It has become increasingly clear that the insurance industry faces a significant and widening skills gap. This gap not only impacts operational effectiveness and efficiency, but also the industry’s ability to innovate. It is fundamentally important to address the gap to maintain competitiveness, foster a culture of continuous learning, and ensure the industry’s future success.
Understanding the reasons behind the skills gap will assist in finding solutions to address this mismatch between the skills of employees and the skills needed to meet the demands of modern insurance roles.
A huge contribution to the skills gap is the ageing workforce. With the current workforce of insurance professionals nearing retirement age, the industry is at risk of losing valuable expertise, years of experience and a wealth of industry knowledge. Replacing this workforce with younger less experienced workers is a challenge that needs to be addressed.
The insurance industry is undergoing a rapid shift in digitalisation, marked by the increase in the utilisation of chatbots, data analytics and artificial intelligence. This shift creates a demand for new skillsets that traditional insurance education and training have not fully addressed.
To close the gap, companies in the insurance sector need to consider many solutions. Collaborating with institutions such as The Insurance Institute of Gauteng’s flagship Roots and Wings programme, which pairs up-and-coming insurance professionals with experienced industry professionals, is beneficial for passing on their knowledge and experience.
Additionally, learnerships provide a practical hands-on experience where learners gain insurance experience and classroom learning to align their skills with the industry’s needs.
Collaborating with educational institutions is crucial, partnering with insurance companies to develop curriculums that address the current and future needs of the industry will ensure that there is alignment with industry standards and regulatory compliance.
Implementing upskilling and succession plans is essential for helping the current workforce develop new skills and collaborate with experienced professionals. The focus should be on knowledge transfer to ensure continuity and the maintenance of critical knowledge of key roles. The risks of not having an effective succession plan in place could lead to disruption and even instability. Having the right skills and resources to take over key roles in the event of retirement or resignation is critical to prevent any service disruptions.
So, the question then remains: Is enough being done to close the skills gap? The answer, simply put, is no. While industry bodies are making efforts and are working hard to close the gap, the reality is that more collaboration with insurance companies and industry bodies is needed to ensure that we have the right skills for future generations.
Article written by Deidre’ Henneberry | IIG – Education
