Independent agents/brokers posted a 56 percent success rate in producer hiring in the past five years, although the hiring performance of the top and bottom firms varied widely, found a new study from Reagan Consulting.
Another key result of the Reagan Consulting Producer Recruiting & Development (PR&D) research was that only 35 percent of producers were hired from outside the insurance industry (including from college), Reagan Consulting reported.
"'Troubling' is the best word to describe the industry's producer hiring data over the past five years," commented Kevin Stipe, president of Reagan Consulting, which provides strategic consulting, valuation, and merger-and-acquisition services to the independent insurance distribution system.
Gathering baseline data from 562 firms and covering 4,641 producers, Reagan's newest research measured success and identified keys to effective producer recruiting and development among independent agents and brokers. In addition to the baseline survey, 112 firms that hired 1,505 producers over the past five years completed a follow-up supplemental survey.
Perhaps the biggest problem identified in the study is that 55-60 percent of firms within our industry are "under-hiring" — they are not hiring enough new producers to achieve their growth objectives or allow them to successfully perpetuate their business.
Making matters worse, experienced producers — "free agents" moving from one agency to another — were by far the largest category of producer hires, representing 55 percent of the hires over the past five years.
