How can smaller brokers attract the right talent?

Like many other industries, insurance finds itself in the middle of a war for talent. This leaves the sector’s firms fighting it out for the best people that will help drive their businesses forward in what is a very challenging and competitive market.

So, how do insurance companies make their business an attractive proposition for new talent? And how do smaller brokers – with limited resources compared to their larger peers – standout from the crowd?

Rachel Longbottom, head of performance service and innovation at Ardonagh-owned broker network business Bravo Networks, told Insurance Times that attracting talent is all about positioning the insurance industry and the specific company to appeal to a new generation of talent that are just starting out in their careers.

“We’ve now got five generations in one workforce and our junior talent has grown up during very different times to the older generations that they’re working alongside,” she said.

“It’s a challenge to understand the needs of our younger generation. They want to know about things such as environmental, social and governance policies and it’s important not to gloss over these things with lip service or greenwashing as they will spot it a mile off.

“As an industry, we have to be better at getting into places where young people are and understanding what matters to them. We are good at networking across our industry, but are we good at multigen networking?”

One of the ways DPI Insurance owner and director Ian Evans is combating this at his family-run broker is through outreach programmes for young people in his local area of Manchester.

“We have a symbiotic relationship with our local A-level college, where we deliver speeches about what it’s like to work at DPI and within a commercial insurance broker at their ‘business means business’ open days,” he explained.

“Additionally, we provide work experience placements of real value to their students, where they receive access to all areas of our business.

“Students will shadow department heads and senior staff, providing an understanding of the mechanics of the business, under our structured programme that culminates in a test and debrief with our compliance and training manager and myself.”

DPI Insurance has around 20 employees.

Focusing on career development

However, cost effectively attracting new, young talent is not all about what firms do before new staff join – it is also about offering appropriate career development opportunities once fresh hires are through the door.

Tom Yorke, director at Blue Rock Insurance Brokers, said: “If we’re going to bring young people into the business, we need to take a very planned and deliberate approach so we can get them doing meaningful work in a relatively short period of time and to a competent standard.

“[This type of] effort [is typically only seen in] graduate programmes by insurers or large brokers, but we need that focus as small or mid-sized brokers.

“And we need to keep at it if we’re going to reduce the age profile [of the insurance industry] and make our offices a good place for young people to be.”

Chris Braniff, managing director at Pelican Insured, added that brokers need to build a culture that fosters career development in a way that works best for staff.

He continued: “Young people are generally less money oriented and much more life experience or development focused.

“As a result of their modern motivations, we believe that younger team members value strong and inclusive team cultures, clear guidance and planning from leaders – not necessarily managers – and robust training and development so they feel progression and, possibly the most important for many, flexibility.”

Prosura chief executive Jon Newall agreed with this sentiment. He added that giving staff options on how they want their careers to progress is vital. 

“Having different educational pathways available, which support team members as they grow and develop, is important,” he said.

“The tools we access to help individuals take their insurance career further is our Allianz-supported Chartered Insurance Institute journey and the Bravo Networks-supported apprenticeship scheme.

“Excitingly for Prosura, we have our first apprentice joining us in August 2024.”

Bravo Networks has so far transferred more than £100,000 through the Apprenticeship Levy since October 2022 to help its 550-odd broker members train their staff. Longbottom believes this offers an alternative route for recruiting young talent and – crucially – retaining them.

“Apprenticeships offer a different access to recruitment and, therefore, recruiting challenges are helped because the apprenticeship provider is going in there for you and supporting,” she said.

“To build on that, the broker is then more likely to retain talent because they have learned on the job and built up skills, trust and a strong relationship with their new colleagues.”

Market-wide mission

Ultimately, however, Evans noted that addressing the talent gap that exists in insurance is an industry-wide responsibility.

“There is clearly a skills void within insurance that appears to have picked up pace exponentially in recent years,” he said.

“If – as an industry – we don’t invest in bringing through new talent, [then] that void will only widen and ultimately, the industry and the end consumer of insurance products will suffer.”

One of the long-standing issues for insurance is that many outside the industry don’t view it as an exciting career choice – but Pollensa Insurance Services director Mandy Kisbee said technology is changing this perception.

“There is a stigma that the insurance industry is dull, but from my experience it has been far from it, with many opportunities to develop and meet some fantastic people,” she explained.

“There are very different ways to forge a career now, with the industry forever evolving in the way insurance is purchased, improvements in technology and social media especially [makes the sector] more attractive to younger people.”

So, with the proper outreach and education programmes to promote all the benefits insurance has to offer as a career choice, maybe soon the industry can become a destination of choice for young people.