Tony Cañas: Millennials in Insurance
Tony Cañas, Chief Motivational Officer of Insurance Nerds and Client Advisor of The Jacobson Group, kicked off the first day of the WRC 2021 All Manager Meeting. Tony presented on “Insuring Tomorrow: Engaging and Retaining Millennials in the Insurance Industry.”
Over the past few years, companies have seen millennials graduating from college and looking for jobs that are opening as Baby Boomers retire. Tony spoke about how Baby Boomers were a generation that took a job and stuck around for decades to show their loyalty to a company, but that is not what we are seeing with younger generations. Today, the Millennial generation typically stays at a company for only 11 months and then moves on, but they still consider themselves loyal to that company. Loyalty to Millennials is showing up every day and performing their job to the best of their ability, without feeling the commitment of staying with a company for years.
Tony noted this has happened because of the Boomers. They wanted to give their children the life they dreamed of for themselves, so they helped pay for their college education and let their children live at home for an extended time. Boomers have more key skills than Millennials. However, as each generation adapted to ever-changing technology differently, their communication styles and methods became more out of sync.
In addition to a communication clash, Millennials love feedback. This is one of the reasons video games are so appealing to them — the player receives constant feedback. Boomers were primarily given constructive feedback, which typically was not positive and usually meant something went wrong. Millennials aren’t ready for constructive feedback because they were not provided that criticism as they grew up. They were told how well they did, and everyone got a gold star. Tony attested to this as a Millennial himself.
Tony said Millennials would love to work in the insurance industry, but the industry needs to prove this to them. After covid-19 shutdowns brought the workforce home, Millennials decided they didn’t need to come back to the office. If a company told them they needed to return to the office, they found another job that would allow them to work remotely. Millennials want flexible schedules, remote work and the feeling of being an asset to a company.
So how do you make a Millennial feel like they are valued within a company? According to Tony, it starts on their first day. Companies need to make the Millennials feel like they are part of the family. To do that, companies can’t just take them out to lunch and have them meet their team. Companies need to do things such as giving them business cards and introducing them to the senior leaders of the company. They need to help Millennials understand the mission of the company and show them that insurance is a career they can grow in and is not just a job. Millennials will see what the insurance industry can do for them and they will likely stay in the industry longer.
Tony shared a lot of valuable information. If you would like to learn more, click here to view his presentation. It was not recorded at the All Manager Meeting, but the content is similar.
To learn more about Tony, visit insnerds.com.