Author: Nancy Germond

A very recent study by the consulting group McKinsey found that 40% of U.S. workers reported they may leave their jobs in the near future. Many who quit their jobs don't just leave their positions, they flee their current industry. In the 2022 McKinsey study of those who worked in finance and insurance, 68% of those surveyed left those industries when they changed jobs.

This industry exodus would mean leaving the insurance industry with less experienced talent from which to choose.  

According to Springworks, a human resources software provider, almost a third of those surveyed admit to quitting jobs within the first six months. Effective onboarding can cut this quit rate. However, in the era of work-from-home, onboarding may be much more difficult than when most employees worked at central locations.

Here are some tips to discover flight risks and encourage them to stay aboard.

Signs of Flight Risks in Your Personnel

Why does flight risk occur? Here are a few reasons and signs that employees may seek greener pastures.

• Boredom – If employees feel underdeveloped, using only the skills they need to do the same things day after day, they may decide to leave. Especially with employees who lean toward attention deficit, job changes provide new stimulation. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 8% of the U.S. population will have an ADHD diagnosis between the ages of 18 to 44.

• A change in attitude – With employees who aren't usually sarcastic or cynical, watch for signs of sarcasm and snark. Don't let this behavior go unnoticed. Take time to talk with the employee to get to the root of the problem. It may be difficulties with coworkers, or something more complex like personal challenges. While even the most positive employee can have a bad day occasionally, don't ignore any sudden, continuing deterioration in attitudes.
  
   
• Lack of motivation – Employees who do the minimum may be doing one of two things. They may be working on their exit from your agency, or they may be working outside jobs. This interesting Forbes article describes how some employees simultaneously work two jobs. They've successfully found a way to double their income while doing the absolute minimum at both jobs. Read or listen to this article; then visit this Overemployed.com website – it will amaze you. 
  
   
• Frustration with technology – For technologically frustrated workers, irritation with learning new programs can cause employee flight. For technophiles, an inability to access social media at work may be enough to cause resignations. Additionally, under-automated agencies may frustrate technology-experienced workers who know that more automation means making their jobs easier. If you're an agency principal and you're hesitant to embrace new technologies, forming a tech team that can report to you and ease implementation can be just one solution.
  
   
• Lack of workforce flexibility – We've all seen recent stories of executives ordering their staff back into the office post-COVID. Many employees resisted. One of the top trends especially among younger workers is a desire for work flexibility. An either/or approach to working from home can cause you to lose valuable talent. If employees must return, consider a four/tens or a 9/80 work schedule. While supervisors may balk, finding these schedules harder to manage, using online platforms can make it easier so that remote workers don't miss critical meetings.
  
   
• Employees who are caregivers – For employees sandwiched between aging parents and children, some with disabilities such as autism, their lives can be overwhelming. Employee assistance programs can help, but employees frequently don't think about that option or are hesitant to use those services. Remind and reassure your employees that their emotional wellbeing is paramount to you, and that you provide those tools for their benefit.
  
   
• Compensation – We've been told by human resource “experts" that pay doesn't matter; that how you treat employees matters more than pay. Read those words with caution, because a recent survey found that over half of the employees surveyed who left a job did so for more money. In these times of inflation and soaring rental and transportation costs, money matters. Equity in pay among similar positions matters, as well.

Do You Ignore Your Exit Interviews?

Many employers use a formal exit process – asking departing employees why they are leaving. Unfortunately, the results of exit interviews seem to rarely make it past the human resources person conducting the exit interview. Study after study cited tells us that employees leave their supervisors, not the company.

However, a recent Facebook study of departing employees showed three reasons employees left that organization, and it wasn't their boss. Here were the top reasons employees left Facebook as cited in the Harvard Business Review article.

1. Employees no longer enjoyed their jobs.
2. Employees felt the employer failed to engage the employee's strengths.
3. Employees felt stagnant in their careers.

All these issues are ultimately management shortcomings. Organizational leaders can begin to solve these problems by taking exit interviews seriously and strengthening your management team through coaching and training.

Now let's look at how we can address these top issues.

Ways to Derail Flight and Better Engage Employees

In today's climate of increasing incivility, public-facing employees may no longer enjoy their work. Early in my claims career, I often felt more like a social worker than an adjuster. I usually dealt face-to-face with most of my claimants and insureds, or at least by phone, not always shunted off to legal counsel or email. Today's business world is increasingly uncivil – look no further than some of the comments on LinkedIn and other social media.

It's hard to feel good about your job after you've spent part of the day listening to verbal diatribes from people who may even question your integrity. It can be the same for agents and customer service reps who must sometimes deliver news that your insureds may not like.

Employees may feel trapped in their jobs. They may possess underutilized or undiscovered talents that agency managers could use to drive revenue and further engage employees. For example, is your employee great on social media, maybe spending work time on her personal Reddit page? Put that drive to work for you helping her write for your social media campaigns.

Encourage employees who feel stagnant to broaden their horizons. Have you instituted a mentorship program? Can your employees begin attending Big I meetings or other association meetings that dovetail with their interests? If you attend Chamber of Commerce or Rotary meetings, can your employee attend with you and take over some of those roles on your behalf?

What about continuing education? When was the last time your employees worked toward a professional designation such as the Associate in Insurance Studies? Does your agency encourage and pay for successful completion of industry courses?

Ways to Keep Good Employees

Sometimes when an employee gives notice, we're secretly relieved. That's usually because we haven't effectively managed unacceptable performance. Why wait?

Do you hold a weekly meeting with all your direct reports? Do they keep you current on what's happening with their projects and circumstances with any of their direct reports? Do you ask them these critical questions?

• What are you excited about today in your role?
• What are you least excited about in your role? How can we solve that?
• What's blocking progress in your projects and how can I help with those roadblocks?
• What feedback can you offer me? How can I be more helpful to you?

The manager's key role is to, wherever possible, eliminate or reduce obstacles, according to many management experts.

Do you have an open-door policy so that anyone, no matter who, can bring you a problem?

Small things – birthday celebrations, flowers, notes of encouragement during tough times and thank you notes for jobs well done – these can help you retain employees. However, nothing, nothing, beats comparative pay.

Employee retention should be front and center in today's increasingly changeable working world. 

First published: August 26, 2022

Last Updated: September 15, 2023

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