2023 Executive Outlook | Joe D’Annunzio, BrokerLink

Joe D’Annunzio, president, BrokerLink

Attracting new talent and retaining experienced employees is a key priority in the evolving insurance marketplace.

Having a strong employee base is important when it comes to providing the best customer service. Delivering a strong customer experience in a hybrid model can be challenging for brokerages, since they must balance the mix of in-office and remote-work employees with maintaining high service levels.

Offering digital solutions can help. Keeping up with the technology needed to create a positive digital experience requires ongoing investment to maintain the service customers expect.

Industry players can tackle these workplace challenges by implementing several key strategies.

First, promote a strong employee value proposition. Insurance is about people. A successful brokerage often has a strong set of values, is open to change, and invests in its employees. Having a sense of purpose is also very important: it really matters that employees believe what they do every day makes a real difference to customers.

Ensure employees have the right tools and resources to do their jobs efficiently. This requires investing in current technology, simplifying processes, and streamlining key initiatives to help maintain a balanced workload.

Offer ongoing training and development programs. This helps employees stay up-to-date on products and industry offerings. Providing clear career pathways can help employees identify opportunities and support succession planning. In addition, supporting the development of team leaders through dedicated workshops promotes collaboration, accountability, and effective communication so these leaders can develop their skills to help employees be successful.

Establish a year-round recruitment strategy. Recruitment is an ongoing initiative; it’s important to have a strategy in place to ensure service and staffing levels are maintained year-round. This strategy should reach beyond traditional recruitment methods and focus on attracting new people to the insurance industry.

Implement robust social responsibility initiatives. Employees want to be proud of the company for which they work. They value organizations that create and support strong social responsibility initiatives. Companies that focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, community engagement and positive environmental action can attract and retain employees with high levels of engagement, participation and support.