At present, the average age of insurance professionals is around 50 – 60 years old. In the next couple of years, almost a quarter of the industry’s workforce will prepare for retirement.
If the insurance industry is to remain fully staffed, when these older employees begin retiring, their positions will need replacements.
And if the industry is to thrive, many of those replacements will need to be millennials – those born in the 1980’s into the 2000’s, and au fait with the digital era.
Is your business ready?
Daniel Corcoran, a millennial working in the insurance industry and passionate about it, says that unfortunately, “The same stale and boring reputation that existed decades ago stills exists today, even with the industry rapidly changing.”
Millenials are a different generation. They desire different things than people born earlier than the 1980’s, so in order to attract them, companies will need to understand them, and what they crave in their working environments.
This article explains how insurers can effectively engage the next generation. The information is a result of the findings from Deloitte’s Millennial Survey and Gallup Business Journal.
Image Credit: Deloitte
What professional millenials want.
1: Flexible working conditions in a stable environment
Although the majority of millenials prefer full-time positions because of the stability this offers, almost all of them desire some kind of flexibility within their working conditions. Flexibility can come in these forms:
- Working hours – the times they start and end work on a daily basis.
- Different types of contracts, not a one-size-fits-all.
- Job roles – allow staff input as to what they do as part of their job role. Implement certain guidelines when doing this.
- Work from various locations: remotely, from the office, from home, or other locations like coffee shops and so on.
Inc reports that in a study of 23 000 employees spanning 45 countries, it was found that when employees feel their places of work assist them to manage their family and personal responsibilities, flexibility contributed towards improved productivity and the well-being of staff.
2: Making an impact through employers
Millenials want to make an impact in the world, because they feel a sense of accountability for the world they live in, and they feel that they can make a real difference through their employers. Ideas to incorporate this element in the workspace:
- Social responsibility programs – get feedback from employees about what local initiatives they would most like to support, and allow them to contribute to their world in this way.
In an ideal scenario, because people want to feel they are making a difference to more than just bottom line profit, insurance companies should endeavour to make business about purpose instead of just profit.
Making it about purpose often attracts passionate people, and any company benefits from that.
3: Job advancement and career growth
Just as with any generation, millennials want jobs that advance their careers. What’s different about this generation though, is that they value development more than any other generation before them.
Despite this factor being one of the top cravings of the younger crew, the majority do not feel they get opportunities to learn in their workplaces.
Millenials make development a priority when looking for a job, so insurers should focus on this aspect when distributing job ads.
Gallup has found that career growth is in the top three ways to attract and retain Generation X, whose desire is for their superiors to find ways to grow their careers, improve their skills and coach them to be the best employees they can be.
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