Within the competitive world of insurance having good quality of staff is key And the industry, rather belatedly, appears to be getting to grips with the challenges of training and development.
The CII has benefited from a desire to learn and develop from insurers and brokers so much so that it has increased the number, and type, of courses it offers (page 30). On the face of it, this is a very positive development.
And as loss adjuster Toby Night notes, his coaching has been invaluable in his professional development (page 19).
Val Barlow and Malcolm Hyde say professional development can be a strategic business tool, identifying future needs of the business and empower employees (page 16).
But Vivienne Ayres says that development programmes need to look beyond bridging the skills gap and strive towards goals to get the best from employees (page 22).
Appraisals may not seem that important in the scheme of professional training, but Elizabeth Mills makes a compelling case for fully understanding the role of the appraisal in staff development (page 33).
But as Biba's Steve White observes, firms can be confused by the plethora of courses available on skills training when approaching the issue for the first time (page 26). This is why Biba is creating a training package of key soft skills to make the jump into development and training easier to understand.
Paul Cumberland makes the interesting point that it should be compulsory for new recruits to the complete the ACCII (page 25). Why not? It could only benefit the industry.
Cumberland's colleague Mark Warrilow warns though that despite all the emphasis on qualifications one must not lose sight of the fact that nothing matches experience in the insurance industry.
Terri Grainger points out (page 15) there is still a recurring question mark over how to attract and retain talent in the insurance industry.
But many brokers are at the cutting edge of training. The four firms we speak to (page 7) all have impressive distinctive approaches to training and development.
One broker, J&M Insurance, has a good mantra that many should follow.
"A good strong training programme is absolutely essential to ensuring we maintain our professional reputation."
- Andrew Holt, features editor.
