P R A D

Investing the Necessary Time, Capital and Resources

While one person must own the producer recruiting and development strategy, we do not mean to imply that a single person could or should be doing all the work associated with the implementation of the strategy. That would be virtually impossible. Consider for a moment the wide variety of tasks that may exist in an agency’s producer recruiting and development strategy. From identifying the number of producers necessary, to building centers of influence for producer referrals, to scheduling and conducting interviews, to planning a training regimen for newly hired producers, the scope of the work involved is enormous. For this reason, another key to successful execution is ensuring that a firm makes the necessary investments to properly carry out its strategy. Investments will come in three primary categories: time, capital and resources. Time is often the most significant investment. Firms’ producer recruiting and development leaders will need to rely on others – especially production personnel – to complete many pieces of the process. All levels of agency personnel will be required to dedicate time to meeting and interviewing candidates, evaluating potential hires, and mentoring new hires. A producer recruiting and development strategy is a comprehensive strategy, necessitating time commitments from many individuals. The capital investment involved in producer hiring is a firm’s willingness to fund temporary losses on producers in anticipation of future returns. The return on investment for a validated producer has been proven to be strong, but leading firms need to be willing to have 1.5% to 2.5% of revenues tied up in unvalidated producer payroll (NUPP) alone at any given point. There are many competing uses of capital – including ownership distributions – and a firm that plans to successfully execute a producer recruiting and development strategy needs to ensure that the strategy has access to capital. Finally, a firm must invest in the necessary resources to select and develop producers. A host of outside resources, from testing capabilities to sales training to technical training, play a role in producer success.

Practicing Accountability

Few agencies actually possess a true culture of accountability. Yet a highly successful producer recruiting and development strategy is virtually impossible without it. Our conversations with leading firms have convinced us that, because of the far-flung nature, the number of moving pieces and the consequence of a producer hiring strategy, accountability is essential.

We recommend the following strategies to develop a high degree of organizational accountability around the agency’s producer recruiting and development strategy .

47 Producer Recruiting & Development Study