Training Needs in the Market
Attracting and retaining top talent:
Coordinated effort from all
stakeholders needed
In Singapore’s quest to advance its reputation as a global insurance centre, challenges
remain in attracting and retaining the right level and kind of talent. This is particularly
the case in the insurance industry. If the industry can generate a holistic talent
programme through a coordinated effort from the various industry stakeholders, its image will stand a
better chance at self-correcting, says Ms Karine Kam of the Singapore College of Insurance.
S
ingapore’s population is undergoing a dramatic sea
change: As the nation continues to develop and invest
in its flagship industries, its population is expanding
and changing, and one demographic change receiving
tremendous media coverage centres on the number of
foreign high-net-worth individuals choosing Singapore as
their home.
This all bodes very well for growth and development
in the insurance industry. However, the flipside of growth
is the fact that the industry must also meet the challenge
of finding and keeping top talent in order to meet the
demands of this growth.
Demand for insurance set to boom
The recently released Government White Paper on population growth has placed fresh pressure on businesses
to consider their future needs in terms of talent. For the
insurance industry in particular, a larger population (the
White Paper’s upper estimate was 6.9 million people by
2030) signals excellent business development opportunities. Population growth equates to a larger domestic
pool of people in need of insurance products and
services. The domino effect associated with population growth carries with it an increase in the
business population and growth in
the existing business’ balance
sheets. Coupled with
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Singapore’s aging population, members of the workforce
currently in the prime of their careers will be retirees or
nearing retirement in 2030. This will exert greater pressure
in the war for limited talent in the marketplace.
Although a population increase of up to 30% (from 5.3
million to a possible 6.9 million) is great news for the future
of the insurance industry, top talent must be discovered,
developed, retained and ultimately trained for leadership
to meet the commercial pressures of the growing domestic
market.
A disadvantage of perception
Securing top talent is no easy task. Insurance still suffers
from a disadvantage of perception, or perhaps misperception, but it is potent nonetheless. Top young graduates often
believe that insurance is somewhat of a less dynamic or
less interesting option than is its financial sector cousin,
banking; that insurance is somehow less glamourous or
only involves selling insurance products. Many believe that
insurance does not or cannot beat the remuneration, benefits or career progression offered in other sectors of the
financial world. These perceptions must be addressed
by the industry if it is to secure the best young minds.
The challenge of acquiring top talent is
only one part of the battle. Retaining
that talent and ensuring that
it remains in the in-
June 2013
Source: This article which appeared in the Asia Insurance Review June 2013 issue is reprinted with the kind permission of Ins Communications Pte Ltd.
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Training Needs in the Market
surance industry to blossom into future leadership
is another critical component of the talent debate.
In a recent Straits Times feature entitled “Strong
Leaders Drive Business Growth”, the author quoted
Ms Choy Sauw Kook, Assistant Chief Executive of
SPRING Singapore, as saying: “Investing in human
capital meets not only today’s business needs, but
also that for future growth.”
Succession planning in insurance remains an
underemphasised component of the average insurance practice’s human capital development strategy.
After all, if there are no future leaders, there is no
future business.
Making finders and keepers: Great training
and development
Discussions with graduates of the Insurance Executive Scholarship Programme (IESP) have provided us
with valuable insights into what needs to occur to
develop a strong retention philosophy in the insurance profession. Taking all three IESP intakes into
consideration, a total of 79 top-tier graduate trainees had
been brought into the insurance industry since September
2009, of which 66 today remain in insurance industry
jobs, representing a retention rate of 84% (interestingly, two
graduate trainees left the programme and industry but
later returned).
This is significantly lower than the global average, which
indicates that 55% to 70% of fresh graduates leave their jobs
after two to three years. Not only do these statistics highlight
the value of well-conceived and structured training and
development programmes as a very strong attraction factor
for talented and ambitious Gen-Y and Gen-Z employees;
they also suggest that in truth, it may not actually be that
difficult to attract and retain bright young talent into the
insurance industry, despite an image issue.
The retention statistics gleaned from IESP demonstrate
unequivocally that when there is a coordinated effort
from all industry stakeholders – government, industry, and
education and training institutions – to support a properly
executed, focussed and integrated human capital development programme, from selection to placement to training
(on and off job training) to coaching to international exposure, then top talent will present itself.
Furthermore, it is noteworthy that within the space of less
than four years, IESP has produced 52 insurance-qualified
practitioners (and several others who may also qualify
within the year), which supports the notion that for employers to see payoffs in their investments in training and
development, they need to allow for some initial trade-offs
as well as be selective in their recruitment efforts. Generally,
it takes three to five years for a practitioner working full
time to attain these qualifications, in the course of which,
a number may lose focus as workloads increase, whilst
others become impatient at the lack of progress and leave
the industry. This is a waste of resources.
The IESP advantage
The striking nature of these statistics also owes much to
the intrinsic nature of IESP itself. When graduate trainees
were first “recruited”, the IESP managers highlighted the
diversity of the industry, but also managed the expectations.
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IESP’s initial matching of skills and personalities to the
qualities of a given opportunity is one of the hallmarks of
the programme. HR retention strategy starts with detailed
and intelligent matching, which naturally drives commitment to the programme and role. Critically, IESP’s very
essence – a mix of workplace training with academic training – has proven immensely popular. On-the-job training
and solid development programmes, (as well as a strong
mentoring culture, form one element that appeals to the
modern young professional.
Still a branding problem
Fundamentally, human capital development challenges in
insurance remain a branding problem. While strong public
marketing campaigns have led many insurance behemoths
to become household names, the industry as a whole is in
a good position to better promote its employer brand to
secure top talent. Not only will industry image improvements drive talent acquisition, but it is more the case that
attracting good quality talent will drive the image of the
industry. If the industry can generate a holistic talent programme, then the image of the industry will stand a better
chance at self-correcting.
The insurance industry is slowly challenging and turning
unfounded perceptions about what the industry involves,
job roles, career progression and opportunities. There are
myriad roles and disciplines in the industry that can be
highlighted by the fact that two young executives, sitting
next to each other in a multi-discipline insurance company,
may have studied diametric courses and practise very different job functions. The General Insurance Association of
Singapore’s Global Internship Programme has, for instance,
performed a great job in profiling the industry, and there
could be more of such.
The insurance industry offers untold opportunities for
future top talent to be leaders of the future, especially as
Singapore actively promotes developing insurance as an
industry of the 21st century. This by itself is a strong value
proposition for talent.
Ms Karine Kam is the Executive Director of the Singapore College of
Insurance.
June 2013
Source: This article which appeared in the Asia Insurance Review June 2013 issue is reprinted with the kind permission of Ins Communications Pte Ltd.
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