How Carriers Can Survive the Insurance Talent Drain

The insurance industry is undergoing a major shift. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, half of the current insurance industry workforce will retire within the next fifteen years, leaving more than 400,000 open positions.

This trend is even more prevalent in claims-specific roles, with 25 percent of all claim adjusters predicted to retire within the next five years. Unfilled positions cause stress to employees who have to take on additional work, and just one vacant position can cost a company almost $5,000 per month.

While carriers scramble to hire replacements, in the best-case scenario, inexperienced personnel will backfill the vacancies. This talent drain creates a pressing industry problem. And it accelerates the need for AI and automation, as well as easy-to-use employee software, to remain viable as insurance talent evolves.

Leverage Automation to Remove Repetitive, Manual Tasks from Adjusters’ Plates 

Several industry publications reported that only four percent of Millennials—who make up 75 percent of the workforce—are interested in working in the insurance sector. This lack of interest is likely in part because insurance is often cited as one of the most stressful industries to work in.

The adjuster’s job is extremely challenging; they assist people during life’s most difficult moments while juggling mountains of manual work across disparate systems, on top of heavy caseloads.

Hi Marley is working to change that by using automation and AI to make the adjusters’ role easier and more manageable. We’re innovating the insurance industry and removing menial work from the claims process to improve decision-making and simplify workflows, giving adjusters more time to focus on the core part of their job: adjudicating the claim.

One way we’re doing this is by drastically reducing voicemails and phone tag. Artificial intelligence changes what’s possible in terms of intaking and responding to simple inquiries about the claim. Incoming phone calls and voicemails can be easily summarized, categorized, prioritized, and even responded to, all with little to no adjuster involvement. Our conversational platform also automates claim status updates, calls to action, and confirmations, keeping the policyholder informed and on-task, reducing inbound inquiries. With fewer distractions, adjusters can focus on high-value claim handling activities and elevating customer service.

“Our adjusters experienced immediate benefits and positive results when they introduced Hi Marley into their workflows,” said Kent Peterson, Assistant Vice President of Claims at Innovated Holdings, Inc. “It’s one of those tools that makes you wonder how you ever handled claims without it.”

With Hi Marley, carriers can reduce interruptions and deliver a seamless claims experience for both employees and policyholders.

Fill the Knowledge Gap, Upskill Talent and Minimize the Learning Curve

Another significant impact of the insurance talent drain is the loss of retired employees’ institutional knowledge. Organizations must have tools and strategies to help new employees get up to speed quickly.

Hi Marley helps orchestrate workflows and provides the adjuster with information that cuts through the noise and takes the complexity out of the claims process.

With the benefit of millions of insurance conversations under its belt, Hi Marley has the opportunity to use AI to leverage historical conversations and carrier knowledge management content to surface next best actions and optimal responses that guide the adjuster throughout the claims conversation.

Creating seamless access to relevant templated communications is another great way to enable new adjusters with institutional knowledge at their fingertips. Hi Marley makes it easy for adjusters to find and use relevant templates for any occasion, and we’re looking to use artificial intelligence to suggest the use of appropriate templates at the right time. Adjusters spend less time figuring out next steps and drafting repetitive communications, while ensuring that customers receive essential information and updates during key moments in the claims process. It’s a great way to ensure tone and brand consistency as new talent enters your organization.

One of the hardest things to learn as an adjuster is how to prioritize work. Hi Marley helps new adjusters understand where to focus. Our intelligent conversation platform surfaces conversations that require immediate attention, so adjusters can easily identify messages that are most critical to respond to and move forward.

Our analytics platform also makes it easy for supervisors to spot new adjusters that may be struggling, allowing them to step in early to reinforce processes that can get an adjuster back on track.

With Hi Marley, carriers can bridge knowledge gaps and ensure continuity across new hires and seasoned employees.

Offer Easy-to-Use Technology to Make the Adjuster’s Role Simple and Lovable

To attract talent in insurance, carriers must also provide the tools and technology that the majority of today’s workforce uses daily and prefers. Technology should be easy to use and as centralized as possible.

According to a recent industry survey, 74 percent of Millennials and 69 percent of Gen Z say text messaging/SMS is their most used communication method. While almost all generations prefer text messaging to communicate, if we’re thinking about new talent coming into the industry, it’s Gen Z and Millennials who grew up using texting as their primary communication channel. It’s time for carriers to lean into this primary communication channel to not only attract and retain the next wave of industry talent but also meet customer expectations.

Furthermore, Adobe reported that 70 percent of Gen Z and 66 percent of Millennials would switch jobs for access to better tools that make them more efficient.

Hi Marley centralizes communication in adjusters’ systems of comfort through our deep integrations with various claim management systems. As an industry, we have the opportunity to centralize all communication in one place, so adjusters aren’t forced to look at multiple different screens. Instead, email, voice, and texting can all be handled in the same system of comfort. Creating a unified conversational channel experience in a simple, easy-to-use communication platform simplifies operations, saves significant time and allows carriers to resolve claims faster.

“When I started using Hi Marley as our centralized method of communication, I was astonished at how quickly it relieved stress for our adjusters and sped up the claims process for the insured,” said Stacy Varitimos Jr., AIC, AINS, Supervisor, Physical Damage at The Norfolk & Dedham Group. “With Hi Marley, adjusters can be responsive to several customers at once, which is valuable with their busy workload. It helps us stay organized and multitask, which is crucial for working in the claims industry.”

Advanced conversational tools layering the platform, like translation, simplified file sharing, automated documentation, and insurance-specific security and compliance features, also make adjusters’ role more simple, lovable and more effective, while also ensuring organizations can maintain excellent customer service, even during staffing shortages.

Looking Ahead: Explore Ways AI Can Enhance Performance

Insurance is a stable and resilient industry. But today’s workforce does not want archaic systems; they want simplicity, speed and tools that make their jobs easier and more impactful. If carriers rethink their technology and embrace innovation, they will attract the next workforce generation and survive the talent drain.

“Insurance isn’t the field most people equate with technological advancements, but employees can actually do as much as, if not more, cutting-edge work there than in any other industry,” noted PWC in its Next in Insurance report.

With partners like Hi Marley, adjusters can interact with cutting-edge technology and become orchestrators of the process.

We’ve built Hi Marley to make insurance lovable for policyholders and adjusters, and will continue to evolve with that at our core. We believe AI can enhance human efforts and provide new hires and experienced employees with resources to bolster their efficiency, enabling carriers to overcome the talent drain with a more productive and engaged workforce.