SBIDI: the future of short-term insurance
Enterprise development is an important intervention to promote the growth and sustainability of beneficiary enterprises. Santam’s Black Intermediary Development Initiative specifically focuses on its supply chain and broker distribution channel.
Piloted in 2008/9, Santam’s Black Intermediary Development Initiative (SBIDI) is open to all black candidates with an interest in short-term insurance. The initiative is delivered through classroom and on-the-job based learning, with learning support and a mentoring programme, through which the candidates are placed with a broker in the industry.
The different modules include Business and financial planning, Introduction to short-term insurance and Santam’s short-term insurance products (personal lines and commercial). In addition, the programme includes exposure to Santam and intermediaries, coordination and infrastructural support, business development skills and support such as preparing a CV, starting up a business, FSB licensing, and more.
Building on success
SBIDI concluded 2009 successfully with 42 interns completing the programme. The SBIDI candidates all received certificates reflecting their successful completion of the programme. In addition, 35% of the interns in Gauteng and 56% of interns in the Western Cape were employed.
Santam has revisited the 2009 programme and has made enhancements to ensure that 90% to 100% of the candidates would be successfully placed in employment in 2010.
Selven Govender, head of Business Development at Santam says: “Santam is currently implementing the second phase of SBIDI for 2010. We are engaging with existing black brokers and sharing the goals and objectives around the 2010 SBIDI programme. We are getting the brokers involved from the beginning of the programme.”
Broker involvement
“The black brokers who become part of the programme will have very specific involvement in it. All brokers participating in this programme will mentor the interns on all aspects of the business. Santam envisages that the black brokers on board will agree to employ the successful interns with the necessary credits,” explains Govender.
“Providing skills to unemployed people ensure that these individuals have a greater chance of finding employment, especially in the short-term insurance industry. It will provide increased capacity of black individuals for the industry as well as contribute to more black brokers entering the short-term space.
Mutually beneficial
The role of existing black brokers in the SBIDI 2010 programme is to become mentors to the graduates and, eventually, to employ these graduates. Brokers are also encouraged to send their junior unskilled staff onto the programme and to introduce other existing black short-term and life brokers to Santam.
In return, the black brokers will enjoy increased capacity within their brokerages by employing the 2010 graduates and by enrolling their junior staff to become skilled broker staff with FAIS credits. Inseta and Santam will pay the first year’s salary of the 2009 SBIDI candidates if the existing black brokers employed them in 2010 and will contribute to the junior staff salary to assist the broker with reduced capacity during the training programme.
Black brokers can also attend a shorter version of the programme to assist them with skills such as marketing and sales. In addition, Santam is looking at removing the ‘barriers to entry’ to make it easier for the black brokers to do business with Santam.
Business as usual
“Santam is committed to transformation and development within the short-term insurance industry. We are looking to take SBIDI to new heights in 2010 and achieve even bigger milestones in 2011 and beyond,” says Govender. “There is huge excitement within Santam about SBIDI; we want to spread the word and make SBIDI ‘business as usual’.”
