Experis Blog

Digitisation is transforming the manufacturing industry – disrupting skill requirements, creating new jobs, and making others obsolete. Manufacturers are already battling against growing talent shortages, as they struggle to find people with the right blend of technical and soft skills to fill open job vacancies. As we enter the third generation of manufacturing, these challenges are only set to worsen – unless action is taken now. It’s clear that manufacturers need new ways of upskilling their people at speed and scale, in order to develop the talent they need to remain competitive. What’s more, as machines become more intelligent and connected, manufacturers will be challenged to find the right blend of people and technology within their operations. Understanding future talent needs will be critical. Mapping The Skills That Will Power Manufacturing To find practical solutions to this skills shortage and ensure up to two million new manufacturing jobs do not go unfilled, ManpowerGroup and MxD assembled more than 30 academic, government and industry partners – including Siemens, Microsoft, Caterpillar and General Electric – to create an industry-recognized taxonomy that defines digital manufacturing roles of the future. The ground-breaking workforce analysis, developed in partnership with MxD, outlines the manufacturing skills and roles of the future. It’s the first taxonomy of it’s kind and acts as a practical guide for manufacturers looking to futureproof their workforce in the face of ongoing change. Please complete the form below to download your copy. hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: "4674640", formId: "a1325d6e-ab98-43f2-8801-0f525dc14231" });

The insurance industry is undergoing a number of exciting and innovative developments that make it a great place to work. However, if you’re not currently working in the industry, you may not know it. Many people view it as an antiquated industry that has serious working environments, and has struggled to keep up with the times. In particular, young people don’t always see the value in buying insurance – so the prospect of being involved in selling it doesn’t appeal. Insurers spend huge sums managing their consumer brand; yet often fail to pay enough attention to their employer brand, despite the two being so closely linked. Our research found that 58% of employees say company brand is more important to them than it was five years ago. They don’t just want a more detailed job description – company mission, culture and a commitment to corporate social responsibility are increasingly becoming key deciding factors when making a move. Fail to properly invest in your employer brand, and you’ll struggle to attract the attentions of the best workers. How Can Insurers Stand Out From The Crowd? For insurers, your employer brand is how you will make sure you stand out from the crowd. When faced with sparse talent pools, employers need to think more creatively about how they attract the best workers. Since pay and benefits have become very standardised across many insurance companies, your employer brand is one of the ways potential new recruits can distinguish one company from another. Insurers need to be upfront and open with people about the things they can offer as an employer. Disclosing critical information about a job during the interview process won’t cut it anymore. Today’s jobseekers want practical, emotive and interactive communications that create a positive and engaging experience, before, during and after an interview. Here are five changes you can make to improve how your employer brand resonates with potential employees: Own The Content On Review Sites Employer review sites often directly ask users about company weaknesses, as well as strengths, so there is a tendency towards negative content. Many insurers ignore these comments and put their heads in the sand. But most potential employees recognise that workplaces are never completely perfect. Instead, they want to see that employer-employee trust is cultivated rather than squelched. Using employer review websites to acknowledge imperfections and talk about the company’s core values can reduce long-term damage to employer brand. Practice What You Preach Brand is a factor at every point in the hiring process. But if it does not align at every step—from job postings and interviews, to onboarding and training programmes – potential new recruits will detect inconsistencies and become disengaged in the process. If you make a promise about your organisation during the hiring process, it’s critical that this comes to fruition when that person starts in their role. Delivering on employee expectations will go a long way in building trust, and making your existing employees brand ambassadors. Encourage Free Speech Some insurers prohibit their employees from talking about the workplace on social media. Given the sensitivity of their work, it’s often deemed too much of a risk. But prospective candidates place greater trust in the things your existing employees say about your company, rather than the things you say about yourself. Allow your employees to speak freely, but educate them on what’s expected in terms of tone, content and appropriateness. Arm Employees With The Brand Message In many places, ‘what do you do?’ is a popular conversation starter. Transform your existing employees into a mini-army of brand ambassadors that ‘sell’ your organisation to their friends and family, by making sure they understand the essence of the employer value proposition. Some people are natural ambassadors, but others will need a little help in briefly and effectively articulating key messages. Offering talking points can be very effective. Building a robust talent pipeline is an increasingly complex task. But by underpinning your candidate attraction efforts with an effective employer brand at every touch point, you can ensure your organisation stands out from the crowd in a competitive market. Learn more about how we can help you to enhance your employer brand – visit Recruitment Process Outsourcing. This article is an extract from our guide The Future of Insurance Recruitment. To download the full guide, please click on the link below. hbspt.cta.load(4674640, '9e80ed18-b2c0-442a-b533-a1358959a5e9', {});

