Our industry focuses to a great extent on identifying and mitigating risks, whether it's transferring risk in an individual policy or the big-picture approach of enterprise risk management.
But too often, we fail to recognize and mitigate risks faced by our own organizations and professionals by overlooking the lack of knowledge and education among the ranks.
Through research at the Institutes, we have discovered that up to 30% of professionals require additional knowledge development in any given testing area. As a result, we've identified three educational risks:
1. General skills and knowledge gaps
With ever-changing regulations, new products and other industry evolutions, simply identifying employees' knowledge gaps can be a significant challenge. Holding specific training sessions might help, but that assumes every employee lacks the same knowledge. Trainees who already understand the material may become disengaged, and the session will become an ineffective use of resources.
The stronger solution is to pre-test employees, asking questions that identify topics in which an individual employee's knowledge may be lacking, rather than making sweeping assumptions. Armed with that information, it becomes easier to provide a targeted training track to bring the person up to speed. It benefits employers by ensuring that everyone has the necessary training, and it also helps employees discover gaps in their overall industry knowledge, which helps them shape their careers.
2. Leadership-development gaps
More than 70% of organizations say their leaders are not ready or are only somewhat ready to lead their organizations into the future, according to research from the Brandon Hall Group. Those findings suggest that employees who have assumed leadership responsibility are not prepared to take on more.
It's a critical gap that influences the future of our industry. Eliminate it by shepherding junior and mid-level employees into leadership roles through a mentoring program. There's a reason why 71% of Fortune 500 companies host mentoring programs. A formal leadership training program offers your future leaders an essential combination of structured organizational knowledge and soft skills required to motivate and engage employees.
3. Organizational culture gaps
Getting employees into the same mindset about company culture can be an uphill battle. In fact, only 41% of employees know what their company stands for and what makes it different from competitors, according to Gallup research. Yet understanding the goals and vision of your company is foundational for building company loyalty and for inspiring employees to think differently and feel invested in the work that they do.
The most effective way to close this gap is to create and reinforce a culture focused on clients and customers. Employees may never take the time to memorize your values, but every single person in an organization should be able to say how his or her role affects customers and the organization's mission. Regular communication and engagement on this point from leaders is a powerful way to instill those values companywide.
Some of these gaps may require only a simple memo or meeting to address, while others may necessitate a modification of training practices. Looking for an efficient way to address educational knowledge gaps? Consider The Institutes' Knowledge Assessments and Solutions tool or its Management Education program. By addressing these three knowledge gaps, we can minimize educational risks for our organizations while ensuring that our industry is learning and evolving to meet our customers' needs.
By addressing these three knowledge gaps, we can minimize educational risks for our organizations while ensuring that our industry is learning and evolving to meet our customers' needs.
Anita Z. Bourke, CPCU, AINS, serves as executive vice president of the Malvern, Pa.-based Institutes, a provider of risk management and property-casualty insurance education. Opinions expressed in this article are her own.
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