Page 38 - Insurance Times June 2023

disasters or pandemics which are termed as External factors. Competitors gaining a workforce advantage: If a Talent gap
The organization also possess few Internal factors like is caused by an exodus of employees to a competitor, this can
changes in technology, high employee turnover including have serious consequences for own operations, productivity,
resignations, terminations etc. along with introduction of new and staff morale. Insurance Industry is suffering from such
work practices. issue in a very severe manner.

As far as Insurance Industry is concern the industry needs Dissatisfaction among the peer Employees: The Talent Gap
new talent skill sets to tackle rapidly evolving risks and in Insurance has really created a deep vacuum for which the
accelerated digital progress.Filling insurance-specific roles has Industry is having a correct frame work towards the same.
been a particular challenge.As more knowledge work is The Employees are dissatisfied with the workforce who are
automated, the workforce lacks in more creativity, critical not having adequate skills or qualification with respect to the
thinking, and social intelligence to shape and guide the nature of work and thus is a concern which is really impacting
organization. As far as Insurance is concerned the market is the functionality of the Industry.
underexplored and there are far ways to go for the Insurance
professionals and other employees due to its vagaries of Ways to Identify the Talent Gaps:
nature of work. The Insurance industry is reeling under the
Survey the leader and explore in each department of
acute pressure of crisis in manpower and the Talent Gap is
the organization about the shortage in Talent/Talent like
acting as a catalyst to it.
in Underwriting and in Re-Insurance. The skills or
qualifications should commensurate with the nature of
Consequences of Talent Gap: work assigned.
A Talent gap, when left unaddressed can cause serious
Conduct Interview with Employees on regular basis to
problems for an organization.
capture the Talent index.
Train current Team leaders who in turn will train the
Increased costs: A Talent gap is bad for the top line as well as
followers swiftly.
bottom line. When the right people cannot be hired at the
right time or existing employees need to upskill but employee Take a new approach to Hiring and be ready for capturing
training capacity lags behind - employers may be forced to the right talent with proper qualifications for the
take more expensive measures to make up the shortfall, such Insurance industry.
as hiring freelancers or contractors.
Keep an Eye on the Competitors on regular basis and try
hard to implement the new concepts from the
A drop in quality: In any industry, maintaining quality is vital
competitors.
to success. When employees are lacking sufficient Talent to
Timely injection of new talent into the system.
keep quality high, the business can suffer in multiple ways,
including loss of revenue, dissatisfied customers, and Embrace continuous learning and the department should
reputational damage. constantly endeavour towards the learning of the
employees as Insurance is a Knowledge based Industry.

Ways to Combat the Talent Gap:
Talent/Talent audit: A good way to help prevent a Talent gap
before it happens is to undertake an organization-wide Talent
audit. This is a good way to not only create a detailed record of
the Talents of every employee, but it also helps identify areas
where upskilling is required. One of the pleasant surprises that
can emerge from a Talent audit is to discover employees have
Talent and qualifications that the employer might not have
been aware of - this can help prevent Talent gaps by better
deploying employees within the organization. If Talent gaps
are identified, employers then have an opportunity to improve
training processes to help ensure long-term success. The best
result here is motivated, productive, multi-skilled employees

34 June 2023 The Insurance Times