Guy Carpenter’s Carter: Pandemic had “profound effect” on industry talent
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on young professionals in the market, according to Guy Carpenter’s chairman of capital solutions Vicky Carter, who says the industry must do more to meet the demands of the market’s “rising professionals” to ensure it is able to attract and retain the best talent.
Speaking to The Insurer TV on the purpose and drive behind the upcoming biennial Marsh McLennan Rising Professionals’ Global Forum, which is taking place on 29-30 June, Carter said the pandemic has had a “profound effect” on young professionals in the sector.
“There’s a huge number of young people who have joined companies during the pandemic and they haven’t even been able to come in and met with their colleagues and their senior management teams,” she said.
Building and developing relationships is a fundamental part of how business is done in the (re)insurance market, and the inability to meet face to face for almost two years has impacted the industry and the newcomers to it, she said.
“Learning on the job is a key part,” Carter said, and is something which young professionals in the industry have not experienced in the same way as before the pandemic.
While reflecting on some of the positives to come out of the pandemic for new talent in the industry, Carter spoke of the greater exposure to senior staff these young professionals have been able to enjoy through virtual platforms.
“During the pandemic when we all went to virtual trading, we were able to ask our young professionals to join all our calls. And I think if you compare that to when we were back in the office, maybe they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go into all of those meetings,” said Carter.
In addition, progress towards more flexible working in recent months has enabled a better work-life balance, while at the same time talent can benefit from knowledge shared both face to face and virtually.
“While being out of the office is never a good thing in our industry, I think there have been fortunately some positives which we’ve been able to utilise to the maximum,” she noted.
Attracting diverse talent
Speaking of how the industry has changed in recent years, Carter told The Insurer TV the market has to consider hiring talent with new skill sets around technology.
“We’ve got to look at attracting a very diverse range of talent,” Carter said. “If you look at the way our whole industry is changing, we’re going into a much more digital business environment – a lot more technology is coming into the industry to optimise transactions.”
And the industry could use the new skills that younger generations have to its advantage to help accelerate innovation.
But a lot of progress must be made towards understanding how to attract such talent, she added.
“We’re really bad at promoting our industry as a whole,” Carter said. “We’ve got to get much better at looking at what the younger generation want – their needs are very, very different to our generation.”
During the interview, Carter reveals more details on the upcoming Marsh McLennan Rising Professionals’ Forum, which is taking place on 29-30 June this year.
The jam-packed two-day agenda promises a raft of impressive speakers from both within and outside the industry to discuss today’s most pertinent risks. And of course, the event will be closed by some incredible (undisclosed) headline acts at the Gala Ball!
Watch the 10-minute interview with Vicky Carter for more information about the event and how you can get involved: