While its clear the majority of financial services leaders acknowledge the growing importance of learning, roughly the same percentage of these executives admitted that the vast majority of their employees (i.e., more than 75 percent of their overall workforces) dont possess the requisite skills to execute their jobs at an industry-leading level.

Similarly, a shocking 90 percent of financial services executives reported that the great majority of their workforces dont fully understand the companys strategic priorities, and 87 percent said more than three quarters of their employees dont understand the connection between their jobs and corporate strategy execution.

Why the disconnect?

Clearly, these findings point to the frustration that financial services executives feel about the results of their learning programs and investments. As the insurance industry positions itself to achieve and sustain superior results, its more important than ever for senior insurance executives to solve the disconnect that has formed between learning and performance–largely due to inconsistent and ineffective hiring and learning programs that are not synchronized to business strategies.

For example, in insurance sales, there has been a major shift in what it takes to succeed. As agents expand their portfolios to include other financial services products, they must broaden their knowledge and skills to meet clients needs across a range of issues.

At the same time, massive product proliferation has left insurance companies battling for shelf space in the sales persons mind.

In a marketplace crowded with offerings and sales people, more of whom are becoming independent, winners will differentiate themselves by providing instant information, targeted learning and easy-to-use tools that increase the individual producer's success.

In the area of underwriting, advancements in data management, rules management, work management, document management and human performance systems mean that now, more than ever, the role of an underwriting professional must shift from a reactive transaction processor to an informed and proactive account manager. However, front-line underwriters today have, on average, less than five years of experience with their current carrier, and many are experiencing the first hard market of their careers.

Consequently, this has created peaks and valleys in underwriter performance, with risk-decision rules and underwriting practices applied inconsistently within and across offices.

In addition, high employee turnover complicates the struggle for profitability, efficiency and effectiveness. Most firms address the turnover problem solely by hiring in large numbers. But a combination of appropriate recruiting, learning and performance management would yield higher throughput with fewer people.

The recommended approach is to run learning as a business.

To close the learning-to-performance gap, insurance executives need to demand similar rigor and results from learning as they do in other areas of their business, such as sales, underwriting or claims. Running the learning function as a business involves three integrated strands of work:

Managing costs for greater efficiency.

Focusing on the business value to be created through learning and putting the metrics in place that maintain focus and rigor over a multiyear journey

Ensuring that the learning function and technologies are fully integrated with the overall business strategy.

In addition to formal training, organizations must use technology that enables just-in-time learning (which allows professionals to learn skills as they need them) through underwriting specific solutions that infuse knowledge and provide data-driven insights through a cohesive framework.

These solutions will not only bring discipline and structure for corrective underwriting action, but will also position carriers with capabilities that sustain results through market cycles and, importantly, position the insurance organization for competitive differentiation.

Properly conceived, learning investments are among the most critical drivers in an insurers overall value creation plan.

Take the example of a global insurer that recently created a career development model for its IT workforce. The IT division faced significant challenges in improving its existing capability to meet business demands while confronting cost pressures.

In addition, career and skill development had emerged as priority issues for IT employees.

The carrier put a new organizational structure in place that helped define core capabilities, developed IT roles and proficiency levels, and created career streams. A consultant helped to develop and conduct learning programs for all IT managers in the areas of performance management and recruiting techniques.

As a result, the insurer increased the overall capability of its IT workforce while reducing headcount by more than 30 percent. The project also introduced a service culture to IT employees, leading to a significant increase in customer satisfaction in two years. In addition, employee satisfaction and morale improved as a result of this initiative.

By managing the learning functions as a business, insurers can achieve value simultaneously in two ways: by generating revenue and by reducing costs.

Tailoring, scaling and synchronizing people strategies to overall business strategies can help companies ensure a direct correlation between money spent and results produced and optimize the value between working capital and human capital.

Chris Wearing is the global Human Performance Managing Partner for Accenture Financial Services. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, December 5, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.