Two award-winning insurance professionals have called on other industry figures to help promote the broking profession, saying it’s the best way to overcome a frustrating talent gap.
“We, as an industry, need to get together and promote our profession, we need to make it interesting in the schools and through the media,” says Robert Cooper, director of CPR Insurance Services.
Fellow CPR director Mandy Cooper agrees, saying the entire industry would benefit if insurance brokers spoke out about their experiences working in the sector.
“More of us need to be out there telling people about the industry and how no day is the same,” says Mandy. “It’s not like a normal office job where you do the same thing over and over again – there’s always something that will change and there’s always that element of not knowing what will happen on any given day.”
The pair’s comments come after CPR claimed the Brokerage of the Year Award (1-5 staff) for a second time at this year’s Insurance Business Awards.
However, while the Coopers are excited about the accolade, they’re also concerned they may not be able to make the most of the win because they don’t have the staff to manage increased workload.
“We’re really thrilled with winning the award, but we’ve got to get the right staff in otherwise we can’t take advantage of the growth that comes afterwards,” said Robert.
According to the Coopers, the firm saw incredible growth of around 34% last year but attempts to hire an experienced broker were unsuccessful.
While the brokerage does have two trainees on the team, both have under 12 months’ experience and Mandy says it’s been a battle trying to find someone who has a few years under their belt.
“The general lack of staff is a problem for the industry,” says Mandy. “There’s just not that middle rank, they come out with a degree and they don’t want to do any of the junior roles, but they’re not experienced enough to take on a more senior role as a broker so there’s a gap forming in the industry.”
YIPS Australasian president Katie Stephenson admits that it could be tough for brokerages that aren’t in a position to operate graduate programs but says the industry is only getting better at attracting talented new additions.
“It can be difficult when you’re a standalone operator because perhaps you don’t have the resources to run graduate engagement programs so you could be finding that there is a gap in the market,” she tells Insurance Business.
“Historically, that has been an issue, but I think the industry as a whole is getting better at allocating funding and the like to attract talent and diversify the talent in the insurance industry as well.”
Stephenson, who is also a business development specialist for Marsh, says the industry is maturing in its ability to nurture younger talent and she’s observed an uptick in brokers talking about their rewarding careers.
“We are definitely getting better at that, at touting and speaking about insurance being such a wonderful career, and part of that is through graduate engagement programs but part of it is through having a more aware workforce which is happy to talk about what it’s like to be a broker,” she says.
