MARKETING
Agencies strengthen their lineup of producers
by recruiting on college campuses
By Bob Bloss
When the "help wanted" sign goes up--either literally or figuratively--insurance agencies and brokerages hope that the brightest and best come calling. Sometimes they're fortunate and land a candidate who becomes a solid producer for years. Then again ... well, let's just say better luck next time.
Small and medium-sized agencies simply do not have the luxury of maintaining a full-time, in-house human resources director. Rarely do the principals or a seasoned producer have enough free time to provide continuing orientation and training. They're too busy selling and managing.
Fortunately for the insurance firm with job openings, assistance is available--especially in the area of recruiting college seniors and recent graduates.
One firm specializing in college recruiting for the insurance industry is Woodgate Partners, headquartered in Reisterstown, Maryland. Bud Antrim, Woodgate's founder, began his career 30 years ago in engineering project management. For the past two decades, he has focused on human resources management. Along the way, he has held top management posts or served as a consultant with such corporate entities as Alexander & Alexander; Booz, Allen and Hamilton; and various ITT properties, including its Hartford Insurance group. Bud's wife, Toby, a recruitment executive for 15 years, is his business partner.
Two years ago they developed Woodgate's Top Talent Program to staff their insurance clients with college graduates and alumni who have potential to be top-quality producers.
"I got the idea from my work at Alexander & Alexander in the early 1990s, when we met with some success in recruiting young talent off campuses," says Antrim. "In recent years I've observed a critical need for upgrading insurance producer performance by replacing retiring personnel or those people changing careers. One way to do that, I'm certain, is to attract fresh young people. There's a huge need for talent."
Eldon Oldre agrees that college recruiting is productive, despite the perception that many undergraduates have negative views of the insurance industry. Oldre heads CFG Insurance in Minnetonka, Minnesota, which was Rough Notes' Marketing Agency of the Month in September 2000. For the past six years CFG has pursued job candidates at college campuses and career fairs.
"We don't care if they've been insurance majors or not," Oldre said. "Often, it's best to recruit from the entire college universe, get qualified, well-rounded people with sales potential, then train them to the way we do business. A first-rate company can attract people because of the culture of the organization, not necessarily because of the business it happens to be in. Last year we signed on a dozen or so new sales people. Most were from college campuses, others had just a year or two of experience elsewhere within our industry. We're very pleased that our retention rate of these young producers is excellent."
Among insurance executives who echo the thinking of Antrim and Oldre is Bob Phelan. He is chairman and CEO of the Litchfield Insurance Group in Torrington, Connecticut (Rough Notes' Marketing Agency of the Month in May 2001). Phelan concurs that an excellent way to attract new blood, new ideas, and thus new producers, is through college recruiting. He believes that "... the generation now coming out of college seems more interested in smaller firms because they can have a greater impact sooner, and be closer to the action quickly. Because Litchfield is a small to medium-sized brokerage and has no human resources director, we contracted with Woodgate Partners in mid-2000 to have Bud Antrim handle that important function for us," Phelan explains.
Results have been extremely satisfactory to Litchfield. Woodgate's recruiting efforts at New England colleges in Litchfield's area produced a dozen strong candidates. Three were immediately offered positions and are now working closely with Litchfield producers.
The recruiting process begins by researching which colleges to target. Typically, agencies contact schools within their geographic region. Woodgate assists agencies in producing promotional literature and Internet information citing the agency's Career Day booth number as well as basic business information that directs interested students toward an insurance career. Students are invited to respond with resumes, to visit the "XYZ Agency" booth (always the name of the insurance agency, not Woodgate), or to do both.
Screening candidates is an important next step. Woodgate handles the initial screening of candidates, before presenting a qualified list of names to the agency. Then, the agency selects or rejects names of the graduating students for an in-house interview. When someone is chosen, and agrees to work for "XYZ," Woodgate's responsibilities are still not over.
"After we find the best people for our clients," says Antrim, "a big part of our job is just beginning. We must assimilate them comfortably into the organization by training their mentors--associates within the agency--to bring these people along quickly. Then--and this is critical--retention is the goal. The mark of my success with each client will be five, eight, maybe 10 years or more of solid productivity from the people we recommend."
