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By Rick Spaulding, SFM Mutual Insurance Company

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 400,000 employees of the insurance industry workforce are expected to retire by 2020. More than 1 million are expected to retire over the next 10 years. Coupling this with the fact that the insurance industry continues to struggle with reputation—44% of Millennials think working in the insurance industry is “boring”—as well as disseminating employment opportunities within the industry to college graduates, it is easy to infer a tremendous impending talent shortage.

This isn’t breaking news. As participants in the industry, we’ve all had this hammered into our heads. The industry has effectively anticipated this shortage for quite some time, as it has recognized that its workforce is aging faster than other industries. To combat this looming talent shortage, a great amount of attention has been placed on Millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000), specifically recruiting them. This makes complete sense, since Millennials already make up more than 25% of the U.S. workforce and are expected to make up 50% of the global workforce by 2020.

There is no doubt that the effective recruitment of Millennials will play a vital role in the long-term survivability of the insurance industry. However, as a specific insurance carrier competing against other insurance carriers for business, retaining Millennial talent, not recruiting talent, will be even more critical to your future success.

How do you retain Millennial talent? Let’s start with looking at some of the generic expectations assigned to the Millennial generation:

1. Job stability
2. Work/Life balance
3. Meaningful work
4. Recognition
5. Having a voice in how they perform their jobs

Job stability? Work/Life balance? Meaningful work? Who, of the 2.5 million people employed in the insurance industry, isn’t looking for these qualities in their employer? Recognition? Having a voice? Again, these expectations aren’t unique to the Millennial generation. In fact, I would argue, these have become universal expectations of all employees of the insurance industry, regardless of generation. If your company isn’t already providing the above-listed items, you’ve probably already lost talent to your competition, Millennial and otherwise.

So let’s ask again. How do you retain Millennial talent? My answer? Effective leadership.

When I use the word leadership, I’m referring to leadership at all levels—supervisors, managers, directors, vice presidents, and presidents.

An effective leader is invaluable in the retention of talent, since it naturally provides employees with the qualities of a career that they’ve come to expect in the insurance industry. But what makes someone an effective leader? My answer, DECK.

Desire for others to succeed. Effective leaders want to see all of their team members succeed, because they want their team to succeed. When the team succeeds, the company succeeds. When the company succeeds, employees are incidentally provided one of their universal exceptions—job stability. In addition, an employee who truly feels that their leader wants them to be successful will work harder, and, at a minimum, require that of any potential future employer.

Empathy. Effective leaders have the ability to identify their team members. Empathy allows leaders to genuinely provide work/life balance. A mistake was made? An empathetic leader recognizes that people make mistakes and utilizes the opportunity to teach. Someone needs to miss work due to a sick child? An empathetic leader understands the situation and gladly grants a vacation/sick day. Someone requests a day off to attend a family vacation? An empathetic leader encourages it.

Communication. Effective leaders communicate with their team regularly. Whether the communication be in the form of recognition for a job well done, constructive criticism to ensure development of their team members, or simple “how’s the family” type conversations, good leaders are constantly engaging their employees. When communication is done properly, employees know exactly what their strengths are, and what their weaknesses are. When employees know what they’re doing well, their recognition expectation is naturally met. When employees know what they’re doing well, what they need to improve, and feel that their leader truly cares about them (and their family), they naturally find their work to be more meaningful—another expectation.

Knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses. Effective leaders know what they’re good at, and know when to ask for help. They acknowledge that the greatest source of information and knowledge comes from their employees. Effective leaders aren’t afraid to learn from their employees. When leaders learn from their employees, their employees are granted a voice. Ironically, acknowledging weaknesses isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength, and it makes a team stronger.

Effective leadership can singlehandedly be the secret force driving your company’s talent retention, since effective leadership naturally provides employees—Millennials and otherwise—with the qualities expected from an employer. Invest in your leadership. Invest in your Millennials—they will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Sources:

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2017/01/27/440212.htm

http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/closingquote/2015/02/09/356340.htm