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Margaret Resce Milkint, Managing Partner, The Jacobson Group (Chicago)
Margaret Resce Milkint, Managing Partner, The Jacobson Group (Chicago)
Commentary
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Insurance Companies Can Leverage Their Use of Cutting-Edge Technology to Attract Talent

Insurers should publicize their technology innovation as part of their recruitment messages to attract top talent.

Margaret Resce Milkint, The Jacobson GroupInsurance companies must compete with other industries for a diminishing supply of skilled workers. What role does carriers' IT play in attracting and retaining top talent, and how can companies leverage Web 2.0 tools to recruit qualified workers?

The demand for top talent continues to remain high, while fewer professionals are entering the marketplace and baby boomer retirements continue to loom and occur. This is a wider-spread issue that is affecting corporate America beyond the insurance industry. But insurers face an added challenge: There continues to be a perception that insurance is a bland or unsexy industry.

Another, very real threat is that corporations could begin to use the insurance arena as a "hunting ground" for top talent. Many of the specialties -- such as IT, finance/accounting, marketing and product management, to name a few -- are able to smoothly transition into corporations in other industries.

IT can bring sizzle to the recruitment equation. Organizations leveraging cutting-edge technology for growth and innovation need to publicize or broadcast these efforts and incorporate them into their recruitment messages. This will attract talented Gen Yers and Gen Xers into the organization and position the company as a leader in IT best practices. When IT is fully integrated into business strategy, as well as its implementation, this becomes a differentiator. Many companies say they do this, but few are really doing it.

There is a clear movement to blur the lines between social marketing and business networks. Popular business-oriented networking sites, such as LinkedIn, are catalysts for this. Networking opportunities are now limitless and without geographic or time constraints. Employers should harness this trend as a supplement to traditional recruiting methodologies. It serves as a great tool for candidate name generation and grants employers access to talented Gen Yers and Gen Xers.

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