What is needed to know in order to develop a planning strategy for an agency workforce?
Needs assessments
Budget considerations
Space utilitzation
Culture
Workforce Diversity
What is the purpose of a position description?
Define essential functions of the position
Establish necessary qualifications for the position
Provide tool for interviewing
Set levels of compensation
Define acceptable performance in the position
Establish a base measure for employee evaluation
Serve as a basis for corrective action or separation
How does an agency successfully recruit, hire, manage, and develop good employees?
Ask who what and why:
Who - Define the type of person they want to recruit
What - describe the ideal employee profile
Why - Hiring the right employee makes a huge difference to an agency’s success.
How do you ensure a successful selection process?
- Prove the interview is work-related
- Demonstrate that the results of the interview accurately predict work performance
- Demonstrate that the interview is conducted consistently among all candidates
- Demonstrate that the results do not adversely affect protected groups
What is a STAR question and answer?
Situation
Task
Action
Result
What should an employment agreement address?
- What is expected of the employee
- How the employee will be compensated
- Who owns the book of business
- How “for cause” separation will be addressed
What’s the difference between a Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreement, a Non-Compete Agreement, and a Non-Piracy Agreement?
Non-Disclosure and Confidentially: Cannot disclose confidential information acquired during their employment
Non-Compete: Forbids an employee to sell insurance within a specific territory for a specific time
Non-Piracy: Prevents an employees from soliciting or writing existent clients of the agency for a specific time
What are the three aspects of the onboarding process?
Onboarding
Employee Manual
Personal Growth and Development Plans
What’s included in an effective employee manual?
- Established expectation and defines boundaries
- Protects employers from liability by communicating policies and procedures
- Presents specific and practical information related to policies procedures and benefits
- Explains company policies regarding use of company equipment, including electronic devices
What are the benefits of professional development?
- Increased productivity
- Better products and coverage placement
- Improved retention
- Fewer E&O claims
- Increased profitability
What are the pros and cons of internal professional development?
Pros:
- Fewer expenses
- Differentiated training
- Access to a vast selection of online training
Cons:
- Lack of peer interaction found in most classrooms
- Mounting work requirements go untouched
- Little to no interaction with instructor or peers in online training
What are the pros and cons of external professional development?
Pros:
- Outside instructors may have greater expertise
- Local agency is unaffected by absence of less-productive employee
- Employee can interact with those seeking same training
Cons:
- Additional costs related to travel
- Training is rarely customized and may not be tailored to meet each agency’s needs
What are the four elements of the performance evaluation process?
- Agree on performance standards
- Measure performance throughout the year
- Evaluate performance
- Communicate evaluation results along with next year’s standards
What steps should be used for an involuntary termination?
- Review situation with other owners, HR, legal counsel, and managers
- Be sure documentation clearly outlines the unacceptable performance
- Write a separation letter
- Have a separation meeting
- Make the meeting to the point
