DALLAS--Increased focus on customer service and talent management is essential to help property-casualty insurers grow and prosper, an insurance consultant advised here.

Rebecca Amoroso, vice chairperson and U.S. insurance industry leader at New York-based Deloitte LLP, gave that counsel at the Inland Marine Underwriters Association's 75th Annual Conference.

Ms. Amoroso said that changing demographics with respect to both the workforce and customer base are posing new challenges for the insurance industry, and companies must be willing to adapt their strategies to attract new customers and attain young, skilled workers.

Insurers have been seeing a decrease in new workforce talent in critical areas, Ms. Amoroso said. Most significant, she noted that nearly 90 percent of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society members are 40 years of age or older, which she said is indicative of underwriting talent age in the industry.

For sales agents, the average age is 47--and that number is rising, she said. The demand for skilled workers, Ms. Amoroso added, is going up.

But younger workers do not see insurance as an attractive career choice, Ms. Amoroso pointed out. And, she said, while a smaller talent pool is a problem that is affecting many industries, the insurance industry will likely be harder hit than other areas.

Those in the industry need to do a better job communicating the benefits of working in insurance to younger generation Y workers, Ms. Amoroso said.

That generation, she noted, makes up the largest population group since the baby boomers. Ms. Amoroso added that keeping up with advances in technology can help attract these workers, since they are tech-savvy and may be averse to working at companies that are still heavily paper-based or not incorporating the latest technological advances.

Aside from that, companies need to employ an effective talent management strategy. While this strategy includes attracting talent, it should also focus on retaining talent, as generation Y is more willing than preceding generations to switch jobs, Ms. Amoroso said.

Creating an environment where generation Y workers feel they have the ability to grow in the company is important, as is sufficient training, Ms. Amoroso said. She described the strategy of saving money by cutting training as "absolute death."

Ms. Amoroso suggested that companies should find an effective way to pass the knowledge on from baby boomer employees to generation Y. Some companies, she said, have achieved this by bringing back retired baby boomers for training purposes, while other companies are pairing older workers with younger ones so the knowledge can be passed along.

Changing demographics are also altering the way p-c insurers sell products to the public. While there are definite challenges involved for insurance companies, there are opportunities as well, Ms. Amoroso said.

For example, she suggested the technology strategies used to attract generation Y workers could also be used to attract generation Y customers. This has been seen in personal lines with the online strategies of direct writers, and Ms. Amoroso questioned whether the same strategies may not be seen in the future on the commercial side.

Additionally, companies are beginning to more aggressively target women and different ethnic groups. Companies are accomplishing this by examining the profile of their agency forces. Ms. Amoroso said companies are asking if their agency forces look like the customers they are trying to attract.

Companies are also increasingly focusing on customer service by putting themselves in their customers' shoes and figuring out what they want and what they need, rather than developing products and then trying to push them onto customers, Ms. Amoroso said.

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Insurers Must Focus On Young Staff, Says Consultant

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