Millennials are replacing Baby Boomers as the insurance industry’s largest customer base. They’re investing in new businesses, buying new cars and homes, and starting families; while Baby Boomers are starting to think about retirement. Insurers that want to secure long-term growth need to build a solid Millennial customer base, yet this often proves to be challenging. Nonetheless, organisations that get this right and appeal to younger customers could inadvertently find they also become a more attractive employer as a result. Analytics and advisory firm Gallup reported that Millennials are the generation that’s least likely to engage with insurers. When they do buy insurance, they’re twice as likely to do so online compared to previous generations – yet many insurers don’t currently have the IT infrastructure required to keep up with their digitally-led demands. Insurance firms recognise that they need to make changes to attract younger customers, but they often struggle to make progress quickly enough. At the same time, insurers also need to attract more young people to work for them. The insurance industry is often not an immediate choice of industry for younger age groups, or seen at the forefront of innovation. But in the US, 25% of insurance professionals are expected to retire in the next three years, and there’s a significant talent shortage here in the UK too. According to insurance firm Ecclesiastical, 80% of insurers want to attract younger talent, but 52% find it a challenge to recruit those aged 30 and younger. A lack of experience, skills or qualifications are the main causes behind this issue, alongside a shortage of young applicants. Misconceptions of Insurance Careers Millennials can deliver many benefits to the insurance sector. Alongside helping with succession planning, they provide fresh perspectives, diversity of thought, and new ideas. Since this is a generation that has grown up with technology, they fully appreciate changing customer expectations (and often possess the same views) and have the digital-first mindset that will help their employer to adapt. The industry struggles with several misconceptions which hinders its ability to attract workers from this generation. Many people associate insurance with underwriting – and if this job doesn’t appeal, they discount the industry entirely. There’s a lack of understanding of the full range of opportunities and career paths that the industry can offer. What’s more, rightly or wrongly, insurance is often viewed as having a slightly stuffy, formal working environment. This doesn’t positively compare to other more modern, technology-led workplaces. Insurers need to be more proactive in managing their employer brand. They also need to embrace new employment models and more flexible ways of working, since nearly half of workers worldwide would prefer something other than a full-time job. Educating young people at school and college would help to address the misconceptions that exist too, but this will take longer to reap rewards. Impact of Negative Hiring Experiences on Buying Behaviour Insurers want to attract Millennials to both buy their services and work for them. And there’s an important link between these two priorities. Individuals who have a poor experience during the hiring process are unlikely to want to engage with that company as a customer. In fact, more than half of workers say a negative hiring experience makes them less likely to buy a company’s products or services in the future. And there’s a ripple effect too. 50% of workers say the negative hiring experience of a friend would make them less likely to buy that company’s products or services. Insurers may initially dismiss this as simply being disgruntled, rejected candidates spreading sour grapes, but this isn’t the case. Rejection after interview ranks seventh on a list of negative experiences that impact purchase intent. Number one is a lack of transparency on salary or job description; second is a lack of response after submitting a job application; and third is a slow response to an application. Insurance firms that have a poor hiring experience will not only hinder their efforts to attract young talent, but they’ll also hamper attempts to attract new young customers, too. Moreover, what works for young people works for all. The impact of negative hiring experiences is felt as strongly by Baby Boomers as is by Millennials. Strengthening The Employer (And Consumer) Brand It’s important that insurance firms take steps to strengthen their employer brand, since this will also positively impact on their ability to attract new customers. Businesses should look for ways to quantify and track employer brand’s impact on sales, and vice versa, and use this to demonstrate that HR solutions can solve broader business problems, not just talent problems. This can help to form a case for greater investment in activities that will enhance your employer brand. Finally, be transparent. Process efficiencies can improve the hiring experience and reduce negative impact on sales, but it’s still no substitute for cultivating strong relationships with prospective employees. Transparency is critical for candidates in terms of salary, job description, opportunities for advancement and regular interactions with the organisation. Learn more about how we can help you to enhance your employer brand – visit Recruitment Process Outsourcing. This article is an extract from our guide The Future of Insurance Recruitment. To download the full guide, please click on the link below. hbspt.cta.load(4674640, '9e80ed18-b2c0-442a-b533-a1358959a5e9', {});

