Technology to Attract Younger Employees

Upgrade Your Technology to Upgrade Your Appeal

Here’s the truth: entering the same details about a client’s account again and again into different forms is killing your opportunity for some of the best and brightest employees out there. That’s why it’s time for agencies to embrace technology – not only as a tool to save time and reduce error, but also to increase the insurance industry’s career appeal, job satisfaction and long-term employee engagement, particularly among millennials and younger.

Employees You Can’t Ignore

As the nation goes, so goes the insurance industry. Millennials represent an enormous generation, with Pew Research reporting that they will be the largest living population by 2019, as their numbers swell to 73 million and Boomers decline to 72 million. Millennials are your next team of leadership – so what should you be doing now to attract the most talented workforce possible?

The Key is Technology

Here are some attention-grabbing statistics from the 2016 Future Workforce Study by Dell:Two young men working on a laptop

  • 42 percent of the nation’s Millennials say it’s likely they would quit a job if workplace technology didn’t meet their standards (a rate almost four times higher than what Boomers report).
  • When considering whether to accept a job initially, a company’s available technology influences the ultimate decision for 81 percent of surveyed Millennials.
  • When asked if they will be working in a “smart” office within five years (by 2021), 72 percent of Millennials believe they will. This compares to only 52 percent of Gen-Xers and 35 percent of Boomers. In other words, it’s becoming the expectation.

More Than Hardware and Software

It isn’t empty bells and whistles that attract Millennials to technology. They equate technology with flexibility. They see the connection between technology and elimination of daily tedium. They know technology, like that offered by AVYST, frees them from repetition, saves them from error and, most importantly, gives them extra time for the more enjoyable, engaging parts of their job.

Add in the fact that fully 34 percent of Millennials surveyed by Dell also claim to have left a job because it didn’t offer adequate flexibility. That means that if technology is a valued part of flexibility, it’s something you have to invest in if you want to keep employees today and in the future.

How Subsequent Generations See Technology

After Millennials comes GenZ, which is those born from 1997-2015. This group is just entering the workforce, so they aren’t likely your latest hire – but you do need to be ready for them. Gen Z is the most technologically fluent generation yet, using five screens simultaneously on average, from smartphone and laptop to TV, desktop and tablet. Just imagine the technology demands they will have for their employer.

Choose Technology That Delivers

If you haven’t lately, it’s time to review your own agency’s commitment to savvy technology tools. You’ll want to evaluate each opportunity with an understanding of how it can transform the client experience. But don’t forget to deliberately consider how a new platform or online process may also empower your employees, especially the workforce of your future. Only by looking at technology with this dual view – both from the client and employee perspective – will you find the most transformative technology for your own agency in the long run.

Recruit with a One, Two Punch

Technology isn’t your only powerful recruiting tool. Don’t forget to add specifics about the diverse jobs available and career growth within the insurance industry. Two powerful stats to get you started:
1990-2018 job growth:

  • +60% for agencies and brokerages (approximately 500k to over 800k employees)
  • +12% for direct writers (490k to 550 employees).

If you need even more detailed numbers or would like to use some already created graphics, be sure to check out the 1990-2018 Insurance Industry Employment Trends published in January 2018 or March 2018 by the Insurance Information Institute.

 

Linda Dodson

Chief Experience Officer, AVYST

linda@avyst.com

9/25/18