Filling a Key Staff Position in a Tight Labor Market
With business growing, independent agency Steck-Cooper needed a new personal lines account manager. The company is directly across the border from St. Louis, and competition for talent was fierce. They tried several online job boards and received hundreds of resumes, but many of the candidates had no insurance experience, and none came close to meeting their needs.
When staffing on your own doesn’t work
Steck-Cooper knew WAHVE’s reputation as the insurance industry’s talent expert. They liked how WAHVE qualifies applicants and presents only the top few who fit the company’s requirements. “And the cost was reasonable, even compared to the do-it-yourself approach,” said Steck-Cooper Executive Vice President Andrew Allen.
The company provided WAHVE with the specific experience they needed: someone customer service-oriented who works well with others; a personal lines expert who could operate independently and act as the lead for that segment; and an individual who had experience working with multiple carriers.
The art of the job posting
WAHVE worked with Steck-Cooper to complete a job request with specific hard and soft skills needed for the position and to craft a job ad that would attract the best-fit applicants. And they posted it on job boards that WAHVE’s experience told them would produce the best results.
Finding the needle in a haystack
“In the end,” said Allen, “WAHVE presented us with a candidate who checked all the boxes: ten years of brokerage experience, working with multiple carriers, and ready to take a lead role without much training. They found what we couldn’t!”
Exceeding expectations
Steck-Cooper looks at new business, revenue growth, and client retention and feedback to measure performance. The new account manager has performed so well she received two salary increases and a bonus in her first year.
Steck-Cooper agrees they would use WAHVE again. According to Allen, “WAHVE made the hiring process a lot easier. The fact that they qualify all the applicants is a huge relief from the drudgery of sorting through resumes. It’s as close to plug and play as you’ll get.”
About the Author:
Sharon Emek, Ph.D., CIC, is founder and CEO of Wahve (www.wahve.com), a leading talent solution provider to the insurance industry. WAHVE's innovative Vintage Contract Staffing solution supplements insurance firms' staff with pre-retiree work-at-home vintage experts on long-term contracts. WAHVE's Talent Acquisition Outsourcing solution delivers a bias-free, end-to-end, cost-effective sourcing and talent qualifying service, streamlining the process of securing the most qualified and diverse candidates.