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for the third quarter 2019 was conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 2,101 employers in the UK. All survey participants were asked, “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of September 2019 as compared to the current quarter?” The survey results for this quarter report that: Biggest public sector lead over the private sector in hiring intentions for 8 years Private sector shows weakest hiring Outlook since 2012 The South East is the only English region not looking to hire this coming quarter With a Net Employment Outlook of +6%, public sector hiring intentions are three points above private sector employers who report a Net Employment Outlook of +3% and two points above the national Outlook of +4%. This represents the weakest private sector Outlook in seven years and the biggest public sector lead over the private sector in terms of hiring intentions since ManpowerGroup began tracking the data eight years ago. Much of this public sector demand has been led by the NHS which continues to struggle to fill the gap left by departing EU workers, while private sector intentions have cooled with prolonged Brexit uncertainty. The NHS is Europe’s largest employer with a workforce of 1.1 million workers, yet 100,000 posts still remain unfilled. Private companies are exercising more caution as they wait and see what happens with Brexit after the summer. For many of these companies, this was part of a deliberate strategy to frontload activity in the first half of the year in anticipation of choppier market conditions later on. This is illustrated by the Outlook for the Manufacturing sector, which has fallen five points from the last quarter to just +3%, and the Transport, Storage and Communications sector, which has fallen to -6%, its lowest since 2010. ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Report ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Infographic​

As the insurance industry undergoes significant transformation, driven by digitisation and changing customer expectations, we can expect the workforce to experience substantial disruption. We know that new roles are already being created across the industry, such as Cyber Liability Analysts, while other roles have become obsolete. We can expect the pace of change to accelerate in the months and years ahead, as technology continues to get more sophisticated. As insurers vie to remain competitive in the digital age, we’re seeing significant churn in the workforce. In many ways, the business landscape is less stable than it has been in the past, and this is creating a measure of uncertainty across the sector. Skill requirements are changing rapidly but, in a tight labour market with record-low levels of unemployment, demand for talent can quickly outpace supply. This means employers must be more creative about how they attract and retain those people with the skills they need to succeed, such as offering more flexible ways of working and alternative employment models. Managing Insurance Workforce Change Workforce planning tends to focus on known circumstances. But no one can be completely certain about what the insurance industry will look like in five or ten years’ time. If one variable changes, workforce plans can be fundamentally altered overnight. But while the road ahead might be unclear, employers need not be. By anticipating potential changes and planning for uncertainty, organisations can develop a flexible – yet resilient – workforce strategy to futureproof their business. To achieve this, insurers need to understand the landscape of talent availability; plan for variation in demand; and develop a framework that accounts for the impact of unexpected changes. This will allow them to remain resilient and competitive in the years ahead. In a world of uncertainty, insurers need to be: 1. Nimble and Quick The skills that insurers need are changing rapidly. In response, organisations will need to quickly adapt their workforce structure to embrace new ways of getting work done – such as portfolio careers and gig working. A workforce plan that accounts for fluctuations in demand, productivity and talent availability is important, but it will only translate into success if it’s underpinned by speed and agility to change. 2. Responsive and Responsible In an increasingly choppy environment, responsive and responsible leadership will be required to drive future competitiveness and growth. It can be easy for the workforce to become disengaged when there is a significant amount of change happening in the business. Effective communication can help to unite an organisation behind a new purpose. 3. Data-Driven Effective data can help organisations make better and faster decisions about how to evolve the workforce to meet changing business demands. Forward-looking companies are seeking more sophisticated talent analytics that allow them to predict future success, rather than relying on past performance to guide decision-making. A platform that can provide a single source of truth has become much sought after. Changing The Role Of Contractors Can Help One way that the workforce strategy can be evolved to help deal with the impact of change and uncertainty is by reconsidering the role of contractors. Typically, insurers use contractors to fill a short to medium term requirement for specialist skills. Yet, as the divide between employer demand and available talent continues to widen, traditional resourcing models are proving unsustainable. As a result, more and more UK organisations are using contractors to upskill, reskill and empower permanent workers. They’re becoming an integral part of the training and development process, delivering long-term value to an organisation, rather than a simply plugging a short-term gap. Several important things must be considered before insurers increase their use of contractors. Firstly, they must be aware of the upcoming changes to IR35 in the private sector and be proactive to minimise risk. If you haven’t already, set up a working group to identify who is in scope of these changes, and put steps in place to mitigate risk. It’s also important to consider how you’ll manage your employer brand across the non-permanent workforce. The insurance industry faces an uphill battle when competing for talent against society’s most attractive employers. Many organisations find it a real challenge to attract great candidates. This is made even more complicated where contractors are concerned, since your supply chain will need to embed your value proposition across all of their communications, too. Nonetheless, when