How can your insurance company be the best? Customer service is key, and that service comes from your company culture. When you ask how your insurance company can be the best, you're also asking how you can be a better employer, making employees feel happy and challenged in your insurance jobs. What are some of the traits of top insurance employers? Here are five.
1. You Invest in What Employees Need
According to the Harvard Business Review, a stellar employer "actively invest(s) in meeting the multidimensional needs of their employees." What does this mean? Consider your employees' health and family life when you create your business practices. For instance, providing leave for employees who need to care for a sick relative or are ill themselves, or providing an enhanced healthcare plan means that employees feel that you care for their overall wellbeing as an employee. That leads to better work performance.
2. You Embrace a Positive Leadership Style
Do you want happy, optimistic employees? You need to embrace a style of leadership that inspires these qualities. Instead of leading with punishment or asking people to work long hours out of guilt, inspire people to commit to your company because they love the people they work with, the clients, and the work that they do. Treat employees like people who know what they're doing – if they don't, why did you hire them?
3. Focus on Meaning
While every individual's workday probably involves some time filling out paperwork, give your employees regular, frequent reminders of the greater mission behind your business. In the insurance business, you're helping to protect people from disasters that can lead to serious problems with their lives. Your insurance company may have other social motivations too, such as an annual fundraiser for families who are struggling. By focusing on the meaning of your work, you remind employees that even when the work seems boring, it is important.
4. You Have Fun Together
While the workplace doesn't need to be a constant party, having fun together connects you with your coworkers in new ways. Simple ways to connect with employees could include a game night or a lunchtime exercise program. Having fun in a casual, low-pressure setting helps people feel good about their workplace, and it also helps them bring up new ideas to people who feel more like friends. Getting together is a way to include everyone and open yourselves to new ideas in your workplace.
5. Look to the Future
Help your employees see their job as more than a stepping stone to something else. According to the Business2Community blog post, "only 51% of people view their job as a career, and their workplaces are at least partly to blame." Great employers meet with their employees and ask them questions about where they see their careers going. They look for competencies and try to ensure that employees are using all of their skills in the workplace.
Are you ready to upgrade your insurance company and become an even better employer? At American Agents Alliance, we offer many membership benefits that will help both your employees and your company as a whole. Contact us today to learn more.
