Chicagoland SIA Blog

Women have made great strides within the insurance industry. According to a recent Population Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau, women make up approximately 60 percent of the workforce within the insurance industry. Where the inequality seems to prevail is at the leadership level. Less than 20 percent of board seats and executive officer positions are held by women, according to whitepaper by the Million Women Mentors (MWM).

Recently, Notre Dame, an 800-year-old cathedral in Paris, was devastated by fire. It was not insured, so the billions of dollars in damage will not be paid for by insurance companies. The French government will be responsible for restoring and rebuilding the valuable artwork and property. Often, government entities and very high value individuals or corporations will choose to self-insure, meaning they take on the risk of paying for any damages to property themselves.

Are you conducting exit interviews with your employees who have turned in their resignations? You should be. It is a great way to learn more about your agency, its strengths and weaknesses.

As an agency owner, you likely have a set time for staff meetings. How do your staff meetings go? Are they productive or is it usually the “same old same old?” Get out of a rut and start holding staff meetings that produce results! Here are a few ideas.

For most of us, work is a fact of life. It is regrettable when an employee goes to work feeling deflated and perhaps showing up for nothing more than a paycheck. As a manager of employees, you’ve likely seen it in your own workplace. Here are a few ways to combat employee demotivation in the workplace.

Did you know that identity theft costs American consumers more than $16 billion each year? Even careful password protection and other security measures do not guarantee identity protection. Here are some common methods cyber criminals use to steal identities.

We all know how important it is to provide extraordinary customer service. But have you ever considered how vital it is that you and your agency employees answer the phone warmly and professionally?

We hear a lot these days in the insurance world about cyber security and cyber liability coverage. The need for it is great because it affects almost every industry out there. There is another expanding insurance market that you may not have heard as much about but is just as relevant—environmental insurance.

Did you know your job may be killing you? Maybe not literally killing you, but stress in the workplace can have all sorts of unwanted effects on all our lives including sleep disturbances, high blood pressure, headaches, stomach problems and even cardiovascular disease. The effect of workplace stress is very real—a study by Harvard University found that nearly 120,000 deaths annually are attributed to workplace stress. Billions of dollars are spent on healthcare each year as a result of stress in the workplace. As an agency manager/owner, it is in the best interest of you and your employees to take the initiative in reducing workplace stress.