At Coleman Search Group, we enjoy sharing our perspectives on the future of talent, leadership, and change in our industry. This article, originally posted on LinkedIn by Matthew Nickens, explores how summertime can create the space for honest career self-reflection, helping professionals assess what they want from their work, identify what may be missing in their current role, and decide whether the next step is growth within their organization or a new opportunity elsewhere.
I recently read an article by Insurance Business which reported that the US insurance sector is set to lose around 400,000 workers through attrition by 2026. The article goes on to explain that “this issue is compounded by an aging workforce, with many employees nearing retirement.”
Frankly, I’m not surprised, and neither should you.
We’re witnessing one of – if not the – largest wave of retirements in our industry’s history. This exodus will generate vast numbers of vacancies across entire organizations – from claims, to underwriting, to operations – all the way up to the c-suite. To be clear, this isn’t just about the amount of roles that companies will need to fill. It’s also about the countless years of industry knowledge and know-how that will be walking out the door. This is a major problem that everyone saw coming but most seem to have ignored. To bridge the gap between those still in the workforce and those leaving, companies will need to find a solution, and now.
With a significant segment of the working population reaching retirement age, the resultant talent shortage has created another problem: a knowledge gap. This is another example of how the human element remains king. People who have worked in insurance for years have slowly accrued priceless industry knowledge and technical expertise, much of which is gained only through time and energy expended. Whether it’s claims expertise or underwriting acumen honed through the ups and downs of countless market cycles, these intangible skills are of tremendous value to an organization. Then there’s the relationship aspect: when an employee leaves, they often take with them client relationships and carefully nurtured business partnerships. We’ve all felt the negative effects of a valued colleague leaving a team.
How can companies solve this issue which will only compound as more folks retire? I know firsthand how challenging it is to find people with extensive experience and skill. So to find a workable solution, organizations need to employ a multi-faceted approach.
First, they need to explore the possibility of leveraging AI, and no, I don’t mean to replace departing employees. Rather, AI should be used to capture as much of the knowledge that is being lost in order to share it with the next generation. How and what to archive will come down to each company and its unique needs. Regardless, AI can offer the ability to retain and organize large swathes of data for future use and proliferation through teams and departments.
The second approach has to do with recalibrating the ideal employee profile, as hiring the right employee for the right company will be more important than ever. While the optimal professional may have less experience than their predecessor, they’ll instead need to possess the kind of qualities – technology adaptor, cultivator of human relationships to name a few – to thrive in this everchanging, uncertain environment. As a result, talent attraction and development will be critical, and will necessitate a leadership evolution in order to lead this revamped workforce.
Here at CSG, we have already started to adapt to this changing environment by focusing on sourcing the right experienced professionals for each organization. We accomplish this by renewing our emphasis on behavioral and culture assessment, ensuring candidates are the right fit for each company. By identifying emerging talent, we can connect companies with individuals who can drive innovation and be an integral part of the kind of knowledge transfer needed by organizations going forward.
We’ve long seen this talent problem looming on the horizon. Companies can no longer delay and must begin the planning and implementation process for dealing with this knowledge gap. Before we see some of our best and brightest leave the field for good, it’s critical that we retain as much of their wisdom as we can for the next generation. You can count on CSG to be there to help along the way.
By Matt Nickens, Partner, Coleman Search Group
