E&Y: Insurers Need To Step Up And Meet Employee Needs Or Face Exodus - Insurance News | InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Top Stories
Topics
    • Life Insurance News
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Companies
    • Earnings
    • Video
    • Monthly Focus
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • INN Exclusives
  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Articles
  • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider Pro
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Top Stories
Top Stories RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
March 15, 2022 Top Stories No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

E&Y: Insurers Need To Step Up And Meet Employee Needs Or Face Exodus

Adventist and Anthem Blue Cross agreed to extend current deal.
Adventist and Anthem Blue Cross continue efforts to bridge the gap in negotiations.
By Ayo Mseka

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how the insurance industry attracts and keeps talent -- probably for good.

“You will not retain your talents if you don’t offer them an upgraded employee experience and you need to attract new skills, which are required for transforming the insurance business into a more digital, customer-centric business," said Isabelle Santenac, global insurance leader for Ernst & Young.

The pandemic impact on talent is just one trend explored in the EY 2022 Global Insurance Outlook. It takes into consideration three trends that are particularly important in the coming months.

The trends are:

1. As the industry is committed to be more customer-centric and as customer needs and expectations have significantly changed over the past years, we see ecosystems of financial solutions and the rise of open insurance emerging as a key trend, Santenac said.

2. COVID-19 has changed our ways of working and has opened new horizons for building talent pools. Workforce transformation is absolutely needed, Santenac said.

3. The third big trend is sustainability, according to Santenac. The insurance industry has to go further than a commitment to being carbon zero, and define clear roadmaps, including short-term milestones, to demonstrate its actions. “We see a lot of opportunities for the industry to be part of the solution and innovate with new products that drive greener behaviors,” she said.

The Great Resignation

The second trend identified by Santenac is related to the Great Resignation, which continues to be a challenge for many employers, including those in the insurance industry.

According to Santenac, U.S workers are quitting in record numbers, the highest in the 20 years since the Department of Labor began keeping track. Last year alone, an average of more than 3.98 million workers quit their jobs each month. “This means that 2021 holds the highest average on record,” she said.

The insurance industry has been grappling with employment challenges well before the pandemic, she added. As an industry with an aging workforce, it is faced with the daunting challenge of addressing a retirement talent drain of about half the workforce over the next decade.

Since the average age of a life insurance agent in the U.S. is 59, insurance does not face nearly the same crisis of staying power seen across other industries today, Santenac pointed out.

However, while these insurance professionals aren’t changing jobs now, they are dangerously close to retirement, which gives the industry the same risk of a labor shortage as every other industry, if only delayed by a few years.

Addressing Industry Sustainability

When it comes to long-term industry sustainability, insurers will need to attract young Gen Z workers and retain millennials, Santenac said.

“There is the critical need to re-examine and redefine the industry's value and meaning to generations for whom a sense of “mission” is table stakes,” she said.

In addition, insurance organizations need to be proactive in retaining the talent and expertise they currently have and in retooling to compete aggressively for the talent of the future, she added.

The insurance industry is currently experiencing a period of growth and change stemming largely from investment in InsurTech. As a result, the types of professions that are available in the industry are increasing beyond the traditional positions of producers, claims managers, and actuaries, she added

As with many long-term industry sectors, there is a great need to bolster the workforce with deep technology and product-management expertise, which currently represent the top two positions that insurance companies are looking to fill.

“The scarcity of key skills and the "Great Resignation” mean that insurers must address the traditional view of the industry as slow-moving and dull if they are to become employers of choice,” she said.

People want fair compensation and benefits, Santenac pointed out. They also want flexible working arrangements, and, increasingly, they want to work for employers who are in tune with the major societal impacts of the day, such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), and the green economy.

“Developing innovative new products and solutions to protect against climate risks and leading the shift to a greener economy will also help elevate insurers’ reputation among younger workers,” she added.

Retaining and Recruiting Workers

While salary and benefits are still important in retaining and recruiting workers, 60% of American employees say the pandemic caused them to think more carefully about the benefits their employer provides, and about 68% believe that their workplace benefits will play a more critical role in their future job selection, Santenac said.

These are important, along with creating the right environment that includes:

  • A sense of social cohesion and purpose
  • Collaborative teams
  • Clear responsibilities and opportunities to learn and grow
  • An organizational sense of purpose that aligns with workers’ personal values
  • A suitable physical and digital environment that gives employees the flexibility to achieve work/life balance

Younger workers are looking for more purposeful work, which gives an advantage to insurers that can articulate a clear story about how their products and services benefit society as a whole, Santenac added.

“Helping address the worldwide protection and retirement-savings gaps, promoting diversity, and protecting against climate change are all ways insurers can live their purpose and attract socially minded workers at the same time,” she said.

Ayo Mseka has more than 30 years of experience reporting on the financial-services industry. She formerly served as Editor-In-Chief of NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Contact her at [email protected].

Older

How Advisors Can Help Women Rescue Their Retirement

Newer

NY Fines 2 Insurers $4.2M For Alleged Reporting Failures

Advisor News

  • Paul Brahim named 2024 president-elect of the Financial Planning Association
  • Study: RIAs say clients are worried about retirement
  • David McRae: Financial potholes to avoid
  • All Hail the Roth IRA!
  • SEC: Afghanistan vet, cancer researcher victimized in ‘Cash Flow King’ Ponzi scheme
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Three reasons to seek annuity income
  • Committee of Annuity Insurers Issues Public Comment to Treasury Dept.
  • Annuity sales up 27% through six months, LIMRA reports
  • Indexed annuity products set record of $25.1B in Q2, Wink finds
  • Features, taxation of individual annuities help middle-class Americans feel confident about retirement
Sponsor
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • Tony Messenger: Retired couple take a stand over $12 penalty on hospital bill
  • What does state-mandated LTCi mean for your clients?
  • Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs to remain stable in 2024
  • LIMRA: Workplace supplemental health product sales continue growth in Q2
  • Cigna pays $150,000 penalty to settle Virginia complaint
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance News

  • Life Insurance Awareness Month: Key points to reinforce with consumers and clients
  • John Hancock launches Premier Benefit IUL
  • Why aren’t more women buying life insurance?
  • Corebridge Financial to sell UK life insurance business to Aviva
  • Analysis shows decreasing mortality risks for Black, Hispanic life insurance applicants
More Life Insurance News

- Presented By -

Top Read Stories

  • Allstate, other insurers among those facing robocall lawsuits
  • Insurance industry well positioned to use AI, panelists say
  • Analysis shows decreasing mortality risks for Black, Hispanic life insurance applicants
  • North Dakota judge halts long-term care bailout plan crafted in Pa.
  • Big rules are coming; Prudential exec hopes they aren’t ‘overly conservative’
More Top Read Stories >

Press Releases

  • Hexure Acquires Vive
  • Senior Market Sales Adds EMG Insurance Brokerage to Growing Network of Health and Wealth Companies
  • Investors Preferred Life Insurance Company Names Nikki Pethtel as Its Next President
  • Insurity Celebrates its 15-Year Partnership with RCG Global Services, Marking a Legacy of Trust, Growth, and Digital Transformation
  • Sally Jewell Named Chair of Symetra Financial Corporation Board of Directors
More Press Releases > Add Your Press Release >

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

Topics

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Companies
  • Earnings
  • Video
  • Monthly Focus
  • Sponsored Articles

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • INN Magazine

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2023 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your Insider Pro Account

Not registered? Become an Insider Pro.
Insurance News | InsuranceNewsNet