“All my friends drive Porsches” How to sell school leavers on a career in insurance

This reminded me of an address I gave at a well-known boys’ school in Johannesburg some years ago. I dutifully extolled the virtues of a career in insurance, spelling out the benefits, the fascinating people you meet and the events you can get involved in.

After the lecture I asked if any of the boys were keen to join the industry. Only one hand shot up. When I asked why, he responded: "Because our next-door neighbour is an insurance broker – and he drives a Porsche!" Although the answer was honest his motivation for joining the insurance industry might have been somewhat misplaced.

When I asked some of the other boys what they were going to do, I got a mixture of merchant banking, investment management, financial management, and the likes. None in the audience felt that insurance was sufficiently glamorous, exciting or rewarding. Why is it that school leavers do not see insurance as a career?

The negative perception of insurance is perpetuated by the industry. Advertising of insurance – little as there is – tends to emphasise claims, losses and hardship on the one hand and "cheaper quotes” on the other. There is nothing that promotes insurance as a rewarding career.

This is why so many people in the industry get into insurance by accident. It is only on the rare occasion that I hear somebody telling me that his or her dad "was in insurance” and this made them choose it as a career. The bottom line is that those who stick with the insurance industry end up with long and rewarding careers…

Insurance is one of a few professions accessible to everyone. Young school leavers that are prepared to work hard and study (even on a part time basis) have an equal opportunity to become professionals and to reach the top of the industry. You can make it without an expensive and lengthy insurance qualification, though those that study insurance and risk management will be rewarded.

Until insurance is promoted from within we will not change the image of the industry currently held by school leavers. So next time somebody asks you what you do, proudly announce that you work in insurance. On a similar note, advertising should rather show insurance as an essential part of modern financial management and not as a "grudge purchase" that one is forced into by the bank, a marriage or the birth of a child.

Chief executives at US-based insurance companies and broking houses are closely involved with promoting the industry. They present classes and talks and invite students to come and work for them during the holidays. They also make donations and bursaries available. To my mind they do this to promote insurance as a career and to ensure new blood in the industry.

Is anybody actively promoting insurance in South Africa? The marketplace for insurance is changing… The consumers, the operating environment, the products and the regulators are all different today compared to a decade ago. Unless the individuals participating in the industry adapt to these changes there is a "gap” that may never be bridged.

It is time for us to promote insurance as a career rather than an occupation. Each and every stakeholder – whether an insurer, broker, underwriting manager or loss adjuster – should encourage promising school leavers to choose insurance as a career… You should go the extra yard by championing and tutoring these industry newcomers to ensure that they go on to become future industry leaders.