NU Online News Service, March 29, 933 a.m. EDT

Insurers facing a talent crisis cite worries about training and attracting a new generation of underwriters as top concerns, a survey has found.

The findings from a poll of 40 carriers were made by insurance software provider First Best Systems in Bedford, Mass.

First Best noted that result comes against a backdrop of a growing shortage of qualified and experienced underwriters as senior underwriters retire.

The survey about training and knowledge sharing was conducted during the NAMIC Commercial Lines Underwriting Seminar last month.

According to the company, the findings reveal that "few insurers have leveraged technologies that appeal to Gen Y, facilitate real-time training and collaboration for new hires and teams, and capture underwriting expertise for knowledge-sharing purposes."

It noted that a recent McKinsey report stated that the number of insurance workers 55 or older has increased by 74 percent in the last 10 years, compared to a 45 percent increase for the overall workforce, which means the industry will need to hire 25,000 new underwriters by 2014.

First Best asked attendees about their greatest concern for hiring and training new underwriters in the near term. The most common response, offered by 35 percent of those surveyed, was "ongoing training, underwriting skills and knowledge sharing."

About 30 percent cited "finding and attracting qualified applicants" as a concern. "Generational expectations" was a concern for 15 percent of the underwriters surveyed, and an equal amount felt "employee retention" was among their top challenges.

When asked about methods for training and sharing best practices among team members, "meetings" (primarily weekly) were cited by 38 percent of the respondents, and another 38 percent referenced "ad hoc collaboration and information sharing."

A close third was "ongoing training and personal mentoring," and 15 percent reported still using paper-based internal manuals. Only 20 percent reported using technology such as Instant Messaging, intranets, blogs, or e-mail to collaborate with and educate underwriters on their teams.

"Our survey findings reveal that intranets, shared drives and other pre-Web 2.0 technologies are serving as workarounds and only some carriers are using true Web 2.0, collaborative technologies. Today, P&C carriers need automation, knowledge management and real-time collaboration tools such as screen sharing, alerts, chat and workflow management," said Julian Pelenur, First Best chief technology officer.

"A combination of these approaches can transform the underwriting process and help solve these challenges in a unified, holistic manner. Companies can capture their experienced workers' valuable knowledge, as well as make the job more exciting and attractive to the younger generation, with a better, simplified, automated and modernized process that remains relevant as attitudes and expectations continue to evolve," he advised.

First Best is online at www.firstbest.com.

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