Young Agents Take on the Hard Market: Building Staff Morale

During this episode of Agency Nation Radio, the Big “I” Young Agents and Trusted Choice share their insights on building staff morale as part of a special hard market bonus series. Guests Brock Elliott, National Young Agents Committee (YAC) Chair and Producer at Elliott Insurance Group, and Lisa Lemanski, Operations Manager at Meiers Lombardini Lemanski Insurance, talk about how they keep a positive culture during this hard market with Avery Moore, owner of ECI Insurance and member of the National YAC. Moore starts off the discussion by asking how the hard market has impacted staff morale within their agencies. Lemanski shares some of the strategies she’s implemented – like role playing conversations when a rate increase is discussed to gamifying trainings for staff to win prizes. Elliott reintroduced “smoke breaks” in his office. None of his staff are tobacco users, but the concept of stepping away from your desk for 15 minutes to take a break has been widely popular across multiple branch locations. Moore, when talking about leading through the hard market, said, “When you’re knee deep in alligators, it’s hard to remember you came to drain the swamp.” Elliott, Lemanski and Moore agree that the most important part of leading a team is making sure everyone feels valued and is recognized for their contribution. This might mean late starts, hybrid working, or gift cards to celebrate workaversaries. This session provides multiple strategies on how to increase morale within your agency and how it will impact your culture. Culture is not something that will change overnight. Elliott said, “We’re turning a cruise ship, not a canoe, and that takes time.” The Young Agents recommend the Trusted Choice Hard Market Toolkit as a valuable resource that can help with some of the nuances during a hard market. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From Main Street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we've got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit iamagazine.com/podcasts. GUEST: Avery Moore https://www.linkedin.com/in/averymooreeci/ https://eciagency.com/; www.bigiok.com/Connect/Pages/YA/default.aspx Brock Elliott https://www.linkedin.com/in/brock-elliott-7168568a/ https://elliottinsurancegroup.com/; https://www.kaia.com/yak/ Lisa Lemanski https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-lemanski-cisr-728a0458/