Doing the Right Things

Congratulations to the winners of Insurance Journal‘s “2012 Best Independent Insurance Agencies to Work For” survey!

As their employees put it: these agencies are doing all the right things.

They provide healthy benefit plans, offer competitive levels of employee compensation and have in place avenues for employees to share in the success of the agency. Management promotes work/life balance and provides opportunities for education and professional advancement. Principals of these companies make sure their employees feel valued and supported by management and peers. And, their employees attest, these agencies are fun places to work.

In short, these outstanding agencies provide an environment that includes the things that a recent Deloitte survey found were the top reasons why an employee chooses to stay with his or her company:

• Additional bonuses or financial incentives
• Promotion/job advancement
• Additional compensation
• Flexible work arrangements
• Support and recognition from supervisors or managers

Deloitte’s Talent 2020 report found that the top reasons why employees leave their jobs include:

• Lack of career progress
• New opportunities in the market
• Dissatisfaction with manager or supervisor
• Lack of challenge in the job
• Lack of compensation increases

Employers of choice, like the agencies in Insurance Journal‘s “Best Agencies” survey, clearly strive to avoid such negative, job destroying practices. And it’s a good thing too, as Deloitte’s report — produced in conjunction with Forbes Insights — showed that the financial services industry runs the highest risk of losing talent, with 25 percent of employees expressing turnover intentions during the next 12 months.

It’s a fair bet that the winners of this year’s “Best Agencies” survey won’t be among those employers who see much turnover in their employee ranks, if any. It’s more likely they’ll be “feeling the love,” and possibly seeing an influx of potential employees knocking on their doors.

Insurance Journal‘s “Best Agencies” feature begins on N16.