A s anyone responsible for bringing new talent into an insurance business will confirm, finding good staff can be challenging. In fact, research shows that 90% of insurance employers in Australia found it difficult to recruit skilled staff, particularly in liability claims consultants, workers’ compensation and underwriting– and, 30% of the current industry workforce is set to retire by 2030, too. Today’s recruitment environment is different, however – particularly in insurance, given the technologically-driven revolution that we’re right in the middle of. “For more than five years now, Allianz has been working on strategic workforce planning – looking at the skills we need for the future across every function in the business,” says Rebecca Thomson, General Manager, People Advisory and Strategy, at Allianz Australia. The changing dynamics of recruitment Whereas a decade ago, insurance experience may have been at the very top of the list for desirable attributes, companies are having to think laterally, and take into account digital aptitude and talent, too. “Allianz is on a path towards being a skills-based organisation whereby we centre talent decisions around employee skills and capabilities, rather than traditional job titles, hierarchies or experiences,” says Thomson. “Traditional ways of recruiting, where you had to have worked in the insurance industry, and had done the role previously in order to be successful, are no longer the most relevant approach to finding talent. “We now look at it based on skills. So what are transferable skills? What are the skills that make up each role, and then where can they be used, across divisions or across functions? So we have to think more outside the box in terms of where we get our talent from.” Matthew Churchill, Director of Customer Success at Cytora, which works with insurers globally to implement digital solutions, says there’s a move globally to bring in talent from technology backgrounds and train them on the insurance side of things. “There is a real sense of pride, once employees discover that there’s a real human element to what we do in insurance, and that’s becoming increasingly important and attractive to talent.”
“In the US and Europe, we’re seeing digital transformation people coming into insurance businesses and being given more power and influence than they ever have before – and teams being formed around ingestion, data and digitisation. “Some of those roles may have existed in the past, however not with the scale of influence, and they were previously much more inward looking. Today, it’s much “In the US and Europe, we’re seeing digital transformation people coming into insurance businesses and being given more power and influence than they ever have before – and teams being formed around ingestion, data and digitisation.” more integration, data manipulation and Application Programming Services (API)-driven. API is the entire future, and we’re starting to see insurers and brokers specifically hiring people who can truly drive technology forward.” Attracting people to insurance As everyone working in the industry knows, insurance can be a rewarding and meaningful sector to be part of. But it’s increasingly important to sell the whole package of working in insurance to continue to attract up-and-coming talent. “Allianz is a purpose-driven organisation,” says Thomson. Our brand promise is to deliver ‘care you can count on’, and support people in times of need. “There is a real sense of pride, once employees discover that there’s a real human element to what we do in insurance, and that’s becoming increasingly important and attractive to talent.” As well as bringing in talent from technology roles, Allianz has identified other adjacent professions and non-typical demographics as strong talent sources. Thomson says, “For example, we’ve been targeting the allied health professions – nurses in particular – who may be keen to move away from shift work, but still want to use their professional expertise. We’ve had some success hiring them into complex personal injury claims roles. “For them, they’re great at having those empathetic conversations and can utilise their skills and they can work from home and really flourish. We also have a number of programs to look at non-traditional talent pools – for example, diverse ages and background.”
42 A NIBA Brokers’ Guide: to leveraging technology in insurance
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