All About People

The people I work with make the company the best place!”

That’s the way one employee of G&G Independent Insurance summed up the reason why their employer is the best in response to Insurance Journal’s 2021 Best Agencies to Work For survey. They weren’t alone.

Respondent after respondent commented on the wonderfulness of not only the company but the people with whom they work.

“People care about each other here, and it is refreshing to see,” said one.

“First and foremost, the people. G&G has done a wonderful job of hiring quality people,” wrote another. “They have created a great company culture and there’s a true sense of teamwork and camaraderie. In addition, management is very transparent in sharing with their employees, and they ask for feedback on ways they can make improvements for the employees and business, and then actually act on that feedback to make changes and meet those requests.”

One employee commented: “G&G is the best agency I’ve ever worked for! They truly care about you as a person and a professional and are always seeking ways to improve employee well-being, benefits, and development. They also truly care about the community and have an employee-funded and employee-managed nonprofit (G&G Foundation) that you can be a part of if you want. They also truly live their purpose of providing exceptional experiences and that goes for its employees, not just their customers.”

IJ’s Best Agency survey allows employees to rank their agency in various categories, as well as comment in writing as to why their agency is one of the best. Their responses earned G&G the award for IJ’s 2021 Silver Best to Work For in the South Central region.

CEO Jordan Greer said he is “honored and appreciative” that his team nominated the agency for the award. “We have a great team at G&G. At G&G, our business is our people. Without the right people in the right seats, the efforts to take care of our clients and find new ones would be incredibly challenging, if not impossible. It’s my responsibility to cultivate a culture that attracts the best people, sets clear expectations, and rewards success with recognition and opportunity.

This nomination from the G&G team is an indication that we are heading in the right direction and that we should continue with our efforts to do everything we can to make our agency the best place to work for our team.”

G&G employees are “energetic, motivated, and customer-centric people that strive to deliver exceptional experiences in every interaction. When you are surrounded by a team that truly comes together to achieve big goals, work is engaging and it’s fun!” he added.

The agency, which has 39 employees and annual revenues in the $1 million to $10 million range, made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the U.S., an achievement of which employees are justifiably proud. “We made the Inc. 5000 List! It is such an amazing accomplishment,” wrote one employee.

Greer said the agency’s “purpose is to provide exceptional experiences in every interaction,” for both customers and employees. “Intuitively, insurance agents often think in these terms about the client experience and we certainly do. However, we are equally focused on the employee experience. One example is the process by which we identify, praise, and recognize exceptional experiences that members of our team provide to our clients. Not only do we praise and recognize these experiences, but we gamify their efforts complete with a leaderboard that has each employee playing for unique exceptional experiences of their own that change every quarter.”

He encouraged agency owners who want to elevate their firm “to be as intentional about the employee journey as they are about the client journey. Involve the key members of your team in the process. Then, start at the very beginning and identify your ‘why.’ Why is being the best place to work important? What does that do for your team? What does that do for your clients?”

“Once you and the key members of your team have identified and aligned on these answers, identify the gaps/opportunities from where you are as an organization today versus where you want to be tomorrow and start chipping away,” he said.

“Create anonymous opportunities for your team to give you feedback along the way, and remember, the journey is never over.”