Breaking down the hierarchy: why COVID-19 was a fillip for young talent

​​The last year has changed working practices across the economy, but as an industry that is sometimes slower than others to adopt new methods, the impact on insurance has been profound. But will it last?

To discuss the current and future challenges in managing talent, Intelligent Insurer’s online platform for interviews, debates and panel discussions, the Re/insurance Lounge, brought together a panel of industry experts:

​- Melissa Collett , professional standards director of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII);
- Sabrina Kruse, head of human resources (HR) for UK, Ireland and South Africa and global HR business partner at SCOR Global P&C;
- Charlotte Myers, head of technical training at Markel International; and
- Fiona Temple, HR & Academy director for the Lloyd’s Market Association.

Flexible benefits
Diversity and inclusion are not new issues when it comes to recruitment, but the industry has trailed behind some others in the past, Kruse admitted. That’s begun to change, however.

“It has definitely gained momentum in the last year,” she said.

Much of that is due to the flexible working that’s been forced on industries due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. As Myers put it: “We’ve been slow to adopt flexible working practices, and the London insurance market always said it couldn’t happen. Well, it’s had to happen over the last 15 months.”

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That’s brought several benefits to the market. One is to make jobs more attractive to candidates who value flexible working.

“People are looking for different things now, and one of those is the promotion of a healthy work-life balance,” said Myers. “People want to fit work into their lives in more manageable ways.”

Collett pointed out that for many, flexible working is not simply a preference but a requirement. Consequently, flexible working has expanded the recruitment pool to previously excluded groups.  

“By having flexible working arrangements, you attract a wider scope of people who need that flexibility, particularly working parents and those with caring responsibilities,” she said. “Travelling into a city centre day in, day out, nine to five was never going to allow those people to join, so it’s been great for the insurance profession in widening access.”

It’s also significantly expanded the geographical scope of recruitment for many roles, Kruse noted.

“Work location has always been a career-limiting obstacle for employees because they had to be close to where the office was, and it has been a burden for companies, especially when looking for niche skills that might not be in abundance,” she said. “The pandemic has opened that up.”

Collett agreed. “I can’t think of a sector that hasn’t radically changed as a result of us all having to work remotely. We’ve recruited people during lockdown from all over the country and had colleagues working from all over the world,” she said.  

“You’ve got a huge number of potential people coming into our sector from a much more diverse set of backgrounds, which can only be a good thing.”

The best of both worlds
The crisis has not just changed where companies look for talent. It has also changed what they look for and how it’s managed.

According to Kruse, remote working has put new emphasis on certain skills and behaviours.

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“The last year has taught us that collaboration is everything,” she said. Other characteristics are also more valued: adaptability to change, resilience, flexibility—“these are the skills we’re after”.

According to Temple, who was previously global head of talent at Aspen Insurance Group and Catlin, the focus on collaboration reflects a more profound change brought on by the widespread adoption of videoconferencing and home-working.

“In the last year, we’ve been into people’s living rooms; we’ve seen their children and their dogs. The barriers have broken down. The industry was quite hierarchical, but that’s now gone, and we’re working much more closely together,” Temple said.

The challenge for the future will be retaining this and the other benefits changing working practices have brought. While remote working has been a boon in many respects, there are costs to it that mean office time remains essential, said Myers.

“Nothing can replace the face-to-face, on-the-job learning that we know younger professionals are crying out for,” she said.

Consequently, the industry is already beginning to move to a model that combines remote, flexible working and office-based and in-person practice. That will present a challenge to managers as they learn to adapt, but the key will be to persevere and secure the benefits of both.

Myers said: “What worries me is that in 12 months’ time, we might have gone back to where we were just because it’s easier to do. It is going to be challenging; it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get into this hybrid environment, but I’m sure we can make it a success as an industry.”

Temple agreed: “We’ve just got to keep going forward with this.”

To view the full Re/insurance Lounge session click here.