More Leadership Questions Answered

August 2003

How can you motivate underwriters? How do you motivate claims staff to be more productive? How can you improve your own management skills to get the most out of your staff and improve the work environment for everyone? These are a few of the questions facing business managers about management issues. See how the leadership expert responds.

by Wendy Capland
Vision Quest Consulting

In the last article in this column, I provided answers to frequently asked questions from business managers. Following are some more questions posed and answered.

As a Commercial Lines Underwriting Manager, I'd like some advice on how to motivate our underwriters so that their attitude and performance improve?

If you focus your efforts on the following areas, you should see an improvement in their thinking and ability to deliver results.

Goal Clarity. Spend time with each individual, as well as the group, reviewing both their individual and departmental underwriting goals. Explain how their day-to-day performance directly impacts not only the department's goals, but also the company's success.

Although you may think that your staff is already aware of the far-reaching implications of their performance, reiterating this concept at quarterly meetings where goals and results are also discussed has been proven to increase productivity and motivation.

Role Clarity. A large number of insurance companies are continuously reorganizing and restructuring their businesses and staff, even at the most senior levels. One ramification of this constant upheaval and repositioning is the confusion people are left with regarding their roles and responsibilities.

When someone is uncertain about their job responsibilities, their confusion permeates the organization, leaving their peers, direct reports, and others perplexed as to when and how to include them in the information loop.

This scenario is taking place at one of my client companies where a decision to consolidate their commercial lines (C/L) business has led to a reorganization of their management structure. Rather than have a single vice president of C/L oversee the function nationwide, the company has implemented a regional model with a C/L manager and numerous underwriters supporting the business in each region.

One of the challenges during this transition is to determine who's responsible for all of the corporate C/L functions. And because there are several regional C/L managers now, rather than one as before, many of their responsibilities overlap. The new structure has left the regional managers spending too much time clarifying who's in charge of which pieces where there is overlap and what to do about it. This has been going on for over 6 months and there are still issues that have not been ironed out. Imagine how confusing this is for their staffs and at times, even for their agents!

Senior management needs to step in and clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of every position in the organization, just as they would in any situation—but it's especially crucial now when they are experiencing so much organizational change. One way to begin delineating the responsibilities is for the senior manager to keep asking him or herself, "What part of my role is unclear or may be confusing to my people?" When people are confident of their roles and responsibilities, they are more likely to feel positive about their contribution to the organization and to give their best effort.

Competence. Do your people have the necessary skills to do their current jobs and do they have the growth potential to meet the organization's future needs? Can you rely on them to consistently deliver high quality work? Do you have ongoing discussions about the development of their technical and interpersonal skills?

These questions summarize the areas you need to consider when evaluating your staff's competencies and growth potential. For years, the insurance industry has had a reputation for attracting loyal, "lifetime" employees. But as the industry evolves, you may find that some members of your staff no longer have the skills to do the job or their mindset is "outdated" and doesn't match your current business model. If this is the case, you could consider moving them to another position that is a better fit, retraining them or letting them go. Remember—it's your people that make your business successful—products don't sell themselves. So having the right people, with the right skills, in the right jobs is critical!

Commitment. Leadership requires commitment … commitment to core values and principles, personally and professionally. By asking yourself, as well as your staff, "What is it that I am committed to doing in this job?" you will gain insight about how to manage, motivate, and develop yourself and your people. Long term, we can't motivate others to perform better, but we can help them discover what's most important to them. Usually this will reignite their enthusiasm and accelerate their performance.

How can I coach my claims staff about changing their nonproductive behavior?

Effecting change in others relies on understanding your own management and communications style as well as those of your staff. Here are six suggestions that will provide you with the insight needed to successfully bring about behavioral change.

Be a better listener. It's been said that listening is the key to the soul. Hearing what someone says is not the same thing as really listening, which requires you to use your ears and your heart. Slow down for a few moments so you can really hear what is going on with your staff.

Identify your staff's needs and wants professionally. People are more willing to make changes to behaviors that impact productivity if you give them an opportunity to express their needs and wants at work. Even if you are not able or willing to fulfill their requests, just having a chance to voice their thoughts will increase their performance.

Be nonthreatening. My father use to say, "You can catch more bees with honey than vinegar." If others perceive you as threatening, aggressive, or temperamental, even if you don't perceive yourself that way, people will go out of their way to avoid interacting with you. Conduct a 360 leadership assessment of yourself to look at gaps regarding how you perceive your leadership skills and how others in the organization perceive them. A 360 leadership assessment is a rating tool that assesses your level of leadership skill and competency. Not only do you have a chance to rate yourself, but your peers, direct reports, and supervisor also rate you—hence the '360' name. The best assessment tools are strictly confidential so respondents complete the evaluation anonymously. This increases the likelihood of receiving an honest assessment. Vision Quest Consulting has an excellent 360 tool that I have used for years with clients.

A 360 or other leadership assessment is a fabulous way to open up a dialog with others about your strengths and areas for improvement. You'll be amazed at what you'll learn about yourself.

Work with a coach to leverage strengths and improve weaknesses. After the assessment you can work with a coach to leverage your strengths in ways you hadn't considered before and to improve the weak spots that could be damaging your career. Some weak spots may be more of a problem than others so it's important to pick out those that are most business-critical.

Working with a coach during this process is important since most of us would have already "fixed" our weaknesses if we knew how. A coach who has years of experience developing leadership talent is the right choice for this type of work and offers the quickest path to improvement. They will develop a course of action that's customized to meet your individual needs. While attending a workshop can also improve a skill or competency and complement your work with a coach, steer clear of relying on them exclusively since they are often too generic to address individual issues.

Look for coaching moments when a staff member appears more open to suggestions and new ideas. Like communicating with a teenager, you need to recognize their signals or you may miss an opportunity!

What are some common signals? If someone pokes their head in your office just to check in, this usually means they have a few extra moments and are emotionally available. Or if an employee asks you for feedback on something or suggests grabbing lunch it means they are open to hearing what you have to say.

What can you do to help create those moments with your staff? Creating the right circumstances and conditions so that you can develop, mentor, and coach your staff is very important. Having one-on-ones with each of your direct reports will go a long way toward creating opportunities to discuss important issues such as accomplishments, shortfalls, concerns, and future plans.

Also remember the golden rule in coaching, "Coach unto others only if they have an interest in being coached." Coaching is only effective when:

• the coachee has a need or desire for something other than their current state;
• there is a gap between what currently is and a future state that's desired; and
• the person being coached is committed to having you as their coach.

Leverage the employee's individual experiences. If you can help an employee identify the times when they were highly productive and felt successful, they will be able to remember what worked for them in the past and apply it to the present situation. All of us have found ourselves in a funk at work one time or another and we hate seeing what it does to our productivity. But if you're able to help an employee by leveraging a past experience, it can have a tremendous impact on turning the current situation around.

A chance for you to have your questions answered.... If you have a question about leadership issues in the insurance industry, send it to me at wcapland@visionquestconsulting and I'll try to answer it in my upcoming IRMI.com "Leadership Issues" column.

Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the author’s employer or IRMI. This article does not purport to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion. If such advice is needed, consult with your attorney, accountant, or other qualified adviser.