Briefing: Attracting new talent key to boosting innovation

By James Cowen

According to Aon, risk managers and c-suites have named failing to innovate and meeting customer needs as one of their key concerns.

Highlighted in the broking giant’s Global Risk Management Survey, which was published last week (8 December 2023), the issue is among the top five worries over current and future risks across the UK.

This is despite digitisation and innovation having become essential given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For example, it was noted that the pandemic had fast-tracked the adoption and implementation of touchless claims – which refers to a claim filed with very little contact from a human, often via an app – during a roundtable hosted by Future Processing earlier this year (15 June 2023).

And the use of artificial intelligence (AI) models has increased in recent times, with advanced technology and large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT having come to the fore.

However, Aon stated in its report that there were firms struggling to innovate and warned that businesses that have not digitalised “are suffering the most”.

Talent

Aon also noted that such fears over innovation and digitisation was linked to executives’ concerns about failing to attract or retain top talent.

This ranked as the second most worried about risk in the broker’s report, with bosses concerned over how they would keep up with the growing demand for adequate staffing in key roles.

With digitisation quickly becoming a must for firms, filling positions that allow employees to help businesses innovate is imperative to help them remain competitive. 

However, attracting talent to the insurance sector has been a worry for businesses, with what seems like the majority of insurance professionals acknowledging that they ‘fell’ into their current careers, rather than choosing to pursue roles in the industry.

And a survey by the Chartered Insurance Institute revealed that 60% of young talent found the insurance industry “boring” and only 30% would consider it as a career.

The findings were based on a survey of 50 participants between the ages of 14-22 in April 2023.

However, with technology such as AI on the rise, highlighting how it can be used could be an attractive prospect to individuals, especially the younger generation.

Therefore, speaking about technological changes in the sector, such as in indusutry campaigns, could be a key way to attract more talent.

As Sasha Jory, chief information officer at Hastings Direct, said – technological advancements can be seen as a “plus point” for bringing new talent into the insurance industry.

“We have a lot of change happening in the insurance industry,” she said during a panel session entitled The Future of Talent at the Guidewire Connections 2023 conference in Nashville (13 November 2023).

“Being in an organisation that is constantly pushing the boundary of where technology is going – and being able to sell that to people – is an exciting opportunity.”