Never Stop Learning

In this eight-part series, Carl Van shares his thoughts on the characteristics of the awesome adjuster. The series is to serve as a sort of road map for those interested in knowing what it takes to be among the top in their field.

One of the hallmarks of outstanding adjusters is that they always want to improve. Their knowledge and expertise grows as they get better at their jobs, but they also know that it is necessary to study and seek information.

When I am asked to go into a company and do training, it usually involves the permission and interest of top management. When I meet with management to discuss the aspects of the training, invariably, I am asked a question such as, “How do we know that everybody will get something out of this? Who are the right people to send? Because we don't want to waste our time or money sending people who won't get anything out of the class.”

Generally, I find that claim people fall into three categories when it has to do with any type of training or self-improvement. In the bottom level, we have the people who resist improvement. I call them the resisters. These are the people who will spend their time in a training class going around trying to convince everybody else that nothing will work. They will return from a good training class saying that it was not valuable, they did not get anything out of it, and it did not mean anything at all.

Usually, these are the borderline performers. They are people who are not going to achieve much anyway; they are pretty well stagnant in their positions. They are not bad people, but they believe that the only way that they can be successful is to bring everybody else down around them. Whether you want to get rid of them or not is up to you, but they will get nothing out of the class and you will have wasted your money.

Next, we have the coasters. Even if they had not wanted to attend a training class (and you cannot hold that against them, because many people do not), they still get something out of it. They did not want to be there, but they have learned some things that actually might improve them.

What is important about this middle group is that, even though they have received a lot of good information that they admit they should put into practice, they will go back to their jobs and not do anything differently. They will not apply any of the learned skills. They will talk about how good it was. They will talk about how much it helped but, at the end of the day, they will not make a single change.

This is very common, so do not be angry at these people, this is just who they are. This makes up the majority of the people who attend training classes. The classes will not hurt them; it might help them a little bit because it gives them an increased understanding. These are the people who get a lot of your work done at your company, so do not ignore them.

The Improvers

The third and highest level is a group of people who, even if they had not wanted to attend a training class (again, we forgive them because most people do not), they still get something out of it. They have decided that some aspect of the class was worthwhile and that improvement is possible. Then, they actually try it; they put something into place and make some kind of change that they would not have without the training.

These are the people who are on the highest level. They work to improve themselves because they see improvement as important and they embrace change. These are the people on whom you want to focus because, ultimately, they are going to be your top performers.

This group actually contains two sub-groups. The lower section of these two groups is the people who, even if they had not wanted to be in the class, still found some value in it. I call them the Tryers.

Although they tried to apply some of their new knowledge, when it did not work perfectly, they quit. They did not try again. They felt that they had failed, and they do not like failure. They simply stopped and went back to their old ways.

Finally, we have the top half of the top group. Usually, this makes up about 10 percent, at the most 15 percent, of the people in your organization. These are the people on whom you should spend all your time and money. These are the people who, ultimately, will rise to the top of your organization and be your most effective leaders. They will facilitate change and they will be the most productive people. Who are they? They are the achievers.

These are the people who, even if they had not wanted to attend a class (and even the very top performers do not like going to training), they still got something out of it. They went back to their desks and attempted to make changes, and, when it did not work out perfectly, they just kept trying. They did not give up. They knew that what they had learned was valuable and it would be just a matter of time before they got it right.

Their persistence is their outward expression that they believe in themselves. They will not give up on something that they believe has value, they will keep trying until it works. This is where you want to spend all your time and money; this is where all your attention deserves to be.

Sorting It Out

After I finish this speech, top management is always very excited. “That's terrific,” they say. “That helps us quite a bit.”

Then, they ask, “How do we know who those people are? How do we decide?”

Unfortunately, I have to tell them that they do not get to decide that.

“Who does get to decide who these people are and where they fall?” they ask.

As I point to the different types of people I just outlined, I explain that they are the ones who will make the decision; it is their call. No supervisor can take it away from them, and no manager can force them into it. It is 100 percent in their control, and cannot be influenced by anybody.

“Each of these employees whom you send to class will decide where he falls,” I tell them. “Your task is to send everybody, and simply watch where they decide they are. Their decisions will be much more accurate than you can even hope to be.”

Anyone who has been involved in any type of training knows that people tend to learn a subject much more rapidly when they have to explain it to other people. It heightens the ability to understand and, of course, use the information.

Awesome adjusters not only go out and seek information, they are involved in passing that information on to others. They bring up information that they have learned in office meetings and share it. They will review articles that have to do with case law or policy wording and recap them and distribute them to others. When they attend training sessions, they take notes and share the information with those in their organizations or units. Awesome adjusters, who develop themselves using this approach, usually achieve in a few months what would take a merely good adjuster a year.

If you are reading this article, you have an opportunity that maybe you did not appreciate before. You have an opportunity to decide where you fall. You have an opportunity to decide what type of person you want to be. No one can take that away from you, and no one can decide for you. It is up to you to determine whether you will be an adjuster who is merely good, or one who can be described as awesome.

Carl Van is president and CEO of International Insurance Institute and dean of he School of Claims Performance. He can be reached at www.insuranceinstitute.com.