For years now, people in the insurance industry have worried about the impending retirement of so many Baby Boomers. Well, it's happening. They're retiring. A lot of other people are leaving the industry, too, or considering doing so as part of the general reevaluation of work that the pandemic has caused these past two years-plus.
What to do?
To figure how to tackle the problem, I talked with Hunter Fausnacht, vice president, agent & broker development, at The Institutes, who says the talent issue is the biggest challenge facing agents and brokers today.
The short version of his solution is two-fold. First, agents and brokers need to get creative about where they look for talent and how they pitch to prospects. (Hint: The industry can do a much better job of communicating the excitement of working in insurance during this period of great change and of describing the potential financial rewards.) Second, agents and brokers need to have a plan in place to start extensive training on Day One. There just isn't time any more for the learning by osmosis that tended to occur at agencies in years past.
The longer form of his answer follows in the interview below. I hope you find it as illuminating as I did.
Cheers,
Paul
Editor-in-Chief, Insurance Thought Leadership
