building strength within your agency

BUILDING STRENGTH WITHIN YOUR AGENCYInsurance Journal Academy & Mary Newgard, Capstone Search Group

July 25, 2012

IMPORTANCE IN THE WORKPLACE

Morale: a : “The mental and emotional condition (as of enthusiasm, confidence or loyalty) of an individual or group with regard to the function or tasks at hand b : a sense of common purpose with respect to a group.”

AGENCY MORALE: BY DISCIPLINE“The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, its usually lousy.”

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Morale FactorsEmployee

EngagementRetention

Customer Service

Morale FactorsEmployee

EngagementRetention

Customer Service

Know The ImpactsProductivity, Absenteeism

Referrals, TenureAccount Retention

FACTORS AFFECTING MORALE“Unique to insurance, particularly the P&C side, is how workload and profits are impacted by the insurance markets. When the markets are soft, the prices are dropping and everyone is shopping their business- even if they just renewed 3-4 months ago. Needless to say, this creates double-triple the work for less profit. When the markets are hard, there aren’t a lot of options to place business, which can be frustrating to customers who have to take what they can get, and sometimes they take it out on the customer service folks.” ~Human Resources Director, New Orleans

• 55% of Employees believe benefits communication is unclear or infrequent

• Only 29% of respondents said their employers offered creative work schedules.

FACTORS AFFECTING MORALE“We are a service oriented office. Our employees are hired for their great attitude and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients. No prima donnas here.” ~Human Resources Specialist, Chicago

• 68% of agencies did not offer a bonus program for non-owner producers who exceed sales goals.

• 2-in-5 workers believe there is departmental favoritism

KEYS TO CREATING POSITIVE MORALE

“People buy into what they help create”

WAYS TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE MORALE

“We have several company wide, on-going events that were a part of our culture long before the economy went into the tank. 1. Summer hours – from July 4th through Labor Day we close at 3:00 instead of 5:00 pm on Fridays. 2. Employee Appreciation Day – once a year we take about ¾ of a day out of the office to do a fun activity together. 3. Birthday half day – everyone is given a half day off on their birthday. It provides an on-going sense of company care for its employees.” ~ Professional Development Coordinator Raleigh

Revealing Factors on Low Morale

•2-in-5 workers said their stress level is high•47% said their workload increased in the last six months



•Poor sales support•Uninvolved management•Reduced earnings

“We have regularly scheduled “surprises” for our employees to keep morale high. Examples of things – casual days once a month; provide lunch sporadically (especially on ‘bad weather’ days ). We bring in speakers to discuss various topics (not all work-related; example – managing personal finances / setting a personal budget). We provide lunch & a movie. We have agency-wide meetings every two weeks when all employees meet together. At this time we read letters/emails we’ve received complimenting our employees and their efforts. We like to celebrate those successes with everyone.” ~ COO, Memphis



•9% drop in holiday parties•28% don’t think their department is important to senior management

“As far as improving morale, we just try to listen and keep our employees informed, remind them that the soft/hard market isn’t their fault, etc. It helps to have a compressed work week…that gives our employees a long weekend every other weekend to unwind/decompress.” ~Human Resources Director, New Orleans

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS.

Mary Newgard, CPC, AU Senior Search ConsultantContingent Search | Retained Search |Contract Employee | RPO Solutions

Phone: 515-987-0242 [email protected] | www.csgrecruiting.com

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