“Historically, we’ve not done a great job of branding insurance as an industry of choice,” Grant mentioned.
“As a result, there’s a misconception among job seekers around the opportunities within the insurance industry.”
The foremost false impression that jobseekers sometimes have about insurance coverage is that it’s restricted to gross sales work. But the VP argues this merely isn’t true anymore.
“Given the vast product lines that comprise the insurance industry, there is a wide range of career opportunities for individuals that are interested in technology, finance, data analytics, human resources, or legal – and I didn’t even begin to touch on careers that are more typically associated with the industry, such as claim underwriting actuary and risk control,” mentioned Grant.
“Everywhere you look what you’re going to see is insurance coverage arduous at work, whether or not that be at a building web site, a hospital, an airport, your house, and even together with your pet.
“This makes for a highly diverse industry, with an opportunity for someone of any educational background or prior career focus to make an impact.”
Additionally, improvements in expertise, science, enterprise, and different fields are creating new dangers, thereby rising the necessity for insurance coverage.
“I often joke with some of my partners here at CNA that Silicon Valley doesn’t have a monopoly on exciting roles in technology,” Grant mentioned.
“The insurance industry will continue to have opportunities for individuals that are interested in areas like cloud computing or cybersecurity, we’re going to need talent to help us manage risks related to things like driverless cars and drones.”
What can the insurance coverage trade do to draw expertise?
Appealing to the youthful era needs to be key to the insurance coverage trade’s expertise technique, in accordance with the expertise head. Millennials and Gen Z will quickly comprise the vast majority of the workforce, so it’s crucial to interact with potential expertise as early as doable.
“We need to make sure that we are tackling this issue from an education standpoint early on, as individuals are forming their opinions and developing their ideas around what career could be best for them,” mentioned Grant.
To entice people seeking to shift careers, delivering the message to the appropriate communities and teams by way of quite a lot of channels will likely be essential.
“At CNA, our recruiters are dedicated to engaging [talent] with our branding and our opportunities, ensuring that we present to the most diverse slates of talent for our roles as possible,” Grant mentioned.
How has the pandemic modified the insurance coverage expertise market?
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a shift within the jobs market, Grant instructed Insurance Business. Pre-2020, the market was nonetheless largely employer centric. But the tables have turned to provide candidates extra leverage.
“Oftentimes, when we speak with candidates, they will be engaging with four or five other companies and may even have multiple offers in hand,” Grant mentioned.
The VP detailed 3 ways CNA’s recruitment technique has modified amid stiffer competitors for expertise:
- Speed – Scaling again timelines and shifting by way of the interview course of a lot faster to accommodate candidates.
- Broader standards – Widening the standards for roles and being open-minded about what in the end makes for a profitable rent.
- Hybrid preparations – Shifting to hybrid work to permit associates to search out the schedule that works for his or her wants.
“All together, these three things have really allowed us to be unbelievably successful as we shifted from an employer centric market to more of a candidate centric market,” mentioned Grant.
Economists at Indeed and Glassdoor joined forces to launch a brand new Hiring and Workplace Trends report immediately.
There’s so much to discover within the report, however listed below are the 5 key labor market tendencies which are anticipated to play a task in 2023 and past…
— Cory Stahle (@CoryStahle) November 17, 2022
A lingering dynamic
The present dynamic between employers and job prospects is more likely to stay for now. A 2023 joint report from job websites Glassdoor and Indeed predicted that the tight labor market provide would proceed to make hiring difficult in lots of industries, even amid a possible world recession.
But Grant was fairly assured that the insurance coverage trade can buck any financial challenges and reach recruiting one of the best expertise.
“There isn’t any trade that’s actually recession proof, “ he mentioned.
“That said, insurance has been around for hundreds of years and has thrived through a number of economic conditions – it’s typically able to weather the storm better than other industries.”