The Insurance Industry's Talent Crisis (and How to Address It)

The majority of young Canadians do not stick with the same company year after year. Most stay with their original company only 12-18 months before moving on.

There are a variety of factors driving this - the possibility of poaching from other companies, the tendency for companies to offer contracts over salaries, and the desire to move elsewhere or work in other areas are just some of the possibilities.

One of the best ways to get excellent employees that fit into the work culture you have cultivated is through an employee referral program. Most people know one or two people who are looking for jobs. Because they have the link to your company already and are in close contact with someone you appreciate, they are likely to be a stronger candidate already. 

This kind of program doesn't cost the company much. Essentially, it allows the employees to do the hard work of sourcing new people for you - but it won't feel like hard work for them.

Beyond a salary, employees want to know what you are offering them. What makes you a better company to work for than someone else? Because, as you'll recall, there are many companies and not as many workers. You have to beat the competition by making yourself the best company to work for. 

Many companies have realized that offering employer-issued life insurance, for example, is attractive to potential employees. Offering this kind of long-term insurance also helps greatly with retention - it gives them a reason to stay at your place of business. 

And maybe you already offer perks! Many companies offer help with taxes, for instance, but even current employees may not be aware of them. Be upfront with these when in the hiring process.

As the situation currently stands, most people are likely interviewing at a number of places. If they have a good experience in the interview and learn about how you offer more than other companies, they're more likely to continue pursuing the jobs you have on offer. 

One of the biggest divides between the generations is the approach to technology. Frequently, parents of millennials tell their children to go out and hand in paper applications door-to-door. This is an outdated method that doesn't work and you may be tempted to approach hiring in the same way as your predecessors. 

It's important to promote your use of technology and actually use it.

Having a good quality website is important for both customers and potential employees so you're killing two birds with one stone. Potential employees want to know that you're easy to work for and have a modern outlook. The easiest way to do that is to appeal on the technological level by showing you have online applications, apps, and a social media presence. 

You need to be accessible to your employees. With the large amounts of competition, people might not find your company after doing a Google search. People are actually hiring millennials off of social media through strong recruitment strategies. 

Job fairs are less likely to be attended. Just think, millennials are on their devices constantly - you're more likely to be on their radar if you have a presence across various sites and apps. Recruiting in this manner is not only incredibly useful for you, but it's also appealing to the potential employees because it looks like you understand them at their level.

This is one of the most important factors for retention. Keep some tabs on your employees to judge what the climate is. Do people seem happy, apathetic, or unhappy? One of the best ways to know how to keep employees is to ask them what they want.

Consider sending out anonymous surveys to get a good idea of what people are looking for. Make it clear that you support your staff professionally and even personally.

"The customer is always right" is seeing something of a change to "the employee is always right." In this day and age, the employee is the customer and they want to be treated as such. The methods you use to attract customers should be similar to how you attract employees. 

When they go to an interview they want to feel like they are joining a company they can feel proud to work at and tell their friends about. This means they expect you to respect them as much as you want them to respect you. Being punctual for interviews, providing good hospitality, and being upfront and available for information. 

Additionally, employees expect you to be as with the times as they are. This means the ability to connect on various social media such as LinkedIn and have job postings on various websites. If your job offerings are hidden away under the "careers" button on your website, most people aren't going to find it - you need to advertise to potential employees.

In a way, you expect the same thing from your employees as they expect from you - to a certain extent. You expect them to be punctual, hard-working, professional, and of good value for the money you spend on their salary. 

However, there are some employer expectations that clash with employee expectations in the modern age. The expectation that employees will be making their career at your company is no longer a given. So, expecting employees to work late or on weekends unexpectedly to show company loyalty is a good way to alienate your workforce. 

Instead, you can simply modulate your expectations and go back to thinking of them as customers. Perhaps you can incentivize employees to work harder in order to receive recognition or some kind of reward, for instance.