From Linear to Squiggly: How Mentorship Is Supporting Non-Traditional Career Paths in the Insurance Industry

By: Barbara Reilly | July 22, 2023

Barbara Reilly is a senior vice president with Amwins. Reilly is a member of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) IDEA Council and recently assumed leadership of the IICF Mentorship subcommittee. She can be reached at [email protected].

Topics: Future of Insurance | Insurance Industry | Risk Insider

While nobody knows exactly what it will take to recruit, retain and develop the next generation of insurance professionals, this much is certain: The traditional paths that once brought people into our industry are evolving and are no longer the only option.

A recent study shows that only 51% of Gen Z teens are interested in pursuing a four-year college degree, down a full 20 percentage points from just three years ago. Today, teens and young adults are wary of taking on student loan debt.

This dilemma challenges employers to help young professionals gain the experience needed to secure steady pay. We have already seen progressive companies introduce apprenticeship programs to fill this need for high school and community college graduates.

In addition, adopting mentorship programs can help emerging leaders find their best path to future success. Implementing a sustainable mentorship program is even easier today than in the past thanks to the emergence of remote and hybrid work.

The Rise of “Squiggly” Career Paths

Many long-standing industry professionals fall into the mistaken belief that the only career path is linear.

The truth is that divergent career paths aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been a part of the workforce for decades. This is exemplified in many of the trades and military branches.

I learned the value of divergent career paths when a colleague shared a TED Talk earlier this year.

The nine-minute talk, hosted by bestselling authors and entrepreneurs Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis, discusses what the hosts call “squiggly careers.” It’s an acknowledgement of the fact that most professionals’ career journeys take a myriad of twists and turns.

After rewatching the presentation, I realized I, too, had experienced a squiggly journey earlier in my career. While I was fortunate to discover human resources at a Fortune 500 company within the first two years of graduating from college, I experienced my “squiggle” when I relocated from the Midwest to California. I was eventually introduced to the insurance industry, where I was able to happily bring my passion for human resources.

The inherent value of a squiggly career path is not always obvious. When young professionals take a straight line and stay in one industry, they may gain a great deal of depth, but they also run the risk of becoming siloed.

In taking a squiggly path, young professionals will benefit by gaining breadth, giving them the ability to develop the interpersonal and problem-solving skills they’ll need when they find the right fit.

And, once they find the right vertical, that’s when they can add depth to that breadth.

Where Mentorship Fits In

One of my favorite moments from Tupper and Ellis’ TED Talk is the belief that we are all teachers and learners, regardless of where we are in our careers.

Over the last year, I have worked on a talent subcommittee for the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s (IICF) IDEA Council, helping to create the organization’s first diverse Mentoring Alliance program.

In the program’s pilot, we carefully selected 10 protégés — emerging leaders from underrepresented communities — and paired them with diverse role models and allies across the industry.

The program specifically looked for protégés who were five to ten years into their career, the point where young professionals are often moving or preparing to move into their first leadership role.

The six-month pilot began in the fall of 2022 with an orientation, where we provided the mentors and protégés with a roadmap of exactly what to expect and introduced the Mentoring Alliance’s Code of Ethics.

We also armed mentors with reference tools and assigned a coach to each mentor-protégé pair in case they hit any bumps along their journey. Tupper and Ellis’ TED Talk was the subject of a spring educational session we offered to mentors and protégés in the program.

Feedback we received on the pilot program was positive, and some protégés expressed that they were sad to see it end.

As a result of this feedback, and to keep the momentum going, we are exploring the idea of creating an alumni group that would meet quarterly. We would also love to see protégés from the pilot program return as mentors.

As the IICF Mentorship Alliance prepares to start its second session this fall, we are always looking for new companies that want to join. I’d also encourage everyone in our industry to attend the IICF’s Inclusion in Insurance Global Conference in New York City from June 13 to 15, where we’ll continue important discussions around diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and, of course, mentorship.

Best Practices for Mentorship Programs

For companies looking to establish their own mentorship programs, here are a few best practices we have learned through creating the IICF Mentoring Alliance.

Make the time: The purpose of a mentorship program is to encourage emerging leaders and help them get past the hurdles they may experience on their journey. To achieve this, both mentors and protégés must commit to giving 100%. When mentors and protégés are intentional, compassionate and sincere, they create meaningful experiences that benefit both parties.
Embrace remote and hybrid mentorship: While some believe remote and hybrid work models can create barriers, we have found the opposite to be true when establishing the IICF Mentorship Alliance. Having the ability to connect remotely actually creates more opportunities. Because we conducted our pilot remotely, we didn’t have to worry about geography when we paired mentors with protégés. This allowed us to concentrate on making pairings which were truly best for both parties. We encouraged mentors and protégés to keep their cameras turned on during their remote mentoring sessions, and they were able to develop deep connections. In fact, one of the protégés recently told me she wants to meet her mentor in person, solely to hug her.
Pass it on: I encourage everyone with leadership experience in our industry to become a mentor. Those in leadership have a wealth of wisdom and work experience to share, and young, emerging leaders are interested in discovering what they can learn from you. If you take the plunge and dedicate yourself to mentoring, I guarantee you’ll have an enriching experience.

As young professionals navigate their own unique paths into our industry, it is vital for employers to create environments and pathways which will help us recruit, retain and develop the next generation of insurance professionals.

When you commit to mentorship and implement a few proven best practices, you’ll create a program that will help you achieve those goals and set your company up for continued success. &

How a Carrier Partner Can Help Navigate a Challenging Management and Professional Liability Market

A combination of a choppy economy with increased claims frequency and severity could lead to rate increases in the Management & Professional Liability market.

Rates in the management & professional liability (M&PL) markets were on the rise from 2020 to early 2023 and are now falling rapidly.

M&PL divisions manage a number of different insurance products including management liability (D&O), professional liability (E&O), employment practices liability (EPL), fiduciary liability policies, cyber, etc. In 2023 and into 2024, a big influence on the marketplace has been the extremely aggressive and softening public company D&O market.

Though these rates have been softening for management liability, that may change over the next few years as companies continue to adjust their business models motivated by economic uncertainty. Layoffs were up nearly 200% last year, Forbes reported, even as other recession indicators, like the inflation rate, improved. A recession could lead to an increased claim activity and force carriers to raise rates.

“Whenever there is a meaningful downturn in the economy, we tend to see claim frequency pop up,” said George Schalick, Jr., senior vice president of the Management and Professional Liability Division at Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY).

With continued fiscal uncertainty, businesses potentially already burdened with pandemic-related claims should seek a carrier with a long history in M&PL products. They will provide much-needed risk management guidance and be better positioned to support their insureds during market fluctuations.

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.