P R A D

These differences are significant, as 50% of all firms obviously fall into the top and bottom 25%. The top 25% of these firms will hire 10 producers to end up with 8 successful hires. To end up with 8 successful hires, the bottom 25% will have to hire more than four times as many producers. The difference in the bottom line impact for the top 25% and bottom 25% of firms is enormous in terms of the expense of recruiting and developing, time and energy, impact on agency morale and growth goal achievement. Firms that have the ability to more successfully recruit, hire, train and develop producers have perhaps the ultimate competitive advantage. What separates the top performers in producer recruiting and developing from the rest of the industry? In this study , we will present our findings and will share the Critical Success Factors we uncovered. 1) Defining hiring needs (chapter 3) . A common experience for agents and brokers is to be in the dark about how many producer hires their business requires. Many firms are naïve to the numbers necessary and are simply guessing, with no hiring plan at all. We believe that agents and brokers can calculate how many hires are needed and establish a hiring plan. 2) Determining who to hire (chapter 4) . Agents and brokers, by and large, are opportunistic recruiters, pursuing individuals that are available rather than being intentional about the producer profile that best fits their firm. We examined detailed data from thousands of producer hires and hundreds of firms to identify the backgrounds and characteristics of the most successful producer hires. 3) Building the candidate pool (chapter 5). Many firms do not have a strategy to increase the pool of producer candidates, limiting their options and their capacity for producer hiring. We share strategies used by leading firms to generate a strong stream of potential producer hires. 4) Elevating the ability to select winners (chapter 6). Our research, and our experience in the industry, suggests that many firms do not have an established process to evaluate producer candidates. Without a process to guide them, these firms likely get mixed results, executing poorly in evaluating talent and selling the opportunity. We discuss ways to cull the winners from the herd and market your firm effectively. 5) Maximizing success for those hired (chapter 7). Agents and brokers have a variety of options to assist newly hired producers. However, many firms do not have an intentional approach to training and development, often letting producers sink or swim on their own. We believe that the optimal approach for firms is to be thoughtful about training and development programs based on the producers hired and the characteristic of the firm itself. 6) Owning and leading the strategy (chapter 8) . It is not enough to establish a strategy and a plan – so often the defining factor is simply execution. We discuss the importance of owning producer recruiting and development and how leading firms are raising the importance of recruiting and building execution capabilities into their organizations. Critical Success Factors

5 Producer Recruiting & Development Study