Young future leaders are no longer content with the beaten path. Instead of making their way up the traditional corporate leadership path like their predecessors, the absolute best are seeking opportunities to prove themselves right from the outset.
To meet these shifting demands, the most agile organisations are re-examining their existing business structures.
Tomorrow’s leaders have arrived. In truth, they entered the workplace sometime ago and did so armed with a quite different set of skills, behaviours and expectations.
In recent years, the insurance industry has welcomed the arrival of new technologies, big data and artificial intelligence (AI). Valuable tools for both clients and colleagues that will eventually transform our everyday working lives and change how we think and feel about work in general.
But spare a thought for those entering the industry now, how should we articulate our current state?
For many years, the insurance industry has been described as on the cusp of shedding its skin for being old and stodgy. So, has this shedding process commenced?
Yes, the introduction of new tech and an increased focus on diversity, inclusion and social mobility, have contributed to change, but the best out there will openly acknowledge that we still have some way to go before we reach anything worthy of being described as unrecognisable, reimagined or future state.
For now, most long-established firms remain inwardly entrenched at the expense of their people and clients. An environment arrived at following piecemeal acquisitions with little strategic purpose that has led to harmful internal divisional conflict and all too obvious cost wars.
Regardless, our industry remains one of the most recognised and long-standing in the world. Whether through commercial, life or personal lines of business, our contribution and influence on the world economy cannot be ignored. These are deeply compelling reasons for selecting a career in insurance.
Helping the customer will always be the first words spoken after the starting pistol is fired. Understanding the customer touches every fibre of our industry’s being. The ongoing challenge to keep pace with rapid marketplace evolution ensuring a customer is left better educated and empowered as result of contact with brokers.
Most crucial of all is learning to master through experience and effort the vital skill of becoming not only an insurance expert but also a trusted risk adviser. Even the absolute best will accept that this is a lifelong endeavour, where perfect does not exist and there is no finish line.
At Broadway, all our time and energy goes into ensuring we understand the changing expectations of our people and customers. Across business and personal lines, new talent and client acquisition and retention is the key to continuous improvement. We prioritise the following as the fundamental building blocks to success:
- To develop a deep understanding for the industries in which clients operate and their market segments. No two markets possess the same profile of risks. In a world where no two clients are the same, it is no longer acceptable to operate as a generalist. At Broadway we pick our niches according to our strengths.
- The best market solutions are tailored to a particular client’s growth priorities, empowering that client to better understand, manage and transfer risk more effectively. Price, programme reliability and disclosure should be addressed in equal measure. All three must be optimised to unlock a best-in-class outcome.
- Changing risks requires changing solutions. Broadway is a company designed to grow and thrive in a new world of convenient and agile working. Our clients are seeking to address the same set of challenges, a new set of challenges requiring advice to remain seamless across all channels spanning online, mobile, social media and in person. Fast, frictionless, and real-time access to information and insight is now anytime, anywhere.
Irrespective of what you do now, you should be excited at the prospect of joining an industry which needs young future leaders. The only imperative is to embark on the journey with ambition and the positive energy to make a difference. As professionals we should aspire to leave the industry in a better state than that when we found it. There will be many new client challenges to overcome – evidenced most recently by such unprecedented events as the Covid-19 pandemic. Regardless of industry, segment or geography, this pandemic has affected every business and individual around the world in one way or another. Its impact was unavoidable and continues to evolve. It is important to reinforce that very few organisations or individuals, if any, had the impact of Covid-19 inked at the top of their risk registers and learn that lesson for tomorrow.
There can be little doubt that we exist in a far more connected and rapidly evolving global market than ever before. The challenge we face is not having all the answers at the time they are needed, because many significant risks have yet to be experienced or even identified.
As career options go, the opportunity to learn, rise and thrive in our great industry is truly second to none.
We grow and evolve through the introduction of fresh and independent thinking and perspective.
Broadway is an agile “new world” broker and risk advisor where ambition, empathy, intellectual curiosity, and entrepreneurial spirit are welcomed in equal proportions. Whether you are a college or school leaver, the opportunity to grow personally and professionally will always be found with us.