you have developed a compelling employer brand, it’s important that you ensure it is comprehensively adopted across your entire workforce strategy – even when candidate relationships and communications are managed by multiple, independent parties. This is something your Managed Service Provider should support with. Your Biggest Asset – And Risk The insurance industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation, as it harnesses technology to develop more personalised, enhanced services. In the long-term, this offers organisations fantastic opportunities to secure their future. But in the short-term, workforce churn creates uncertainty – and this can quickly disengage existing employees and hamper recruitment efforts. For any organisation, your workforce is your biggest asset. But it’s also your biggest variable risk. By reconsidering the role that contractors play in your workforce, employers can keep the business running smoothly in one hand, while preparing for a different future with the other. Learn more about how we can help you to enhance your employer brand – visit Managed Service Programmes. This article is an extract from our guide The Future of Insurance Recruitment. To download the full guide, please click on the link below. hbspt.cta.load(4674640, '9e80ed18-b2c0-442a-b533-a1358959a5e9', {});

For businesses, IoT offers a huge opportunity to harness data, optimise their operations and deliver ever more relevant experiences to their customers. It also represents a significant challenge. By connecting more and more devices to one another, businesses are leaving themselves exposed to security threats in ways never previously thought possible. What does this mean for businesses’ IoT ambitions? It means they need to have the right security strategy in place, to protect both their customers and themselves. And this all starts with people and skills. With the right talent and expertise, organisations can capitalise on IoT-related opportunities, without exposing their operations to significant cyber threats. Getting the right balance of skills is not an easy task, but there are five steps that organisations should take to ensure their workforce is prepared: 1. Move quickly Faced with such a tight labour market, organisations cannot afford to wait around when hiring new talent. IT specialists are in high demand and short supply, so businesses must act quickly and decisively to secure the best. What’s more, any gap in your IT infrastructure can be exploited by hackers in no time at all. Waste time deciding on your new recruit, and you risk leaving yourself open to security breaches. You can be sure that your customers won’t waste time in leaving you behind, either. 2. Take a blended approach The most effective workforces are those that blend permanent staff with contractors and project-based staff. Permanent staff ensure you have long-term business continuity, while contractors give you a quick injection of fresh skills and experience. Contractors can also be used to ‘build’ talent, by mentoring, upskilling and cross-skilling less knowledgeable permanent members of staff. 3. Offer continual training Most employers are aware of the benefits of offering development opportunities to existing staff. It’s particularly important in IoT, since the rate of change means it’s essential that teams do not become stagnant. But offering your people ad-hoc training sessions doesn’t go far enough. Employers need to nurture a culture of learning, where employees are encouraged to be curious, seek out learning opportunities, and continually upskill and reskill. 4. Consider Offsite Working Certain tech skills in certain locations come with a premium price tag attached. To expand your pool of potential talent, consider remote workers for both contract and permanent salaries. Unsurprisingly, salaries and day rates for IoT professionals are generally lower outside of London. Offsite and remote workers could represent a more economical way of acquiring talent without sacrificing quality. 5. Trust The Professionals Despite the obvious security risks that come with IoT, some organisations still don’t understand the severity of what they could potentially face. Specific security budgets must be set and processes followed. But more importantly, senior management teams need to delegate the delivery of specialist security functions to those with the knowledge and expertise to do so. Having invested significantly in these leadership roles, CISOs and their peers must be given the support and space to deliver businesses’ security strategy. By hiring the right talent, businesses will be better placed to fully embrace IoT, while protecting their operations from malicious attacks. To achieve this, organisations must have a clear workforce strategy that encompasses how, who and what they hire, and how to develop their existing staff. Partnering with a recruitment specialist can help. Only through a blended approach that covers the broadest relevant talent will they acquire the ability to protect themselves against cyber threats without hampering their IoT potential. To learn more about the growth of the Internet of Things and the impact this is having on the IT workforce, download our latest report Industry Insiders: Securing The Internet of Things. Please complete the below form to download the report hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: "4674640", formId: "a52c320e-9ac0-4d88-be4b-62059589991c" });

