AAIS recently spoke with Rick Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer of WAHVE (Work at Home Vintage Experts), a unique contract staffing talent solution serving the insurance industry, for a discussion about acquiring and onboarding talent in a virtual world. We asked him about the needs of today’s employers vs. employees, remote onboarding formalities, recruiting tips, and more. 

Needs of Today’s Employers & Those Seeking Employment 

While COVID has emphasized the issues surrounding hybrid work, Morgan believes it didn’t necessarily reinvent the needs of today’s employers and employees. “I think we've added a new layer of complexity to the whole effort of finding and qualifying talent and the expectations that employees have,” he said. “One of the main things that employees are shifting to now more than what they did before is looking for specific skills to help fill that job gap.” Morgan explained that instead of just looking strictly at someone’s resume, employers are now looking for specific skills to help their company. 

Perhaps the biggest shift with those seeking employment is the whole idea of work/life balance, which Morgan indicated is a result of the pandemic. “People reevaluated what they were doing, how they were spending time, and what their life looked like, and they found out that they really liked spending more time with their family,” he stated. 

Types of Working Environments Desired by Job Seekers 

Morgan reiterated that when it comes to the types of working environment employees seek, having the flexibility and freedom to work hybrid is top of mind. Being able to come into the office part-time and work remotely part-time is important for people that might be caregivers or those that have issues with commuting, especially in certain areas that experience heavy traffic. 

Morgan also suggested today's workers are looking for environments that offer professional development. “One of the things I think managers have to be very careful about especially in the hybrid work environment or if they have employees that are fully remote is [creating] career paths,” he advised. 

Successful Onboarding Best Practices 

Onboarding whether it's remote or in person isn’t all that different according to Morgan. That being said, there are definitely onboarding best practices. One of them is communication. “Communicate before the new employee comes in and is hired,” he recommended. “Talk to them about what the company culture is and what the expectations are and be very clear about what success looks like.” 

Mentoring is another best practice when it comes to onboarding. Morgan explained that when placing WAHVE contractors in different fields around the country, they don’t necessarily have a career path. “They just want to give back and are thrilled to be engaged and contribute. They became great mentors for new employees in an agency or a carrier.”   

Tips for Recruiting Talent Today 

There is a challenge with recruiting talent because there’s a huge talent gap. In order for companies to be successful in this “talent war,” Morgan suggested they have to be creative and look outside of traditional avenues for finding talent. Using social media and job boards are good options. “We’ve got companies like WAHVE that are out there for finding people that are wanting to pre-retire and can still be good team members [while filling] a talent need that a company may have.” 

What is WAHVE? 

WAHVE is a contract staffing talent solution serving the entire insurance industry that brings companies and pre-retiring professionals together. Companies get the right talent and vintage experts get to extend their careers working from home. WAHVES, or the people that are placed with a carrier or insurance agency, have at least 25 years of work experience and 10-15 years of insurance experience. Carriers will reach out to WAHVE looking for talent to hire and WAHVE uses its database of WAHVES to find people that are a good match for the company. “We’re sort of a Match.com for the insurance industry,” joked Morgan. 

To view the interview with Rick Morgan, please click the video above.