Marsh's Alistair Fraser on attracting millennials to insurance

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘culture’ is defined as the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society, or the attitudes and behavioural characteristics of a particular social group.

Historically, it’s fair to say that the insurance industry’s culture, especially viewed by those in the ‘outside world’, hasn’t been entirely inclusive; ‘the old boys’ network’, ‘pale, male and stale’, and ‘culturally exclusive’ are just some of the descriptions levelled at the insurance sector over the years.

However, in the last decade, both collectively and in individual firms, great efforts have been made to redefine our culture by breaking down barriers and actively being more welcoming to people from all walks of life and backgrounds. At last, it is now universally recognised that a more inclusive and diverse culture is not only good for our businesses, but good for our clients and our society too.

Looking to the future, attracting more young people into the insurance industry is crucial in sustaining this momentum and creating lasting cultural change. Despite our best efforts, only 4% of millennials have a desire to work in the insurance sector.

So, what more can be done to position insurance as a fulfilling career choice to young people embarking on the world of work? To begin, as well as changing how we ‘look’ as an industry, we need to change how we ‘think’ about our talent pipelines and offer young people career options that are both stimulating and rewarding.

Having spent six years in Asia as head of sales and more latterly CEO of Marsh’s Indonesia operations before moving back to the UK last year, I was consistently impressed by the power of cross-generational communities in Indonesia and other emerging countries in the Far East. There is a lot to be learned from this. By empowering young colleagues through creating a more positive and inspiring culture; instilling the values of hard work, integrity and delivery; and being less afraid of the risk of failure, we can be more entrepreneurial, forward-looking, and successful.

The UK is brimming with talent both inside and outside of London and we need to do more to provide young people – who perhaps wouldn’t usually consider a career in insurance – with geographically relevant opportunities to build successful careers across the UK.  

Despite technological change, insurance will always fundamentally be a people business. Key to serving our clients effectively – and the industry’s continued success – is creating an inclusive and welcoming culture in our workplaces where young professionals have the opportunity to build stimulating careers and achieve their full potential.