As an agency owner, you can’t afford to hire mediocre employees. Insurance is complicated and every team member on your payroll needs to be a rockstar.
To attract top talent, you need to offer a work environment and a benefits package that will make you stand out. When you post a job for a licensed insurance agent, you’re competing with other local agencies as well as other agencies throughout the U.S. that offer remote work. And for non-licensed roles, you’re often competing with all other businesses in your area as well as companies nationwide.
We asked more than 1,000 employee candidates to share what is most important to them when searching for a new employer. Here’s what they said.
Environment and experience
Many employers think job candidates are most concerned with the salary and traditional benefits, like health insurance or a retirement match. While those are important, the majority of applicants talked about things like workplace happiness and long-term growth when asked what was most important to them.
The top three things employee candidates mentioned most frequently were company culture, career growth and work-life balance, accounting for 75% of total responses.
Whether you’re hiring now or plan to in the future, consider what makes your agency a great place to work day-to-day. What about working on your team makes people excited to show up for work each day? How do you support employees in achieving their personal as well as their professional goals?
If you don’t have clear answers to these questions, here are a few things you can consider doing to help retain your current team members and hire excellent employees in the future.
Create a positive work culture
Company culture is bigger than ping-pong tables and office happy hours. Employees want a workplace that recognizes and rewards a job well done. They want to work in an environment with clear, open communication and with people who support one another. As an agency principal, you can set up systems to track employee performance and recognize those who go above and beyond. You can make community involvement part of your core values by donating to local charities, representing your agency during community events and volunteering as a team.
Give employees resources to grow
Even if your agency is small with little room for formal promotions, you can still provide learning and growth opportunities to your team. For example, pick a conference to send interested employees to each year. Ask about areas in which team members want to improve and find classes they can attend. Pay for professional group membership fees so your employees can network with others in the industry.
Promote a healthy work-life balance
You’ve heard the adage “work to live, don’t live to work.” If you notice employees are consistently needing to stay late or come in early to get all their work done, think of ways to help alleviate their workload in the long run. If you don’t have the budget for another employee, try automating repetitive tasks, such as renewal emails, cross-selling or onboarding communications.
Allow flexibility for doctors’ appointments, mental health days and for employees to attend family events. Employees who feel trusted to manage their day will reward you with increased productivity.
What else is important to job candidates?
The remaining 25% of workplace benefits, cited by applicants as the most important factors in a job, were money, remote work options, job security, HR benefits, work meaning and mentorship.
Offer a competitive compensation and benefits package
When posting a job, research the average salary range in your area for the open roles at your agency and try to match that range. Offer benefits such as company retirement contributions, health insurance, parental leave, vacation policies and office perks.
If the position allows for it, offer flexibility for where the person can work. Even if a job requires the employee to be in the office most days, see if you can offer some flexibility by letting them work remotely a day or two per week. Check out this blog post about an agency principal who successfully implemented a four-day workweek.
Professional mentorship comes in many forms. For example, you can pair new hires with a more experienced employee who can show them the ropes and offer advice during onboarding. You can offer formal mentorship with leaders at your agency through regular one-on-one meetings and training. Or you can even offer to sponsor employee membership fees for professional networks.
As for work meaning and job security, speak to these during the interview process. Ask your current employees what gives their work meaning and share that with job candidates. If you need to hire for a role you don’t think you’ll need long-term, consider hiring a temporary employee or offering a contract.
