Impactful insurance training programs are essential for the success of our industry. We work in a complex space with new issues, loss patterns, regulations and products requiring our people to be constantly learning. So ensuring employees receive relevant, current and continuous training is paramount to the growth and success of our firms.
But what makes an insurance training program successful? Well we’ve been in this space for quite a while, and we’ve picked up a few secrets along the way. So in this blog we’re going to share with you six things we think make insurance training successful.
Six Secrets to Successful Insurance Training Programs
1. Relevancy
Nothing deters learners more than irrelevant or outdated training. And deterred unengaged learners aren’t synonymous with successful training, are they? For example, on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Although this may seem time consuming, it’s critical for the success of your learning – and your organization. Taking these extra steps to ensure your employees’ skills are up-to-date will certainly pay off in the long-term.
2. Engaging
Effective insurance training programs are engaging and interactive. Employees are more likely to retain information when they actively participate in the learning process. So if you want your programs to work, it’s time to stop the lecture-style approach to learning. Instead, make your training interactive. For example, why not include social learning, games or blended learning in your next program?
3. Personalization
Training should be customized to different roles and skill sets of employees. Agency staff require technical and coverage education, while underwriters require training on risk assessment and analysis.. So make sure you spend the time to assess the needs of each learner cohort, before rolling out company wide training!
As well as ensuring the topic is relevant and personalized to the learner, it’s also important to consider your learning method. Your training approach should be matched with the needs of each learner group, and in some instances involve a blended approach. For example, you may blend face-to-face training, with online learning and on-the-job support.
4. Consistency
Insurance training should be consistent and ongoing. This ensures that employees are continually developing their skills, which is essential in keeping up with the ever-changing insurance industry. Plus, this helps to develop a culture of learning within your firm, boosting morale and decreasing employee turnover. So a consistent approach to training is a winner all round!
5. Measurable
Without having measurable outcomes aligned with your training, how will you ever know it’s worked? Therefore it is critical that you establish clear objectives (linked to both organizational and learner goals), track employee progress, and evaluate the impact of training against KPIs. It is only by measuring performance change after training that we can truly be confident in our training topics and approaches. If performance isn’t changing, something needs to be addressed in your training program!
6. Transferable
Learning transfer is “a learner successfully applying the behavior, knowledge, and skills acquired in a learning event to the job, with a resulting improvement in job performance.” So it’s easy to see why this is so important in our industry isn’t it? Insurance employees’ ability to apply their skills, knowledge and expertise to the job directly impacts the services provided to clients, and therefore the success of the firm overall.
Measuring Success Of Your Training Programs
So, now we know how to make our training programs successful, how do we measure their success? Here are three ways to measure the success of training in your insurance firm:
- Assessments: Conducting a pre-training assessment, followed by a post-training assessment, is a great way to measure knowledge and skills acquisition. A substantial change between both assessments will indicate your training is working – and your employees’ performance will improve.
- Evaluations: Evaluations look at the performance of your employees directly. If you evaluate employees’ activity in their day-to-day job, and see a marked improvement, then your training is working! If not, then it’s time to reassess your training offering.
- Business Metrics: Your training offering should improve the bottom line of your organization. So, evaluating business metrics such as sales figures, customer satisfaction and employee turnover is a great way to get a measure on how successful your training offering is.
Need Help Creating Impactful Insurance Training Programs?
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