The shortage of qualified and experienced underwriters is growing as senior underwriters retire. FirstBest Systems, Inc., provider of software solutions that help property/casualty carriers, conducted a survey about training and knowledge sharing during the 2010 NAMIC Commercial Lines Underwriting Seminar last month and the findings reveal few insurers have leveraged technologies that appeal to Gen Y, facilitate real-time training and collaboration for new hires and teams, and capture underwriting expertise for knowledge-sharing purposes.

A 2010 McKinsey report states that the number of insurance workers 55 or older has increased by 74 percent in the last 10 years, compared to a 45 percent increase for the overall workforce. This means 20 percent of the workforce is near retirement. The insurance industry will need to hire 25,000 new underwriters by 2014.

The top challenges for P&C insurers in attracting high-quality talent, according to McKinsey, are poor reputation, lack of understanding about career opportunities, and a limited pool of trained talent. As the generation gap in the makeup of industry underwriters increases, the industry will need to change the ways it captures the experience and best practices of senior underwriters and trains junior underwriters.

Of the 50 underwriters who attended the NAMIC presentation by FirstBest CTO Julian Pelenur, most completed a survey about the talent crisis, staff development, and training. The responses show concentrations of challenges and that most use manual time-consuming methods for training and knowledge sharing.

FirstBest asked attendees about their greatest concern for hiring and training new underwriters in the near term. The most common response, offered by 35 percent of those surveyed, was "ongoing training, underwriting skills and knowledge sharing." About 30 percent cited "finding and attracting qualified applicants" as a concern. "Generational expectations" was a concern for 15 percent of the underwriters surveyed and another 15 percent felt "employee retention" was among their top challenges.

When asked about methods for training and sharing best practices among team members, "meetings" (primarily weekly) were cited by 38 percent of the respondents and another 38 percent referenced "ad hoc collaboration and information sharing." A close third was "ongoing training and personal mentoring," and 15 percent reported still using paper-based internal manuals. Only 20 percent reported using technology, such as Instant Messaging, Intranets, blogs, or e-mail to collaborate with and educate underwriters on their teams.

"Our survey findings reveal that intranets, shared drives and other pre-Web 2.0 technologies are serving as workarounds and only some carriers are using true Web 2.0, collaborative technologies," says Pelenur. "Companies can capture their experienced workers' valuable knowledge, as well as make the job more exciting and attractive to the younger generation, with a better simplified, automated, and modernized process that remains relevant as attitudes and expectations continue to evolve."

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