Insurers are being challenged to offer new services and products to their customers, delivered in new ways. This is already having a significant impact on the make-up of IT departments, and is set to further ramp up in the months and years ahead. Customer expectations are growing, and they’re looking for insurance providers who can deliver personalised, ultra-flexible services that perfectly align with their changing requirements. New technologies are required to enable insurers to deliver this level of service. Yet these can’t be developed in isolation and bolted onto existing IT systems as an afterthought. This would only lead to a tangled web that needs to be reverse engineered later. Instead, organisations need specialist technical skills – workers who can update legacy platforms, build new infrastructures, and seamlessly integrate new technologies into the wider IT infrastructure. Yet individuals with these skills are in short supply, and high demand. In fact, our Talent Shortage Survey found that IT skills are amongst the hardest to find. A lack of applicants, lack of experience and a lack of hard skills are the key forces driving talent shortages around the world. Insurers might be ready to increase their IT investment to deliver next generation services to their customers – but the talent isn’t necessarily available to meet this demand. As a result, organisations must think more creatively than ever about how they find, attract and secure IT skills. To win in the war for IT talent, organisations need a talent strategy that has four parts: build, buy, borrow and bridge. Build your talent pipeline, buy skills where necessary, borrow from external talent sources and bridge people with adjacent skills from one role to another to complement existing skills. Let’s review what each of these entails in practice: Insurers can’t expect to find just-in-time IT specialists, even if they’re willing to pay a premium for them. There simply aren’t enough of them out there. Instead, they need to promote a culture of learning and focus on upskilling existing workers, so they can transition into emerging areas of IT development. Continuous learning is a two-way deal: it’s essential for individuals to make better career decisions, and it’s critical for companies to develop the talent they need. Better people analytics, psychometric assessment, predictive performance and AI mean employers can map and upskill their existing workforce like never before. Since in-demand IT professionals are in such short supply, they can call the shots and ask insurers to pay more for their sought-after skills. In this tight labour market, 79% of employers plan to buy the skills they need, by paying higher market prices or improving compensation for existing staff. However, the challenge comes when those specialist skills are not available. Then the only option is to build. Only 32% of organisations use alternative work models, even though 87% of workers say they are open to this NextGen work. IT departments tend to be more open than some sectors in embracing contractors, but permanent, full-time roles still dominate. Digitisation has created new ways of working and new generations of workers who are increasingly open to flexible work approaches. Insurers need to address any disconnect by being more open to offering alternative ways of working to attract, retain and motivate workers on alternative work models. When the skill requirements of business changes, it’s likely that some people’s skills will no longer fit. If it’s no longer possible to place these workers into new roles inside the organisation, insurers need to treat workers fairly and ideally offer support to move on to new opportunities elsewhere if their skills are no longer required. Bridging requires tools including assessment, big data and predictive performance to define adjacent skills, identify strengths and help workers create clear career paths. Changing customer expectations are transforming the IT skills requirements of insurers. But with the right resourcing strategy, organisations will be able to develop their technological capabilities and build organisational resilience. Employing the right combination of building, buying, borrowing and bridging talent will fuel future growth. Learn more about how Experis, the professional resourcing arm of ManpowerGroup, can help you to transform your IT recruitment strategy, visit the Experis website. This article is an extract from our guide The Future of Insurance Recruitment. To download the full guide, please click on the link below. hbspt.cta.load(4674640, '9e80ed18-b2c0-442a-b533-a1358959a5e9', {});

IoT can dramatically improve a huge number of the ways in which we work and live. Yet for every silver lining, there’s a cloud. For businesses, IoT offers a huge opportunity to harness data, optimise their operations and deliver ever more relevant experiences to users, whether employees, consumers, or other businesses. But it also represents a significant challenge. As organisations become more connected, their digital footprints grow. This increased surface area offers opportunities for hostile parties to penetrate deep into enterprises’ systems. Whether a smart factory, connected home or autonomous car, cyber criminals have a host of new entry points to exploit and wreak havoc. According to Deloitte, 40% of professionals report that managing increasing amounts of data and connected device security pose the greatest cyber security challenges to their organisation. This leaves organisations needing to capitalise on IoT related opportunities, without exposing their operations to significant cyber threats. In these instances, many people’s initial reaction is to think of the technology required to deliver those objectives. How can we acquire the tools, the infrastructure, the systems to deploy and protect IoT sensors? How will we gather, analyse and action the resulting data? And how can we do all this, while protecting our businesses from increasing threats? Yet to think implementing and securing IoT is just a matter of hardware or software is to overlook the role of people. As with any technology, having the right skills and abilities in place is as important, if not more so, as having the appropriate tools. Cyber security talent has long been a major focus for employers, with the need such that research house Cyber Security Ventures predicts there would be 3.5 million unfulfilled cyber security job openings by 2021. Professionals with the necessary IoT skills are seeing a similar boom in demand. Balancing IoT Skill Requirements Getting the right balance of skills is not straight forward. All companies can be distracted by shiny object syndrome. IoT is new and exciting, while cyber security is about dealing with threats and could be perceived as restricting access, rather than enabling safe innovation. With increased demand for both