Insurance agencies, we salute you. You’re operating in a rapidly changing landscape that’s fiercely competitive, while managing both client needs and employee expectations. Because of how demanding the field of insurance is, it’s crucial that when you have killer team members who work hard, and that they stay with your organization for the long haul. One of the best ways to maximize employee retention while ensuring a positive employee experience all around is by boosting insurance agency employee engagement.
For insurance agencies, employee engagement can be a game changer, particularly if your agents are dispersed or remote. As we’ll dive into, when insurance agency employee engagement is low, organizations might experience employee turnover, lower productivity, and even less profitability. But when your agency employees are actually engaged, they’re more likely to enjoy their jobs, be better at them, and bring in more revenue for your company.
Here’s everything you need to know about insurance agency employee engagement, and how you can (genuinely) improve it.
My Insurance Team Isn’t Super Engaged, Does It Matter?
If you feel like your insurance team isn’t the most engaged team around, then you’re definitely not alone. As it turns out, most of the US workforce is not actually engaged at work (up to 68%), and employee engagement is currently at its lowest level since 2015.
While this type of employee disengagement might be all-too-common, it can also be incredibly costly for both employees and their organizations. Studies show us that when employees are disengaged, there’s a decrease in morale, company culture suffers, and customers are even more likely to have negative experiences. Disengaged employees are also less productive, with most employees today wasting between 30 minutes and 3 hours at work every single day.
But on the other hand, when employee engagement levels are high, there are some tangible boosts in key business outcomes. For example, research shows that employee engagement leads to powerful improvements in things like absenteeism, employee turnover, the quality of the work being done, productivity, and profitability.
While employee engagement is relevant across the workforce as a whole, it might be even more relevant for insurance agencies, given the state of this industry today. The insurance agency is experiencing an ongoing talent crisis, with competition for top talent rising fiercely. Data shows that hundreds of thousands of insurance professionals are expected to retire in the next few years, which could put an even greater pressure on the insurance industry.
What this all means for insurance agencies is that employee engagement might just be the secret weapon you need to improve employee retention, boost team morale, improve customer experiences, and even earn more revenue.
How Insurance Teams Can Boost Employee Engagement
There are a few main ways that teams organizations can boost insurance agency employee engagement. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Take steps to foster a positive employee and work culture
Company culture matters to employees, with studies showing that it’s an important factor for 46% of job seekers, and that 88% of job seekers say a healthy work culture is vital for success. When good employee culture is present, there are a few things that fall into place. For example, communication is typically solid, there’s a sense of community, employees feel like they’re being fairly treated, and there’s trust.
Employee culture and engagement go hand-in-hand, and can both benefit one another. Leaders can foster positive employee and work culture by encouraging communication and collaboration, rewarding employees for their hard work, and seeking employee feedback (we’ll dive into these in detail in a moment).
- Encourage open communication
When communication is sparse or surface level, employee engagement is bound to suffer. We all probably know what it’s like to work in a place where you feel like your voice isn’t heard, and where communication just doesn’t flow.
At insurance agencies, leaders can look to boost employee engagement by practicing and encouraging open communication. When open communication is in play, team members will share their thoughts, brainstorm, collaborate, express ideas, and will likely feel far more engaged.
- Welcome and respond to feedback
Another key component of employee engagement is feedback. Leaders at insurance agencies should be open and receptive to employee feedback, and should even seek it out. Feedback is a great way of gauging employee sentiment, and to gaining insights into how your team is actually feeling.
There are different ways of obtaining employee feedback, and it can be done through surveys, questionnaires, or interviews. Also, after receiving feedback, be sure to respond to it (or at least acknowledge you received it).
- Provide opportunities for career growth and development
If your insurance agency employees feel stagnant in their careers, they are much more likely to be disengaged than if they have opportunities within the organization. One survey showed that the top reason why employees quit their previous job between 2021 and 2022 was a “lack of career development and advancement.”
Employees at your insurance agency want the chance to learn and to grow, and finding ways to provide them with training, more responsibility, or a path to future roles can definitely help with employee engagement.
- Recognize and reward employees
Employees want to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work, and the numbers show it. 86% of employees say that recognition in the workplace (through initiatives such as reward programs) improves their “experience, relationships, engagement, and happiness.”
Think about it: working day after day with little-to-no recognition can definitely be a big demotivator. But by recognizing employees for a job well done (both publicly and privately), they’re far more likely to be engaged in their roles.
- Emphasize the importance of employee well-being
Employees today care about their well-being, and they want their employers to do the same. But get this: just 38% of HR leaders and 17% of employees say their employers support their physical well-being. And when employees are taking care of their well-being (both mental and physical), they’re bound to not only be healthier, but be happier and more productive workers. Data shows that 67% of employees who have wellness programs at work actually like their jobs more.
Speaking of wellness programs, they’re actually one concrete way to emphasize the importance of employee well-being. Corporate wellness programs can include things like gym memberships, health assessments, vaccination clinics, yoga and meditation classes, and ergonomically designed workplaces.
- Utilize comprehensive employee engagement tools
It’s 2023, and as you probably already know, there’s a digital tool for just about everything these days. Insurance agency employee engagement is no different. Employee engagement tools are specifically designed to support your specific business initiatives, and of course, drive employee engagement.
Method Spotlight: Employee Engagement Tools
Let’s dive into employee engagement tools for a moment, because these tools are comprehensive solutions which can really boost insurance agency employee engagement. These tools include features like:
- Survey tools: Surveys give you team members a voice, allowing you to gauge their sentiment, and truly uncover engagement levels.
- Communication tools: From in-depth conversations to instant notifications, employee engagement tools are a one-stop-shop for communications, and are powerful drivers of collaboration.
- Collaboration tools: With employee engagement tools, employee recognition couldn’t be easier. You can easily recognize employee achievements and contributions, motivating them to continue working hard.
- Goal tracking tools: Keep employees laser-focused on your loftiest goals with simple, real-time tracking of goals.
- Performance monitoring tools: Employee engagement tools allow you to easily keep an eye on employee performance. You can quickly understand what’s going on, and swiftly intervene when improvements are necessary.
- Wellness tools: Employee engagement tools also include useful wellness features. For example, when teams use Refresh, they can tap into 100+ Refresh Live™ practitioners broadcasting daily. Teams can also integrate activities from wearables (such as FitBit and Apple Watch), run fitness competitions, and build points-based systems. Wellness tools also make it easy for your employees to understand and use their health plan, and even get reimbursed for wellness receipts.
While employee engagement is critical across industries, insurance agency employee engagement might be even more vital. In the challenging and complex field of insurance, it’s vital to retain talented employees, and take steps to foster a positive and engaged employee culture.
Want to Boost Team Engagement? There’s an App for That
Employee engagement is all the rage, and insurance agency employee engagement is no different. If you want to boost engagement, improve communication, support employee goals, and recognize your team members for your hard work, we have a solution for you.
Refresh’s communications tool is a comprehensive employee engagement platform, which you can tailor to meet your precise needs. Enjoy our infinite segmentation, and live services combined with functional digital modules.
Take a tour of Refresh, and find out why teams love us.