When you're hiring for insurance jobs at your agency, you want an employee with experience, right? If you need someone to do the job well, you don't need to focus your hiring only on those with a resume that's packed full of industry experience. Hiring an underqualified employee can be a savvy business decision. Employees' traits and diverse skill sets can bring a new and refreshing perspective to your insurance business.
You Can Find a Future Superstar
Every outstanding employee begins somewhere. Why not hire that person yourself? According to Forbes, "most any company, particularly in the growth phase, is better off by discovering potential stars in the making and creating a healthy holding environment that allows and encourages them to grow." Understanding the traits that make your best employees the best can help you hire the right person for the job, even if that person seems to lack skills. Look for traits such as:
Persistence
Determination
Respect
Commitment
Curiosity
Insight
Trustworthiness
Courage
Gratitude
Who would you prefer to hire: a respectful, courageous, committed, and less inexperienced employee or an experienced industry specialist who's feeling jaded and stuck in a rut?
You'll Hire Someone Who's Motivated to Grow
According to Fast Company, hiring for a list of competencies is no longer enough. You need to hire for potential: "The ability to adapt to and grow into increasingly complex roles and environments." When you're hiring someone who's new to the insurance industry, what should you look for?
Seek out employees with ambition who have a desire to make a difference in the company's name. They're committed to professional growth, not just so that they can get a better salary, but so that they can make improvements at your agency and for your clients.
Look at the true needs of your agency, and you'll find that they're not just about designing a website, answering the phone, or looking up insurance products. They're about providing exceptional customer service and creating connections that will sustain your insurance company in the years to come. Look for an employee who can perform with excellence and who's determined to grow into all of the many duties of your insurance jobs.
You Can Build Innovation
Are you willing to challenge your agency to grow beyond the confines of your current processes, whether these are financial management processes or marketing strategies? Those who work in the insurance industry have habits that come from industry culture. Those who come from the outside don't have the same sense of boundaries. What if all past constraints came off and you saw your company with new eyes? That's what a hire from outside the insurance industry can do for your business. For example, if you hire an administrator without experience in an insurance office but who has experience marketing to Millennials, that person could transform the way that you engage with a Millennial audience, turning an agency that relies on phone calls and emails to communicate into a text-savvy, tech-savvy insurance business. Look for prospective employees who have the will to innovate and the transferable experience to bring a new perspective to your insurance business.
At the American Agents Alliance, we're here to help your business grow. Whether you're hiring for insurance jobs or coordinating new educational opportunities for your employees, we can help you find the resources and people you need. We work with independent insurance agencies like yours, providing you with numerous membership benefits. Contact us today and see how we can help your insurance business.
