This was presented on July 25, 2012 in partnership with Insurance Journal Academy. A complete broadcast of the presentation with audio is available for purchase on http://www.ijacademy.com/.

1. BUILDING STRENGTH WITHIN YOUR
AGENCY
Insurance Journal Academy & Mary Newgard, Capstone Search Group
July 25, 2012

3. IMPORTANCE IN THE
WORKPLACE
Morale: a : “The mental and emotional condition (as of enthusiasm, confidence or loyalty) of an individual or group with regard to the
function or tasks at hand b : a sense of common purpose with respect to a group.”

4. AGENCY MORALE: BY DISCIPLINE
“The best morale exists when you never hear the word mentioned. When you hear a lot of talk about it, its usually lousy.”
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Morale Factors
Morale Factors Know The Impacts
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement Productivity, Absenteeism
Retention
Retention Referrals, Tenure
Customer Service
Customer Service Account Retention

5. FACTORS AFFECTING MORALE
“Unique to insurance, particularly the P&C side, is how workload and profits are impacted by the insurance markets. When the markets are
soft, the prices are dropping and everyone is shopping their business- even if they just renewed 3-4 months ago. Needless to say, this creates
double-triple the work for less profit. When the markets are hard, there aren’t a lot of options to place business, which can be frustrating to
customers who have to take what they can get, and sometimes they take it out on the customer service folks.” ~Human Resources Director, New
Orleans
• 55% of Employees
believe benefits
communication is
unclear or infrequent
• Only 29% of
respondents said
their employers
offered creative
work schedules.

6. FACTORS AFFECTING MORALE
“We are a service oriented office. Our employees are hired for their great attitude and their willingness to go the extra mile for their clients.
No prima donnas here.” ~Human Resources Specialist, Chicago
• 68% of agencies did
not offer a bonus
program for non-
owner producers
who exceed sales
goals.
• 2-in-5 workers
believe there is
departmental
favoritism

7. KEYS TO CREATING POSITIVE
MORALE
“People buy into what they help create”

8. WAYS TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE
MORALE
“We have several company wide, on-going events that were a part of our culture long before the economy went into the tank. 1. Summer
hours – from July 4th through Labor Day we close at 3:00 instead of 5:00 pm on Fridays. 2. Employee Appreciation Day – once a year we take
about ¾ of a day out of the office to do a fun activity together. 3. Birthday half day – everyone is given a half day off on their birthday. It
provides an on-going sense of company care for its employees.” ~ Professional Development Coordinator Raleigh
Revealing Factors on
Low Morale
•2-in-5 workers said
their stress level is high
•47% said their
workload increased in
the last six months

9. WAYS TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE
MORALE
“We have regularly scheduled “surprises” for our employees to keep morale high. Examples of things – casual days once a month;
provide lunch sporadically (especially on ‘bad weather’ days ). We bring in speakers to discuss various topics (not all work-related; example
– managing personal finances / setting a personal budget). We provide lunch & a movie. We have agency-wide meetings every two weeks
when all employees meet together. At this time we read letters/emails we’ve received complimenting our employees and their efforts. We
like to celebrate those successes with everyone.” ~ COO, Memphis
Revealing Factors on
Low Morale
•Poor sales support
•Uninvolved
management
•Reduced earnings

10. WAYS TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE
MORALE
“As far as improving morale, we just try to listen and keep our employees informed, remind them that the soft/hard market isn’t their fault,
etc. It helps to have a compressed work week…that gives our employees a long weekend every other weekend to unwind/decompress.”
~Human Resources Director, New Orleans
Revealing Factors on
Low Morale
•9% drop in holiday
parties
•28% don’t think their
department is
important to senior
management

11. THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS.
Mary Newgard, CPC, AU
Senior Search Consultant
Contingent Search | Retained Search |Contract Employee | RPO Solutions
Phone: 515-987-0242 x454
mnewgard@insurance-csg.com | www.csgrecruiting.com