Three Tips to Create a Superstar Staff in Your Insurance Agency
The biggest asset in an insurance agency is the staff. They are the front line, the first people customers see and hear when they contact the agency to do business. When there is more than one employee it is inevitable that clashing personalities and differences in opinions will occur. Agency owners need to have a plan to deal with this before the first employee is hired.
1. Create an atmosphere of respect.
• Respect is earned not given. If you build respect among your staff and expect all your staff to earn their own respect, you will have headed off all kinds of workplace issues on that one point alone.
• Do not tolerate disrespect on any level. If you discover office disputes or tensions, do not ignore it or hope it will resolve itself. You will end up with unhappy employees, lowered productivity, and worse, loss of clients.
2. Teamwork has no “I”.
• Cliché? Sure. True? Yes. No man is an island and you should support that same attitude in each of your staff.
• If one of your staff is overwhelmed with a task or extra work in the inbox, show initiative and provide 30 minutes of your own time to help them catch up. Then encourage others to pitch in as needed.
• When you create an atmosphere of helpfulness, you won’t have any one employee getting overly stressed or burned out.
3. Build loyalty with recognition.
• When you have an employee that does good work, and they all do at some point or another, point it out.
• Recognition does not mean you blow a noisemaker and throw confetti every time an employee answers the phone, but you can find ways throughout the day to build up each of your staff by voicing appreciation.
• Make sure that when an employee does something outstanding to reward it on the same level. Simply being appreciated will create a great work environment that keeps good employees happy and loyal.
Dealing with multiple personalities and people from different walks of life doesn’t have to be difficult. Following these simple and basic steps will cultivate a pleasant work environment that will keep employees happy and loyal.
