Relationships, skills and experience
Thapelo Mokau , Claims Administrator at AON Benfield
Marry them and you will have an amazing insurance industry going forward
While the insurance industry is facing various challenges, including increased competition, a complex technical environment and increasing regulation, the talent gap remains the most critical issue facing the industry.
As the current workforce shifts towards retirement, many companies risk losing vital institutional knowledge gained through experience and long term established relationships. The PWC 2016 report estimates that over 40% of the current workforce in the insurance industry will retire in the next ten years. This is further compounded by the fact that by 2025 Millennials will comprise 75% of the global work force. These statistics are particularly vital for our industry’s sustainability; therefore cultivating relationships, skills and experience will form the bedrock of our industry. If we marry them we will have an amazing insurance industry going forward.
Closing the gap
Cultivating relationships, skills and experience, refers to closing the potential knowledge gap that the industry will face as a result of retirements and the impact of technology on our business operations. The fact that our industry is made up of various service providers that are interlinked means that relationships, skills and experience are key components of how we provide service to clients.
Take a look at the impact of technology on our business. Even after updating and automating processes, which the younger generations are more in tune with, and functionalities of system development, the very same systems still require institutional knowledge to maximise the value of the technology and the output thereof. It is this technology gap that requires the industry to marry relationships, skills and experience to maximise the benefits of 21st century technological innovations.
Typically this is a business operations issue which requires decision makers to establish new organisational models that ensures collaboration is achieved through skills transfer, interaction and engagement between generations. This is one way of marrying the concepts and creating a wonderful industry, which in turn allows us to fulfil our client promise and lobby government for industry positions.
Facing challenges head on
Underneath all those internal organisational challenges we also have to prepare ourselves for the ever evolving consumer expectations. In other words, as we cultivate relationships, skills and experience, it should not be done at the expense of delivering our client promise and failing to identify key consumer trends. This requires a strategic approach in which we are able to utilise our institutional knowledge in the form of experienced individuals who have established relationships built over decades.
What is meant by this is that we need to facilitate a handover process in which we hand-over the relationships to the younger generations who will ultimately take the business forward.
Building partnerships and expertise is a key part of our industry which ultimately allows us to deliver excellent service, innovate in our businesses and create value through results. There is no doubt that institutional knowledge built over decades has special insights on relationships, skills development, partnerships and key industry trends.
We need to proactively use this institutional knowledge and impart a good work ethic on the less experienced employees within the business. Having the right mix of talent in our businesses will go a long way towards enriching the industry. This will also ensure that we fulfil our commitment to deliver a superior client experience and strive to achieve the best possible results
Protecting the industry
The bottom line is that our industry is ever evolving and will continue to undergo significant changes and challenges in the next few years. We need to cultivate relationships, skills and experience to ensure that we have the most amazing industry and that our industry performs its fundamental function of securing risks and growing the economy.
