TRAINING
Be in the know
Dave Sweeney, director of personal and commercial insurances at Sterling
Insurance, believes in the train to gain philsophy and explains why he feels
brokers should think the same way
S
omeone once said to me difference to the success of your
event, disconnected from the
that 10 per cent of our time business.
actual business or role of the
should be spent either There is no doubt that there
individual. However good a
being trained or training someone is an appetite amongst brokers.
training session is, if there is no
else. I support this This is great news because it has
alignment between what a
wholeheartedly. Time spent never been more important for
delegate is learning and the
equipping ourselves to be better brokers to be at the top of their
reality of their day-to-day role,
Dave Sweeney
at what we do is invaluable. And game. A well-trained workforce is
then it is unlikely any new skills
Director of Personal & Commercial Insurances
helping others be better is not the best weapon a broker has.
learnt will be implemented. This is
Sterling Insurance
only rewarding, but also provides Those with the most competent
both a waste of time and money. another for more junior staff. The
priceless learning opportunities in staff and healthiest businesses
And worse than this, it can lead success of this course was
itself. But despite this will reap the benefits of a turn in
to disillusionment and refreshing evidence that there are
indisputable fact, training is not the economic situation.
demotivation - the exact opposite indeed plenty of brokers out
always given the focus it deserves Significant business benefits
of what we should be striving for there who do appreciate the need
in our industry. are there to be enjoyed from
with training. for training which is well planned
We may not always admit it, effective training including
The key to avoiding this is to and focused on real business
but training is frequently seen as increased productivity, improved
make sure that training is application.
a tick box activity, and provided levels of service, enhanced
properly coordinated with the
we can say “yes we have trained efficiency, better staff retention
support of the individual’s
our staff this year”, we can get and motivation. All of which in
manager, and indeed the whole
back to focusing on running the turn result in increased
business, and to provide ample S
o given the demand is
there, where is the supply?
The CII is an obvious
business. But this approach is profitability.
opportunity and encouragement source. I am a firm believer in the
terribly short-sighted. With Not all training will have
to put into practice what has value of the CII’s qualifications
proper planning and focus, this effect however. All too often
been learnt. and would always advocate
training can make a massive it is organised as a standalone
When it comes to technical professional study to both
training – underwriting, claims, increase the competency of staff
risk management – it is usually and the confidence of customers.
quite clear how the training will But there are other providers
align with the delegate’s job. But too and I would recommend
this may not be as evident with brokers investigate a range of
the so-called softer subjects such suppliers to cater for their diverse
as sales, marketing and customer training needs. As well as
service. professional bodies and training
We recently ran a marketing companies, brokers should
course for brokers. Marketing is certainly be talking to their panel
not something that one person of insurers.
can do in isolation but rather a More often than not,
philosophy that needs to insurers have dedicated training
permeate the whole company in departments with abundant
order for it to be an effective resources. Indeed many have
business growth tool. For this specialist training suites which
reason, we did the training in two are by no means fully utilised and
parts – one for senior brokers and the chances are there will be an
28 Insurance Brokers’ Monthly
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