Pay It Forward
By: Brett Nilsson
In August many of us spent time in front of our televisions watching the various events of the XXIX Olympiad held in Beijing, China. It is incredible to see the athletes compete in 35 different sports—and for many to be rewarded with a medal. It was more than seven years ago (July 13, 2001) when the Olympic Committee awarded the games to the city of Beijing. With a little time and a lot of work, it is amazing what can be accomplished.
I have been reflecting on some of the comparisons between stars in our industry and those of the Olympics. As I travel around the country, I get to meet some of the finest people in America. As members, you get up every day and work at making your communities a better place to live. You educate yourselves about your profession. You serve on local boards, in civic organizations, clubs, universities and volunteer your time to help others. You protect members of your communities by providing sound advice and education on insurance protection. These are all part of our commitment when we become Trusted Choice® agents and I believe we fulfill this obligation incredibly well.
Our challenge is not yet over! In literally every state I visit, I hear the same concerns from agents and our company partners: we just don’t have enough spirited young people coming into our profession. We have been discussing this problem for years, but the results continue to be the same. We need to do better. Some of our companies are sponsoring schools and hiring programs to familiarize college students with our field. We have agents who are offering internships in their offices to let young people to learn and experience what we do. Through InVEST and other programs, we have agents and brokers helping to sponsor insurance schools and classes and help train instructors. In many cases, agents teach classes to benefit our industry. My next question is not intended to offend anyone, but what are you doing to help attract young people to the insurance industry? It doesn’t do any good to complain if you are not willing to do something about the problem.
I challenge each of you to work within your agency to find ways to help address this issue. You may need to use some of your contacts at local community colleges and universities to influence them to add insurance classes or degrees to their curriculum. Work with your state association to find ways to attract and retain young people. Be willing to open up your offices to expose young people to our great industry. Provide good opportunities for them if they have the interest and the motivation.
It has taken me a while, and I am still trying to understand some of the needs of Generation X and Y. One thing I believe I understand is their need to be rewarded for their success. Historically, agency principals have not laid out structures for new employees to become owners over a period of time if they are willing to work hard. Because of this, many young people have left and moved on. If you have found a successful contract or formula for perpetuation and agency ownership, share your ideas with me. This is a problem that we all face, and if we tackle it together, we will be much more successful. Please don’t consider it someone else’s problem. We need everyone to serve on this team together.
During my year as chairman I hope I can give each of you a gold medal for your efforts. We need to stand together, to work hard, to be dedicated and to seek nothing more than the very best. All of these are traditions of the American spirit. We are all in the competition together and we need to help one another and cheer each other on. I will be waiting to hear about your successes and what has worked for your agency or company so that we can share ideas to promote a healthier and more vibrant occupation. We have all been fortunate and it would be a shame for us not to “pay it forward.” We must each start today and commit to recruiting a strong independent agency workforce for the betterment of us all!
—Brett Nilsson, Chairman
I have been reflecting on some of the comparisons between stars in our industry and those of the Olympics. As I travel around the country, I get to meet some of the finest people in America. As members, you get up every day and work at making your communities a better place to live. You educate yourselves about your profession. You serve on local boards, in civic organizations, clubs, universities and volunteer your time to help others. You protect members of your communities by providing sound advice and education on insurance protection. These are all part of our commitment when we become Trusted Choice® agents and I believe we fulfill this obligation incredibly well.
Our challenge is not yet over! In literally every state I visit, I hear the same concerns from agents and our company partners: we just don’t have enough spirited young people coming into our profession. We have been discussing this problem for years, but the results continue to be the same. We need to do better. Some of our companies are sponsoring schools and hiring programs to familiarize college students with our field. We have agents who are offering internships in their offices to let young people to learn and experience what we do. Through InVEST and other programs, we have agents and brokers helping to sponsor insurance schools and classes and help train instructors. In many cases, agents teach classes to benefit our industry. My next question is not intended to offend anyone, but what are you doing to help attract young people to the insurance industry? It doesn’t do any good to complain if you are not willing to do something about the problem.
I challenge each of you to work within your agency to find ways to help address this issue. You may need to use some of your contacts at local community colleges and universities to influence them to add insurance classes or degrees to their curriculum. Work with your state association to find ways to attract and retain young people. Be willing to open up your offices to expose young people to our great industry. Provide good opportunities for them if they have the interest and the motivation.
It has taken me a while, and I am still trying to understand some of the needs of Generation X and Y. One thing I believe I understand is their need to be rewarded for their success. Historically, agency principals have not laid out structures for new employees to become owners over a period of time if they are willing to work hard. Because of this, many young people have left and moved on. If you have found a successful contract or formula for perpetuation and agency ownership, share your ideas with me. This is a problem that we all face, and if we tackle it together, we will be much more successful. Please don’t consider it someone else’s problem. We need everyone to serve on this team together.
During my year as chairman I hope I can give each of you a gold medal for your efforts. We need to stand together, to work hard, to be dedicated and to seek nothing more than the very best. All of these are traditions of the American spirit. We are all in the competition together and we need to help one another and cheer each other on. I will be waiting to hear about your successes and what has worked for your agency or company so that we can share ideas to promote a healthier and more vibrant occupation. We have all been fortunate and it would be a shame for us not to “pay it forward.” We must each start today and commit to recruiting a strong independent agency workforce for the betterment of us all!
—Brett Nilsson, Chairman
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