cyber security and IoT skills, one would expect spiralling salaries and every-growing demand. To an extent, that’s true. Following a review of vacancies covering both permanent and contract roles, in Q4 2018 there were 13,214 cyber security roles across the whole of the UK. This equates to a year-on-year increase of almost 10%, up from 12,064 roles at the end of 2017. When looked at quarter by quarter, that demand has spiked – up 16.5% from Q3 2018 to Q4 2018. However, that has not necessarily equated to an increase in salary. At the end of 2018, the average salary for permanent cyber security roles in the UK was £58,557, rising to £63,243 in London – a drop of almost 2% nationally year-on-year. For contractors, the picture was much better, with the average day rate climbing 19.6% from the previous year, to an average of £505. This perhaps suggests that organisations are prepared to move quickly to acquire the skills they need immediately, but then taking a longer view of what they need on a more permanent basis. When it comes to IoT salaries, both permanent and contractor remuneration has gone up year-on-year – by 1.5% for the former, and just above 4% for the latter. The rise suggests that demand will pick up in the next few years – assuming organisations can address their security concerns. ​When it comes to the types of roles required, an analysis of job titles reveals that it is the front line that is much in demand. In cyber security, security engineers, consultants, architects and analysts are required most. While in IoT related postings, software engineers, technical architects, managers and testers are most sought after. This highlights how much emphasis is being put on being able to build and analyse, in both areas of technology. IoT offers huge opportunities for organisations, if they can get the right balance with security. By hiring the right talent, businesses will be better placed to fully protect their operations from malicious attacks. To do that, they need to have a broad perspective on how, who and what they hire, and how they develop their existing staff. Only through a blended approach that covers the broadest relevant talent will they acquire the ability to protect themselves against cyber threats without hampering their IoT potential. To find out more about the changing demand for IoT and Cyber Security, download the latest Industry Insiders report below. hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: "4674640", formId: "a52c320e-9ac0-4d88-be4b-62059589991c" }); ​

Insurance is a careful balancing act. Since it’s typically based on a risk-distribution model, individuals or companies are grouped together based on certain behaviours or attributes, and premiums are charged accordingly. Charge too much, and potential customers will look elsewhere. But if you charge too little, or if there are more claims than anticipated, then it’s the insurer that will feel the pinch. Yet the careful balance that insurers tread is under threat, since people and companies want different things from their insurers than they did in the past. They want greater personalisation, ultra-flexibility, convenience, and better value for money – all this, without making any compromises on their cover or additional risk. We’re living in a 24/7, always-on culture, and so they also expect to be able to make remote changes to their service, with no fuss and little interaction with other people. New business strategies are needed for insurers to be able to adapt to these changing expectations – and this will have a significant impact on how they construct and manage their workforce. Right Insurance Service, Right Time There’s a growing gap between the service customers expect and the one they receive. To bridge this divide, insurers need to place greater focus on their customers, rather than their services. According to a survey by loyalty and benefits firm Collinson, just 24% of people feel their insurer treats them as an individual. Insurers need to be able to align their offerings with the unique requirements of each customer, and offer them the right service, at the right time. Take home insurance as an example. When someone is at home, their risk of a break-in is likely to be lower than when they were at work. Instead of signing up for an insurance product that provides the same level of cover at all times, would it give them a better level of service if they could click a button on their phone to adjust their level of insurance when they arrive home? Fluctuating insurance cover in line with real-time lifestyle or business changes can convert into much higher levels of customer satisfaction. Higher revenue and increased retention can be achieved as a result, too. But to deliver this hyper-personalised level of service, insurers will need a workforce with different skills than in the past. The Challenge Of InsurTechs Not only are insurance providers being tested by changing customer expectations, but they’re also being challenged by InsurTechs. These emerging companies deliver digitally-led insurance services to customers, often through an insurance-as-a-service model. Their lean operating models, lower cost burdens and lack of legacy infrastructures mean they’re far nimbler than many incumbent insurance providers. This means they can operate in fundamentally different ways – tapping into new markets and delivering enhanced services through new innovations and digital processes. InsurTechs are unpinned by Big Data and the Internet of Things. Together, these power the deep, predictive analytics that allow InsurTechs to really get under the skin of their customers’ behaviour. Armed with this intelligence, they can tailor an insurance package to the individual’s specific needs and nurture a very customised and personalised experience. It’s clear that incumbent insurance providers need to look at how they can compete with these emerging Insurtechs, and better meet the demands of customers – and this all starts with people and skills. Better Meeting The Needs Of Customers While many insurance firms recognise they need to change to better meet customer expectations and compete against InsurTechs, they often struggle to