Brokers must priortise staff engagement as the 'great resignation' continues to bite in 2023

Job vacancies in the UK for the financial industry spiked from 16,000 in May 2020 to 54,000 in April 2022 the Office for National Statistics revealed.

Neil Campling, CEO of Verlingue, for one admits that his broker has experienced higher levels of staff turnover than it would have done before the Covid-19 pandemic.

You’ve got a lot of mid-tier people moving around the industry. It has reawakened the need to become more self-sufficient in terms of your own talent management.

Neil Campling

“From what I understand, it is not a dissimilar pattern to a number of other brokers and insurers. You’ve got a lot of mid-tier people moving around the industry. It has reawakened the need to become more self-sufficient in terms of your own talent management,” Campling said.

“The pandemic made people realise that extra free time was not a bad thing, so they then decided to retire, or that they wanted to work from home more.”

Brett Sainty, CEO of BLW Insurance Brokers, agrees Covid-19 made people rethink what they want out of work.

“The pandemic gave people the time to seriously look at their career and their work life balance,” he stated.

“A lot of people made some changes, which has compounded the worrying trend of more people leaving the industry than joining. I think resignations will continue into 2023, but we can improve it.”

Re-evaluation seems to be a common theme as to why job vacancies hiked up between 2020 and 2022.

Paul Anscombe, CEO of Seventeen Group, added: “It was a unique moment in history. This is the first time all of us have been locked down in our homes with our families. 

The pandemic gave people the time to seriously look at their career and their work-life balance.

Brett Sainty

“Many people enjoyed being at home, which made them reflect on what they want out of things later on in life.”

Peter Blanc, executive chairman of Howden UK & Ireland, echoed both Sainty and Anscombe in believing that the extra thinking time given to people during Covid-19 caused the world to question their priorities.

“People definitely thought, do I want to spend the next 20 years of my life working in an office or should I go do something more fulfilling?” he added.

“It also highlighted a dynamic shift in how training in the insurance industry worked. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, insurers would train everyone up, then brokers would grab the best talent so they didn’t have to invest in training. 

“This doesn’t happen now; there hasn’t been enough teaching going on collectively in the market and this has created a gap in the workforce.”

Engagement

Blanc stressed that resignations, and the lack of training, caused a ripple effect because as staff left it then proved difficult to hire people with the same skill set.

He continued: “[The resignations] highlighted that there was a gap at the very bottom; there was not enough of new talent coming in compared to the amount of people leaving.

“Brokers have to keep staff engaged; you’ve got to make it attractive for people who want to be in the office.

“This includes making technology fit for purpose, and you’ve got to schedule collaboration days so people can get to know their colleagues, which coincides with creating a great company culture.”

[The resignations] highlighted that there was a gap at the very bottom, there was not enough of new talent coming in compared to the amount of people leaving.

Peter Blanc

Suzy Middleton, CEO at SEIB Insurance Brokers, urged brokers to look out for the staff they already have, and to better develop their capabilities.

Middleton commented: “This year is about taking care of your own workforce, giving them the tools to expand their skill sets and keep their careers fresh. We also have to coach and mentor people who may not have the insurance experience, but the ability to learn.

“SEIB has taken new entrants into the market, either on graduate schemes or straight out of school. It has been natural to do this in some of our sectors.”

She also prompted the industry in that more needs to be done to attract potential talent with the willingness to learn.

“Changing the dynamics and bringing in new people is a great way to accelerate some of the projects and support others already in the business to develop.” Middleton noted.

Awareness

Sainty reiterated this, and insisted that the market has more work to do to make the insurance industry a destination of choice for graduates.

He added: “We have got to raise awareness of the insurance industry because it has got a lot to offer. We need to put up the senior people to play a role in mentoring. I would like to see people engaged with the older industry veterans.

We need to offer the senior people a role in mentoring. I would like to see people engaged with the older industry veterans.

Brett Sainty

“We could then encourage them to go into schools and universities, and talk to young people. We do need to hold onto our experienced people and make them champions of the industry.”

Blanc had a similar idea and agreed that the industry should come together and teach younger people about the industry.

He said: “The big players in the London market should come together, go to universities and ask people if they want to be a part of the insurance sector. Then give them a years’ run up of training [ahead of graduation]”.

War for talent

Offering some optimism, Ecclesiastical managing director Richard Coleman believes that resignations are falling, and the wider recruitment market is getting a little bit easier.

Coleman continued: “I still think there is going to be a constant war for talent in most industries and especially in insurance. The one really important thing for insurers and brokers to get right is retaining people. Your company has got to have a compelling story as to why people should be with them.”

Anscombe concluded that the job market is “vibrant”, and that the war for talent means the best staff are in demand. 

He warned that if businesses cannot create a workplace environment where staff want to stay then undoubtedly retention will continue to suffer.

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