September 19, 2018
Strategies For Successful Q4 Recruiting
by Chris Winterboer
Q4: A Love/Hate Season for Insurance Agencies to Recruit
- Budget Planning (and looming freezes).
- January 1 renewals.
- Holiday time off.
- Resignations (and soon to be after bonuses are paid).
Insurance agencies struggle to find balance in their recruiting efforts during the fourth quarter. The season has a mixture of optimism and dread. You’re excited to finish off a great year and start one anew, but inevitably you’re caught off guard with unforeseen client and employee issues.
Getting into a rhythm is easy when you know what’s worked for other agencies. The best part of my job is witnessing how agencies, big and small, tackle the same staffing issues. Particularly on hot button openings like Account Manager, Account Executive and Producer, here are my suggestions to get your plan of attack started.
Strategic Hires- Start Sourcing NOW!
- “We can take our time to make the right hire. We aren’t going to rush this.” This is exactly the type of role that takes 4-6 months to fill anyways so get after it now!
Goals: Proactive/working ahead of the curve from competing agencies. Snagging passive candidates. Catching the eye of applicants during holiday breaks.
You Cannot Escape Retirements.
- Despite all the dire warnings about the baby boomer exodus, most insurance agencies still sit on the heels when it comes to proactive replacement. If you wait until the Account Executive resigns/retires you are doomed to a 90-120 search that needs to be filled today.
Goals: Don’t wait to replace. Welcome ‘opportunity hires’ in for interviews. Talk to employees at competitors. Build a pipeline.
Innovation Attracts the Best Applicants.
- Titles like VP, Client Engagement or AVP, Client Strategy make insurance professionals giddy. They want to join agencies that feel progressive and innovative.
Goals: Your recruiting efforts reflect the same creativity you put into sales and client engagement. Attract younger talent. Roles will feel customized to the person. Learn what competitors incorporate into the teams.
Find a Recruiting Expert.
- Do you trust others outside your company to give legal or financial advice? I bet so. The same is true for recruiting. The process is costly, risky and directly impacts your bottom line. Do your homework. Interview search firms. Find out which ones fit your philosophy and culture.
Goals: A trusted partner; someone who will drop everything to work on your search. Gain insight and obtain information on market trends. Rely on to build positions/search/advertising/screen strategies.
The bottom line is that projecting a complete recruiting strategy for the long term is tough to balance with openings that needed to be filled yesterday. If you don’t strike a balance one will suffer. As your busy season approaches don’t sacrifice too much of one to supplement the other. Call us anytime for continued advice and resources to achieve that perfect balance!