Page 44 - Insurance Times July 2019

soft skills training within the limited
budget allocated for learning and
development. However, most of them
also agreed that companies were now
trying new initiatives to offer
professional qualifications to their
employees. Some companies allow
their employees to register for such
qualifications voluntarily at their own
cost, while some companies take a
step ahead and absorb these costs in
their learning and development
budgets.
taking management trainings themselves to experience the
Sandeep Mankad - Head of Sales Training at SBI General
impact first-hand. Some companies already take the top-to-
Insurance Co. Ltd. said, "It is imperative that in order to
bottom approach by offering the trainings to their senior
avoid mis-selling and attend to effective sales call, all sales
management first and then replicate the same to the next
staff should not only be trained extensively on product
levels.
knowledge but should also acquire professional qualification
from institutes like CII to make themselves abreast of It was also felt that companies with professionally qualified
product foundation as well as technically qualified." employees (CII, CPCU and others) can act as 'Learning
Champions' to support other employees reach a specific
Companies are also looking at a Training Needs Analysis
level of qualification.
(TNA) and enrol employees for the right set of professional
development activities instead of offering generalised To ensure that students studying insurance subjects are
trainings, which may not be directly related to their job. made ready even before they enter the industry, few
Some of them are also incentivising their learning and colleges are offering professional qualifications like CII's to
training initiatives by offering rewards to employees their students. This is to ensure a well-trained pool of fresh
who achieve a certain level of professional training/ talent is entering the insurance industry.
certification. While a few companies are cautious with
"We encourage our students to go for CII Diploma along
their spend on learning and development, others are
with their regular course. The added certification stand
setting up Learning Academies to offer professional
most students in good stead once they start their
advancement to their employees. Companies offering
professional careers," added Prof. Abhijit Chattoraj,
similar professional qualifications felt that their employees
Chartered Insurer and Chairperson - PGDM-Insurance
value them, which results in talent retention and gaining
Business Management at BIMTECH.
employees' loyalty.
The Chartered Insurance Institute supports the
It was expressed that leaders of the companies should be
development of professionals working in the insurance
sector and helps professionalize the industry by
offering their range of Qualifications and
Memberships in India and abroad. The CII
offers its Award and Certificate Level
qualifications to aspirants who are new to the
Insurance market. These professionals then go
on to improving their technical skills by taking
more advanced CII qualifications from the
Diploma (Dip CII) and Advanced Diploma (ACII)
levels. For new-age digital learners, the CII
offers bite-sized online learning through its LMS
Portal - Assess. The CII also supports its
partners with bespoke trainings and
development of in-house training content.

44 The Insurance Times, July 2019