Insurance Industry Talent Acquisition Leaders Share Covid Recruiting Strategies They are Keeping Forever
We surveyed fifty-nine insurance industry talent acquisition leaders for the 2022 Insurance Industry Employment Outlook. The huge takeaway was the admission from these leaders that Covid forced them to make massive recruiting, training, and retaining changes on the fly. For an industry already challenged to find talent, covid essentially forced insurance companies to retool how their departments operated. We are happy to share many of these changes and their impact on finding great insurance industry talent.
Here is a list of changes many recruiting departments are keeping in a post covid world.
1. Virtual Interviews. Video interviewing started over twenty-five years ago, but it took a pandemic to get Zoom and Microsoft Meetings to become standard, everyday recruiting tools. 60% of surveyed companies mentioned video interviews are here to stay. Insurance employers are using them, particularly for first interviews. The most significant benefit is they are shortening the hiring process.
2. Digital Job Marketing. The insurance employers increased their use of digital job marketing recruiting strategies on sites like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Google. The ability to target candidates with creative messages increased quality applications. This was also a great outlet to help insurance companies brand their employment to the talent that doesn’t even know the jobs exist. These are the passive candidates!
3. Stay/Retention Bonuses. 14% of companies instituted retention bonuses for employees who commit to stay and work. At the same time, most employers admitted that work-life is the most crucial thing in employee retention, and rewards back this up with a financial commitment.
4. Better Employee Referral Programs. No doubt that internal employee referral programs can
yield great hires. Insurance employers spend money on ERP apps that allow their current workforce to easily share jobs on their social media and get credit for anyone hired because of their efforts. Some companies are gamifying the referral process to tap into the younger talent pool.
5. Starting/Signing Bonus. 33% of companies are adding a significant signing bonus for new employees.
6. Training Internal Recruiters. With so much talent acquisition technology available, many companies ensure that their internal recruiting teams become experts in digital marketing, online databases (not job boards), text recruiting systems, email campaigns, etc.
7. Rewrite Job Titles and Job Descriptions Insurance job descriptions need help, according to our surveyed employers. Many of the job descriptions were written before Facebook came online. Employers note that job descriptions are tricky today since they have to be written in a non-discriminatory way and still have some “click power” to get Jobseekers to apply. Companies shared that they are doing several things to help the post-Covid job description. First, employers are adding a “competitive advantage” in the job title for the scrollers. For example, “Property Complex Claims Adjuster – 5K Signing Bonus”. Secondly, the first paragraph of the job description has the top four qualifications needed to perform 80% of the job. Finally, they re-evaluate education, certifications, and years of experience requirements. They are putting those keywords in the job titles for entry-level and remote positions.
8. Shortened Application/Mobile Friendly. Applicant tracking systems at most insurance companies require job seekers to set up accounts, fill out lengthy applications and upload documents. Insurance employers who increase application counts do it by shortening their online application process. They created a mobile-friendly application that made applying via a cell phone easy. Job seekers filled out a quick form that would create an application link they could finish at another time. The big win for the recruiting departments is the short link provided a “lead” with contact information instead of losing potential candidates who don’t have time to fill out the application.