make progress quickly enough. In many cases, large-scale digital transformation is required – legacy platforms need to be realigned; new processes need to be embedded; and overall digital capabilities need to be enhanced and improved. What’s more, important IT security considerations must be taken into account too, before an organisation expands its digital footprint. This all takes significant investment, both from a financial perspective and a resource point of view. When an organisation’s business model changes, so too must their workforce strategy. Throughout any digital transformation, some tasks will be automated, while new jobs will be created, to help build, manage and augment new technologies. In fact, our research found that 87% of employers plan to increase or maintain headcount because of automation. In the years ahead, insurers can expect to see significant churn in the workforce, as skill requirements rapidly change. Blending People, Processes And Technology Developing the right blend of people, processes and technology is key. Humans will continue to be critical in the years ahead – but the skills that insurers will require of them will change. And, when the skill requirements of an organisation evolve, so too must the overarching strategy by which they are managed. It’s critical that insurers understand the skills they have in their workforce right now and can forecast the skills they will need in the future, so they can take steps to bridge the inevitable gap. One solution that can help involves taking a Total Talent Management approach. This means uniting the entire workforce (permanent worker, contractor, freelancer, statements of work, outsourced services and more) in a single talent management programme. This approach can give insurers the complete workforce visibility they need to make more strategic decisions about recruiting and managing talent. This all means insurers can better identify future skills gaps, and take steps to upskill and train existing workers to fill them. Throughout their business transformation, insurers will need to find the right balance between technology and humans within the organisation. There’s a plethora of tools that can support with this, under the guidance of your workforce solutions provider. By taking a more holistic view of their workforce, insurers can more easily adapt to changing skill requirements – ensuring they secure and retain the talent they need to transform their business. Learn more about the importance of Total Talent Management, download our whitepaper Breaking Down Barriers: Total Talent Management Comes Of Age. This article is an extract from our guide The Future of Insurance Recruitment. To download the full guide, please click on the link below. hbspt.cta.load(4674640, '9e80ed18-b2c0-442a-b533-a1358959a5e9', {});

The insurance industry is being transformed, because people and businesses want different things from their insurers than they did in the past. They’re looking for insurers that offer greater personalisation, ultra-flexibility, increased convenience, and better value for money – all this, without making any compromises on their cover or taking on additional risk. Adapting to these heightened expectations means insurers need to adopt new business strategies. And this will have a significant impact on the skills their business needs, and the ways in which they construct and manage their workforce. The Transformation of the Insurance Workforce While many insurers recognise they need to change how their business operates, many struggle to make progress quickly enough. As a result, the industry faces an uphill battle when competing for talent against society’s most attractive employers. In this guide, we explore the key trends that are transforming the future of insurance recruitment. We examine the forces that are forcing insurers to think differently about their workforce, and provide recommendations on the changes insurers can make to attract and retain the best talent in a competitive jobs market. Download the free report by completing the form below: hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: "4674640", formId: "810dfea3-ab4b-4232-b07c-dcccbe5ad8ea" });

Innovation is a baseline expectation for all organisations. It’s something that every business strives for, yet many struggle to achieve. What does it really mean to be innovative? And how can business leaders promote and nurture a culture of innovation across their workforce? Countless studies have proved that financial success can be achieved when organisations have innovation at the heart of their culture. In fact, a study by Accenture revealed that 51% of businesses with a formal innovation system in place are first to market with new innovations, products and services. As TomTom recognised, to develop a culture of innovation, it’s important that there is an organisational mindset that promotes and supports the ideas of individuals. It must be accepted across all levels of the organisation that your culture is more than an abstract concept. Instead, it’s a way to produce measurable and quantifiable change. It isn’t always easy to create a culture of innovation, but it’s one of the best ways to drive sustainable competitive advantage. It’s about focusing on tomorrow, as much as today. Even with a plethora of creative ideas, bringing new innovations to fruition requires strategy and execution. Many organisations struggle to fill this gap. Having a formal innovation system and structure in place can see your organisation reap significant rewards and create enhanced ROI. But it requires paying constant attention to the culture that you nurture within the workplace. We believe that the most successful, innovative companies have nine key traits in common. Create a business culture with each of these elements, and your organisation is likely to be innovation-ready. The Nine Indicators Of Innovation 1. TRUST Trust is a safety net. It gives your employees permission to try something new, even if they don’t know what the outcome will be. It enables innovation by providing an atmosphere that accepts mistakes will happen from time to time, but the important thing is that