Offering millennials “adventure” within the captive industry is key to solving the talent crisis, according to Temple University Professor Michael Zuckerman.
Speaking at the Captive Insurance Companies Association’s (CICA) 2018 Conference, Zuckerman explained attracting young talent and keeping that talent within the industry was vital.
He said: “Offering adventure will help attract millennials and keep them in the industry.”
“Millennials want to be challenged and they want to have different experiences, they don’t want to be doing the same thing day in day out.”
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2016 that they expected 400,000 insurance professionals to retire over the next few years, leaving a huge worker shortage.
Zuckerman, who teaches on risk, insurance and healthcare management, suggested to counteract the shortage the industry needs to act quickly and do more to develop and attract the next generation of workers.
He said: “We need to communicate the importance of what we do for our clients and what that means for their stakeholders—this needs to be the focus of our message to get serious students interested in our industry.”
“Butler University and Temple University are building a qualified talent pool for this industry, however, we need industry support.”
Zuckerman added: “There has to be a more streamlined path into the industry. We have to develop a pathway, the brokers have developed it and the underwriters have developed this pathway and I think the captive industry has to figure that out.”
One of the ways Zuckerman suggested the industry can help is through mentoring programmes.
He said: “Mentoring is the key to unlocking a career of adventures for young talent in the captive industry.”
Another member of the panel, Erin Fleischman, a student from Temple, said the benefits of working in the captive industry need to be better advertised to students.
She said: “We are looking for a good work-life balance, good company culture and the opportunity for growth and I believe the captive industry can offer all of those things.”
“Millennials just want companies to be transparent, we want to understand what we are getting ourselves into, understand the industry and understand the day to day experience.”
Zuckerman emphasised the importance of a good work-life balance for millennials and suggested captive companies would need to adapt and become more flexible.
He said: “Flexibility is important more than ever, the industry is going to have to get more creative. This attitude that ‘we’ll give you a job, you show up and work for ten hours and do what we tell you or we won’t pay you’ is outdated, it's from 50 years ago.
“I think millennials want to be very productive. The more flexible the company can be, in a very proactive and productive way will translate into a more resilient organisation and a more profitable organisation. They will get more out of the young talent.”
Zuckerman concluded that industry faced one key question when it came to the talent crisis.
“What can we do as an industry to make sure millennials are going to see the challenges and adventures that they want and that will make them stay in the captive industry?”
