Why insurance organizations must brand from the inside out
Here are five foundational steps that insurance firms should embrace in order to win at branding.
In his book, Good to Great, business guru Jim Collins introduced a concept he called “getting the right people in the right seats on the bus.” It should be a priority for an organization, he said, because the right employees in the right positions will help the company figure out where it should be heading.
It sounds reasonable.
But how does leadership really determine who the right people are and what seat they should be sitting in? By “branding from the inside out.”
Here are five foundational steps that insurance firms should embrace in order to win at branding.
1. Start with defining the organization’s core values. Iconic businesses like Southwest Airlines and UPS strongly emphasize company culture when determining hiring protocols. But culture should not be viewed as an anchor; rather, the company’s core values should serve as a rudder that steers it into the future. While striving to be innovative and forward-looking, successful companies do not compromise their foundational principles; they remain authentic to those values.
2. Infuse transformational leadership across the organization, not just at the top. While “transformational” can mean different things, most importantly in this context, it relates to the ability to be flexible and adaptable to the ever-evolving environment. It also means encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit that serves as a catalyst for change, and embracing technology to disrupt the status quo. It also means “flattening” the organization to allow for the transmission of information from customers and business partners, and it ensures that information reaches the right internal audience.
3. Reposition insurance as a true consumer brand. The insurance industry has had to accelerate its efforts to create a relevant workplace to recruit and retain talent. Why? Insurance is not viewed as being as dynamic as the finance, technology or consulting fields. And insurance brands do not resonate as well as consumer brands such as Disney, Google or Indeed. Although insurance companies have long been leaders in the use of data and analytics to drive their business decisions in a dynamic way, much of their consumer advertising focuses on pithy, price-driven messaging that commoditizes insurance. An insurance organization needs to convey that its brand encompasses integrity and is forward thinking in focusing on the needs of distribution partners and customers.
4. Rethink talent-acquisition and retention tactics.
- Insurance organizations often neglect to tout their positive traits: stable work environment, life-work balance (as opposed to work-life), and how they are responsible corporate citizens by sponsoring worthwhile causes that impact local and global communities.
- The COVID-19 pandemic forced insurance organizations to enable employees to work remotely, aided by video conferencing. Now that the crisis has passed, firms must convince employees that leaving the comfort of home for a daily commute is worthwhile. Successful companies are redesigning the workplace, enlarging its focus from functionality to a broader perspective: a desirable, accommodating workplace where employees prefer to be. Meeting the needs and desires of onsite, hybrid and remote employees by providing engaging physical and digital environments is just one example of branding from the inside out.
- Adapt smart, soft-skill hiring to identify traits that truly align with the needs of the organization. It’s like balancing a chemical equation: What are the most important proclivities and skills that the position requires — resiliency, organization, communication ability, teamwork? Discerning these traits requires probing deeper than a candidate’s academic coursework and GPA. It means learning about the challenges the person has overcome and how they did it. And it involves revisiting the typical qualifications: Emphasizing the soft skills that are needed will help place the right people in the right seats on the bus to drive the company.
- Potential recruits incorrectly assume that career ascension is slower in the insurance industry than in other fields. Correct the misperception. Given the national demographic trends of retiring baby boomers, the insurance industry will experience a more acute exodus over the coming years, paving the way for increased responsibilities and promotions for new entrants.
5. Understand the effect of social media on an organization’s brand. It is analogous to a two-way mirror — reflecting the behavior and interaction of employees with customers and projecting it externally, often without context. The brand has taken on more significance in our age of social media, which brings with it a transparency that is not beholden to press releases, advertising or public relations-managed events. The reality is that each customer can share with the world their interactions with a company’s brand, which then can be magnified on social media. While not every consumer’s characterization is accurate, perhaps due to the insurance coverage they selected, the consumer should always be treated respectfully and with empathy. The consistent application of a company’s brand is of paramount importance.
Transformational leaders truly understand the value of an engaged, talented workforce. When I worked for Segal Company, the national actuarial and employee benefits firm, I often heard founder Martin Segal observe: “Your inventory goes down the elevator each evening, and you hope that they all come back up the next day.”
The insurance industry’s biggest challenge is not regulation or even access to capital, but rather its inability to articulate the dynamic and meaningful work it offers as a career. To achieve its human capital needs — attracting, retaining and correctly positioning talented people who can accomplish its mission — an insurance organization needs to brand from the inside out.
Dave Evans (dave.evans@Aartrijk.com) is a senior associate of insurance marketing firm Aartrijk. Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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