"... the generation now coming out of college seems more interested in smaller firms because they can have a greater impact sooner, and be closer to the action quickly ..."
--Bob Phelan, Litchfield Insurance Group, Torrington, Connecticut
Agencies using Woodgate's Top Talent program include: Litchfield Insurance Group, Torrington, Connecticut; Rue Insurance, Trenton, New Jersey; Johnson, Kendall & Johnson (JK&J), Langhorne, Pennsylvania; JWF Companies, Indianapolis, Indiana; Gilroy, Kernan & Gilroy, New Hartford, New York; Berry Insurance, Franklin, Massachusetts; First City Insurance Group, Pontiac, Michigan; and, in California, Thoits Insurance, Mountain View; The Tanner Companies, Pleasanton; and Diversified Risk Insurance Brokers, Emeryville. Information about these agencies is available on Woodgate's Web site (www.woodgatepartners.com).
Woodgate Partners' fee structure is basically a retainer program involving monthly installments. Phelan refers to the price/value relationship this way: "Bud Antrim provides a very unique service to our industry for a very reasonable amount of money. He's constantly increasing the level of services to us. I can't imagine how much time it would have taken us, on our own, to deliver the quality candidates that Woodgate does."
In addition to establishing relationships with colleges, screening applicants, presenting top talent to its clients, then training continuously, Woodgate has designed a custom recruiting Web site for each client. An example is: http://jkj.winningcareers.com.
Rue Insurance, a regional brokerage firm, contacted Woodgate after receiving a direct mail promotion. Dave Saldon, vice-president/sales manager at Rue, had been considering a college recruitment program but wasn't certain how to proceed.
"Bud's mailing really caught my eye," Saldon recalls. "Here was a man who is very passionate about his abilities. In fact he 'guaranteed' he'd deliver talent. He came through right away. Bud also guarantees retaining the candidate, too, a claim based on his very formal and structured training program."
Following personal screening and the receipt of resumes, many via the Internet, 10 candidates were presented for Rue's consideration. Rue looked closely at eight of them before selecting Andrew Kush, a risk management major graduating from Philadelphia's Temple University.
Kush typifies the all-around collegian on which Woodgate seems to focus: people who combine extracurricular activities with solid classroom achievements. One recent Johnson, Kendall & Johnson hire, with a 3.5 grade point average and a master's degree in international marketing, captained the St. Joseph's University rowing team and served as a graduate assistant; another JK&J recruit (3.4 GPA) was a LaSalle University cheerleader and recipient of an academic achievement scholarship.
Many candidates major in risk management or marketing, as did an Indiana State graduate who joined JWFlynn Companies after posting a 4.0 GPA, playing college baseball, serving as his fraternity's treasurer, and winning a NAPSLO/Rolland L. Wiegers national scholarship.
One of the Litchfield hires, a psychology major (3.5 GPA) at Fairfield University, was nominated as an academic All-American, captained Fairfield's women's soccer team, held internships in financial planning and textbook sales, and was a field research specialist for the Harvard School of Public Health.
At Temple University, where he majored in risk management and minored in finance, Kush was a four-year starter at shortstop on the Owls' baseball team (he continues playing his favorite sport in a regional semi-pro league). Kush cites as "... an invaluable experience," the Woodgate training manual and the opportunity to accompany Rue Insurance producers on sales calls a day or two each week. Currently, he's completing his own marketing plan for certain Rue projects over the next two years. His emphasis is on insurance for site improvement contractors.
Saldon notes that Rue Insurance also recently established an internship program with Temple's risk management department. "Five excellent prospects worked with us over the summer. They're back in school now, and are great prospects for the future. Woodgate Partners helped in working out those details, too," he says.
Based on success stories like these, it might benefit more agency and brokerage executives to return to campus. Chances are they'll find energetic, career-minded young people welcoming them. And vice versa. *
The author
Bob Bloss is a freelance writer based in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
For more information:
Web site: www.woodgatepartners.com