Professional sports teams dealing with salary caps are in a similar situation. They have to build the best team they can without "blowing through" the cap. The best-coached teams can do this by developing younger, less expensive players, getting the same winning results with a lower payroll. Sure, it hurts when a top player's contract expires and he goes elsewhere to get millions from a team that hasn't "grown its own" talent. But the good coaches continually fill gaps by developing new players.

Just as with an athletic team, training is the key to success in hiring for agencies. Having a good training program in place-and at larger agencies, possibly a position dedicated to staff training-will differentiate winners from losers. Insurance agencies don't lose the people they grow the way athletic teams sometimes do; competing agencies don't have the knowledge of other agencies' employees the way athletic teams do of other team's athletes.

A good hiring and training program also provides more of a guarantee that an agencies' employees are good. An agency that "shops around" for employees never really knows what it's getting. We have all hired people after great interviews, only to find out later that the new person is a total bust.

Few agency owners and managers got into this business because they wanted to initiate a corporate training program. For most readers, the best approach is to outsource much of the training, keeping only the training coordinator and agency procedures training in-house.

A successful hiring and training program starts with a solid hiring process, which should include such tests as typing, word processing and personality. When hiring experienced people, also test for industry knowledge. Don Phin's Web site, www.donphin.com, is a great resource. If you are training "from scratch," consider these introductory resources for your new employees:

-"How Insurance Works," by the Insurance Institute of America/ CPCU, covers the "big picture" of insurance and is aimed at new employees. Call (800) 644-2100 for more information.

-For more in-depth training, the IIA/CPCU has a segment of the AAI program (Accredited Adviser in Insurance) that deals with agency operations (AAI 83). The books can be read as self-study or made part of a more formal training program. -The CISR program is also good for new employees, along with training on agency procedures and automation. Don't make the mistake of expecting your automation or IT "guru" to do the automation training. The ability to maintain an automation system and the ability to train users on that system are two very different skills.

Other key components of a hiring and training program are a good procedures manual and clear job descriptions. Learning a new job is always tough, but it becomes impossible when no one knows what the job is. Agencies also need one person dedicated to training or at least managing the training of new people. Throwing new people to the wolves through on-the-job training is the epitome of laziness and a recipe for failure.

Agencies that have already developed the ability to train staff from scratch are realizing greater success than those that have not. This much is already clear, but the real impact is still to come.