The issues around talent attraction are not getting better. I think they’re getting worse. We all know of the talent shortage and the problems it creates for companies. While there are external factors contributing to the problem, why haven’t we explored the contributing internal factors? I ask myself,
“Are we creating the problem ourselves through our own preconceptions or limitations?”
“Are we stuck with outdated thinking because we are comfortable or simply used to it?”
When I think about it, it seems that we have self-instituted artificial barriers preventing us from sourcing from some talent pools.
For example, I’ve noticed a subtle bias when considering mid-career employees. The common fear is that their best years are behind them, they are too expensive, and someone younger is easier to mold. Another example is recruiting talent from a field outside of insurance – the objection being that it’ll take too much investment to onboard them, or that their current skills simply aren’t transferable.
Neither of these examples are always true nor always false. But, unfortunately, the suspicion alone makes candidates less attractive.
In the end, we are only hurting ourselves. This kind of thinking is antiquated, narrow-minded, and short-sighted with a complete lack of understanding of the potential benefits.
For mid-career talent, the excuse of a shorter time left is laughable. Look around and you’ll see folks working well into-and-past retirement age. With this kind of career length, mid-career talent will have plenty of time to find their footing and make their mark to the industry’s benefit.
For talent from an outside field, we need to shift the emphasis away from demanding prior insurance experience to identifying the right mindsets, competencies, and skills. Sometimes all it takes is some curiosity, an open mind, and exploration to realize that a particular skill may be useful in an insurance context. Could a General Contractor tired of working 12-hour days on a job site offer credible and unique experience to a property claims team?
This year’s government layoffs are a prime example of a large candidate group being thrust onto the job market looking for the next opportunity, and maybe a career change. Could insurance be the right landing spot for someone with a certain skill set? Think about the unique perspective such a person could bring, a different way of doing things.
This is radical change that causes leaps of growth.
And consider Artificial Intelligence which seems to be a vital facet for our industry now and in the years to come. And yet, it seems like every time we turn around, we see more layoffs in Silicon Valley. This begs the question: are we recruiting talent in big tech? Would this talent need a different recruiting approach than that of traditional IT staffing?
Take it a step further: for young professionals with a technology-based education, are we selling the blue sky opportunity for them to shape the development of AI in insurance?
You don’t have to look far to see that those self-imposed obstacles fade away under scrutiny:
- By taking a fresh look at mid-career candidates, we will realize that they have plenty of career-time left to make important contributions.
- For those coming from an outside field, increasing emphasis on skill sets can bring new perspective and outside-the-box thinking.
- With AI having become such an important theme, we should revisit how we draw both existing and new tech talent to help shape AI’s place in insurance.
- By challenging our own preconceptions of where we draw talent from, we can open-up new avenues that will go a long way in solving the talent problems of our day.
I think we need to push aside the obstacles and consider something different. It’s time we turn obstacles into opportunities!
By Matt Nickens, Partner, Coleman Search Group
