The broker’s UK retail chief executive reveals his plans for growing Gallagher’s staff base 

Gallagher is recruiting heavily for experienced mid-corporate tier account executives and development executives who are looking to further their careers.

This is because now is the time to invest and build for 2021 and beyond, according to Gallagher’s UK retail chief executive, Michael Rea.

Speaking about what makes the global broker “a great fit”, Rea tells Insurance Times: “We are very much a global player. Whatever the sector or the product, we can put specialists in front of prospects and clients.

“We have the flexibility and agility to behave like a regional broker – so we have our feet in both camps in that respect. Global strength and specialist skill and a local presence, which we believe is still important.”

Despite lockdown, the firm has recruited more than 40 account executives - this has grown Gallagher’s account executive base by around 5% to 10%.

Now Rea hopes to increase this headcount, although he adds that “it’s not about hitting a number” and that Gallagher does not have a target. 

Not about numbers

”It’s about trying to make sure that the people we recruit fit culturally, they are complementary to the business we have today and they can add something for our clients and business,” he explains. 

When asked if recruiting someone that is right for the job is somewhat more difficult with the current restrictions on social distancing, Rea says that depending on the organisation that people come from, it is possible to “join the dots” quite effectively.

“It’s very rare for us to come across somebody as a prospect where someone else does not know them,” he says.

However he admits that while recruiting from within the insurance industry can be a safe bet, some of the most successful candidates at Gallagher have come from outside the sector.

He says that Gallagher is happy to “fish in different pools for talent” and recommends backing a few different talent sources, such as schemes, graduates, internal hires and those from outside the sector.

The broker is also in the process of launching a campaign that highlights its top producers around the UK - they will then speak about their experience working for Gallagher.

“The thing we really like is people who come through recommendation. If someone can come highly recommended, that’s the sort of commendation we are looking for,” he says.

Just good housekeeping

Rea adds that the lockdown and the rise of remote working has “reinforced how important technology is”.

The broker has opened as many offices in the UK as it can safely, on a “willing and able” basis. At present Rea says that Gallagher is operating a hybrid model, with two-thirds of its offices open and the people in them working on rotation or from home.

Looking to the future, Rea continues: “We will undoubtedly move to a more flexible approach to work. There was a time when being a flexible employer was a differentiator but now if you roll the movie forward 12 months, I think it will just be good housekeeping. Employers will have to operate a more flexible approach to work and we will be one of them.”

He also expects technology to play a bigger part within Gallagher’s day-to-day working lives, especially in terms of communication.

The way we do business now

Considering some of the obstacles caused by the pandemic for recruitment, he says that Gallagher has incurred the same challenges as others.

Technology has played a bigger part - for example, telephone calls, online conferencing solution Webex and video calls have all been tapped.

“We are using technology more than we used to. Face-to-face meetings are challenging, but when it comes to recruiting you have got to be a little more agile,” he adds.

“What has been fascinating are the things that we would have thought were impossible nine months ago are now just the way we do business. Nonetheless, people have used lockdown as a ’moment of reflection’ for what they want to do with their career. People would have been looking around to see what alternatives there are and we believe we are a great home.”

Widening the net

With diversity, Rea admits that the sector has “more to do”.

“We want a team and a workplace that reflects our customer base and the diversity of [this] means that we have to recruit in a more broadly based way than we probably have done historically. I think that we have got to work a lot harder to widen the net in terms of opportunity,” he says.

He adds that “opportunity” is the key word here. Getting the balance right between head hunting and social media, he says, is the answer to widening the net.

“The use of technology over the last six months in every aspect of our business has meant that we have been able to reach a much broader pool of people,” he says.