of insurance talent into the country and people generally reprioritising what’s important to them from their careers, insurance – like many other sectors – has been hard hit.

“The great resignation has been the buzz term of 2022, and when you really break it down it’s about job satisfaction,” says Alison Brough, Head of Underwriting Services, Commercial, at Allianz.

“It has all been triggered by our time at home during COVID-19. People are far more conscious of the culture of a company, and the work/life balance they can achieve, together with job satisfaction.”

Brough says while certain skill sets are always in high demand, experience has become increasingly valuable to attract and retain.

“Skills are trainable, but experience – that innate ability to know what to do – has become incredibly valuable for many roles.”

The skills shortage, however, is real, and in the short, medium and long term needs to be addressed in the industry, though it’s not a problem that is confned to insurance.

“There is a signifcant talent shortage across all sectors and industries, insurance is not exempt from this,” says Jasmine Claridge, Learning and Development Manager at Insurance House.

“We don’t think there’s a single reason for this. It’s multifaceted and complex, like most people issues are.”

MOVE OVER RESILIENCE…

Bringing good people into the industry and, perhaps more importantly, retaining them once they’re here, is going to be critically important over the coming months and years.

And, while ‘resilience’ has been talked about a lot through the pandemic, Brough says thinking in Allianz has evolved.

As well as recruiting for mindset and attitude, the ability to deal with ambiguity is now a highly sought after skill.

“It’s the evolution of resilience as a characteristic,” says Brough. “Resilience is a reactive word – it indicates you have little say in the matter, and you’re just coping with whatever is thrown at you.

“The ability to deal with ambiguity means you lean into uncertainty, take control of it and navigate through it proactively, rather than you just having the strength to get through it,” Brough adds.

As well as recruiting for and prioritising the attributes that are going to help people succeed in the longer term, it’s also important for businesses to understand the motivating factors for job seekers.

Recruitment is a two-way street, and a prospective employee is interviewing you as much as you’re interviewing them.

“We need to be truly listening to what is needed [by current and prospective employees],” says Claridge.

“It is no longer one or two primary things, it’s more like six – salary, fexibility, professional development, career advancement, good culture and aligned values.”

And, once you’ve found the right people, it’s imperative a concerted efort goes into retaining them.

Claridge continues, “We believe every single employee should have their own learning and development pathway that they help to design, which will couple their area for improvement with their area of interest.”

ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THE TALENT OF TOMORROW

As many of us will attest, working in insurance is a fantastically varied and rewarding career, with many career avenues and opportunities to pursue in a relatively secure environment.

However, how many of us dreamed of working in insurance at school? The sector is populated with people who’ve moved into it after beginning in another profession, something that Brough believes will stand insurance in good stead over the coming years.

“It is that melting pot. Because we do attract people from all sorts of trades, professions and backgrounds, it’s a diverse sector in terms of skill sets and experiences.

“I think that diversity of knowledge and experience will serve us well as a sector over the coming years.”

Of course, it would be nice to build a steady pipeline of talent entering the industry from schools and universities, and Claridge says, “I do believe that speaking at university and school events, attending career fairs, and knowing the ofering well enough to be able to inspire others will assist in making insurance an attractive career.

“By doing that we can showcase the diferent array of technical skills that are needed to be a successful insurance professional and the potential career opportunities to be had.

“Within our industry there are many diferent businesses, departments and roles – there is such a wide audience to be tapped into,” added Claridge.

To do that successfully, however, she says that insurance businesses, as well as the profession, have to make themselves attractive propositions, too. “Some businesses are falling short right now because they’re unwilling – maybe unable – to clearly and strongly defne their own identities and to then make decisions based around this, rather than responding to headlines and short-term sentiment.

“Business should be steadfast in who they are and what they represent in order to attract the key talent that aligns with this.”

While insurance is certainly fnding it tough as far as people are concerned, it’s certainly not alone, with most other sectors tackling the same challenges.

Insurance has a few good cards to play, however. With a repositioning as a desirable sector that ofers job security, fexibility, training and opportunities galore – and underpinned by the genuine desire and ability to do good – we could be well positioned to emerge from these challenges in a very strong position indeed.