Will anyone in your agency be retiring in the next 10 years? What about the next 20 years? Chances are your answer is yes, as over 60 percent of the insurance industry’s current employees are older than the age of 45. Who will fill their shoes, and who are your agency’s leaders of tomorrow? Maybe you have the answers, but many agencies do not, and that is something that can’t be taken lightly. With many baby boomers nearing retirement, the future of many industries, including insurance, is in question. Baby boomers were a large generation, with over 80 million Americans being born from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s. That large of a segment leaving the workforce is going to have a major impact. So who will step into those roles? A generation even larger than the baby boomers appears to be the next in line. The Millennials generation, sometimes referred to as Generation Y, consists of over 100 million Americans born from the late 1970s through the year 2000. More than half (55%) of Millennial’s surveyed say they would consider the insurance industry for a possible career or currently work within the industry. In 2015 these Millennials will dominate the workforce, who will be working at your agency?
Project InVEST Steps In and Up Founded in 1970 at Hollywood High School by the Independent Insurance Agents of Los Angeles, Project InVEST began training students in insurance agency and company operations and encouraging them to pursue careers in the industry. InVEST wisely remained loyal to its original focus and principles, and over the course of almost four decades, InVEST has blossomed from near obscurity into 92 programs in 23 states. InVEST supports the insurance industry’s workforce future by: • • • • •
Training workforce and bringing new talent for carriers, agents and brokers. Reaching a diverse group of employees, such as urban and minority students. Getting insurance professionals involved on a local level as classroom liaisons. Promoting positive public relations, positioning the industry as a respected liaison between the academic and business worlds. Producing knowledgeable insurance consumers.
Today, the InVEST vision is just as clear as it was 39 years ago.
How Are Insurors Members Helping? Many Insurors members are already taking part in Project InVEST, donating their time and resources to help support the program. One such example is the Insurors of Memphis local board, which held a Student Shadowing Day on February
19th. Twelve students from four universities (Mississippi State University, The University of Mississippi, Middle Tennessee State University and Christian Brothers University) took part in the program, visiting agencies and learning the day-to-day processes of the independent insurance industry. Some of the students were intrigued by the reality of a day at a agency. “I was surprised to see how much people in their firm cared about helping each other out. If someone had a question or needed some help, there was always someone to call or talk to about a situation,” said Chris Konsowitz, a student in Mississippi State’s Insurance program. One of the students, Scotty Dunham (pictured on opposite page) of the Ole Miss School of Risk Management and Insurance, said his eyes were opened to how viable a career as independent agent could be. Scotty shadowed with Tim Treadwell at USI of Tennessee, Inc., and went through some of the days activities with us, “I started out by getting introduced to the employees of the agency and learning about their individual responsibilities. I didn’t realize there were so many specific areas to cover, the specialization is amazing.” When asked about his thoughts on the success of the Student Shadowing Day, Scotty let us know, “It exceeded my expectations, and I will definitely consider a career in the Independent Agency System.” Overall, the day was a success, and the local board hopes to have another in the near future. Project InVEST has been active in the Memphis area since 1974, and has seen a reenergizing as of late from events like these and from the volunteering of local agents in classrooms and at their places of business.
More Work To Be Done Although InVEST has continued to grow over the years, the project is far from complete according to Executive Director Bill Pierson, “There is still work to be done to get the program where we would like it.” So what does some of that work entail? For starters, less than half of all U.S. states currently have active InVEST programs. Eight other state programs are being formed currently, but that still would leave almost 20 states without one. More agents need to be involved as well, contributing their time in local classrooms to educate students on what it means not only to be an agent, but an informed insurance consumer as well. “If an agent talked for an hour per semester they could make a huge impact on the future of our industry,” added Pierson, “The time requirements are completely flexible and can fit into almost any schedule.” InVEST has also created a workshop to train program-appointed contacts in each state. These “State Champions” will attend the three day event in Westfield Center, Ohio, where they will learn more in-depth information on the programs and curriculum available to them through InVEST. They will 7