How this firm hires mostly 20-somethings

While much of the P&C insurance industry is seeing large-scale attrition as industry veterans near retirement, one specialty underwriting firm has built a team comprised mostly of employees in their mid- to-late twenties. 

For TruStar Underwriting, a specialty Managing General Agent (MGA), the key to acquiring — and retaining — young talent is through investing in its corporate identity and remaining a digitally charged business (while also offering some unique culture perks). 

Ryan Seager, TruStar Underwriting’s head of operations called the firm a “next-generation enterprise.” 

“The mean [age] is certainly late 20s,” said Seager, “and we do have some outliers on both sides. We have some really, really young employees, fresh out of school, and we have some more seasoned employees who bring a lot of wisdom to the business.” 

That dynamic, he says, fosters collaboration. The youngest employees bring new ideas, while the mature employees bring experience. “The result of that dynamic is special. I think everybody learns from one another.” 

The firm’s employee base is unique, especially in a ‘white hair’ industry. 

But for new graduates, the appeal of insurance may actually come from its older cohort. “There’s a ton of upward opportunity to close that gap between middle and senior management, more seasoned people, and the entry points into the business,” Seager said.  

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But what’s the key to acquiring the next generation of workers? For TruStar, Seager said the company’s three foundational principles have resonated with its youngest hires.  

The first of these is prioritizing workplace experience. 

“The next generation of workers is very demanding, and rightfully so,” he said. “Above all, we know that the next generation, and Gen Z in specific, is so focused on experience, work-life balance, perks within the business.” That means building an engaging workplace is crucial. 

The second principle is generating new ideas.  

“Not just that but having the courage to try them on for size,” said Seager. “The next generation certainly has more new ideas than any other cohort I’ve worked with in the past, and that’s only going to help our business stay ahead of the curve.” 

The third principle is demonstrating consistent and disciplined underwriting. And a single technology platform is key to building exceptional underwriting, he added.

“The approach that we take is not just to plug every technical solution into our business, but to make sure that the experience is airtight and is uniform,” said Seager. “How we have invested in that strategy is by creating a very seamless, single tool that takes our users through all of the functions of their work.” 

This approach is a shake-up for the industry, where it’s common for intermediaries (like MGAs) to be required to use different platforms for each firm they work with.  

Beyond that, the firm’s retention strategy comes through two different avenues: paying employees to take time off, and empowering them to host events for causes they care about.  

The firm has an Adventure Program, split into two parts. The first is the Adventure Fund, which is an annual stipend that aims to subsidize costs incurred from taking time off to travel. The second is the Adventure Leave, which allows employees to formally work a fixed amount of time from anywhere in the world.

“It’s the burnout era, so we’re actually making it less financially onerous for somebody to take time away from work,” said Seager.

TruStar’s second program is called the Champions Initiative, where two employees are nominated for a six-month term to be the firm’s ‘champions of culture.’ The pair develops and hosts a community cause or event at their own discretion.  

“We don’t tell our team that ‘this is the charity that’s important to our business’…We offer everybody a chance to contribute to a community cause or initiative that’s important to them.” 

Feature image by iStock.com/PeopleImages