you learn from them. Leaders must trust their people to find creative solutions and push the boundaries, within the context of a broader transformation plan. 2. CURIOSITY Curiosity is the lifeblood of creativity. To build a culture of innovation, leaders must nurture critical thinking, and allow their people to challenge authority and speak up about their ideas, even if it means creating discord. As a leader, your behaviours will have a strong influence on the behaviour and performance of your teams. With this in mind, it’s important that you practise what you preach and demonstrate how you unlock your curiosity. Your people will follow suit. 3. EXPERIMENTATION We’re all natural experimenters. We practise, we succeed, we fail – and then we experiment again. Organisations thrive when their people have time to try new approaches and learn from their successes and their failures. Gathering the thoughts of consumers, employees, investors, competitors, and even machines and systems can help to inform new approaches. 4. PERSISTENCE In any project or workflow, it’s inevitable that roadblocks will emerge that hamper progress. But successful companies are persistent, and they adapt their approach when issues arise. Things don’t always go completely to plan, but the best organisations embrace change and ambiguity, and expect hurdles on their route. They understand that opportunity can often be found through flexibility and agility. 5. GRIT Blend talent with direction, determination and passion, and you’ll have grit. During inevitable difficulties, people with grit have strength of character, resolve and courage. As with curiosity, it’s important that you lead by example. As a leader, if you make a mistake, accept responsibility and learn the lessons so as not to repeat them. Successful companies acknowledge failure, seek ways to mitigate fallout, and avoid pointing fingers or blaming others. 6. COLLECTIVENESS In any working group, each individual plays two roles: a functional role, based on their formal position and technical skill, and a psychological role, based on the kind of person they are. Too many companies focus on each individual’s functional role, and hope that good team performance will somehow follow. But that’s not always the case. Observing the balance of roles in a team offers insight into its dynamics. It also indicates the likelihood of success or failure for an assigned task. 7. DIVERSITY Old assumptions can be dangerous. For innovation to happen, you need diverse perspectives. To make organisations more diverse, the focus shouldn’t just be on addressing bias. Organisations should also turn their attention to conscious inclusion – ensuring all people feel that their human potential is valued. Change can come from individuals. Ask yourself: What will you commit to make it happen? Who will you sponsor and who will you invite in? 8. COMMUNICATION Successful innovation is driven by a clear vision and purpose. This needs to be articulated openly and regularly to set the parameters for new ideas. It’s important that your people understand the company’s roadmap and hopes for the future, so they can put forward ideas that will support the journey. Complement this with open networks and feedback loops marked by candour and constructiveness. 9. LEARNABILITY What you know today is less relevant than what you may learn in the future; and knowing the answer to questions is less critical than having the ability to ask the right questions in the first place. Hire people with high learnability – the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one’s skill set. Too often we focus on training and development, while undermining the importance of proper selection. But the reality is that it’s easier to prevent and predict, than to fix and change. Good selection makes training and development more effective because it’s easier to augment potential. Investing in innovation and culture as an inextricable pair will prepare any organisation for its digital future. Done well, the return can be significant and swift. Yet, organisations must be clear in building a culture that walks its talk. Employees cannot hear their leaders celebrate disruption, only to be punished for risk-taking. Corporate websites shouldn’t be filled with statements about valuing innovation, if the organisation is hyper-focused on cost-cutting to produce short-term results. This is the balancing act for any organisational culture change. This article first appeared in the tenth edition of The Human Age Newspaper.

From Brexit and IR35, to digitisation and globalisation – change is evident in so many aspects of today’s labour market, and industries are transforming at an unprecedented pace. As a result, the ways in which people and organisations work is experiencing a fundamental evolution. Yet, while these changes may create challenges for organisations, they also provide the opportunity for forward-thinking companies to explore new options and build new realities for the people they serve. Through dynamic talent strategies and fresh workforce models, business leaders can prepare their organisation for whatever the future of work may hold. Reaching New Heights Is Humanly Possible The Human Age newspaper is our overview of the workforce trends that are challenging employers to think differently about their workforce. In this tenth edition, we are proud to share some of the exciting ways ManpowerGroup is helping organisations to transform in an ever-changing world of work. As well as sharing our latest research and insights, this edition also explores how organisations can augment technology with human skills; create a workforce culture of innovation; and reimagine skills development for the digital age. Highlights from the latest edition of the Human Age newspaper include: Reimagining Skills Development For The Digital Age New Partnership To Tackle The UK’s Driver Shortage Augmenting Technology With Human Skills 20 Years Of Supporting Veterans Into New Careers Creating A Workforce Culture Of Innovation Preparing For IR35 Choosing Where To Locate Your Workforce To download your copy of The Human Age Newspaper, we invite you to click on the link below.