2023 Executive Outlook | Abraham Baboujian, RRJ Insurance

Abraham Baboujian, president, co-CEO, RRJ Insurance Group Ltd., O/A KRGInsure

Talent acquisition and retention is at the top of my priority list heading into 2023. This is not a new issue; however, recent events have magnified the importance of it. The implications and consequences are significant if we don’t address this properly. A related, important consideration is the necessary internal cultural pivot to focus on individual employees more than on the collective.

The talent conundrum is essentially two-fold. One talent group aspires to future leadership opportunities. A second talent group is content in a well-defined role with uncomplicated expectations — essentially, good pay, good benefits, and good working conditions. Answering the needs of aspiring leaders in the first group is what I consider my “important issue.”

Finding talent that aspires to future leadership opportunities is quite challenging and bit of a gamble. However, it’s a path we need to take and a dilemma we need to address. We need to engage our internal staff and employees for solutions; simultaneously, we need to search aggressively for candidates outside the insurance space. As a start, we should focus on the individual, not the group.

To identify and attract the proper talent, how do we go beyond looking for skill and knowledge attributes, so that we find the necessary personality traits and intellectual curiosity?

First, the industry needs to do a proper assessment of our existing talent pool to make sure we know what we have. This will require effort, but it is within our control (more or less). Second, the industry must engage in a focused exercise to identify potential new recruits that appear to meet our leadership criteria, and then explore what it will take to have them consider joining us. This is not simple, nor is it entirely within our control.

The industry’s historical, “let’s-try-this, let’s-try-that” mentality is akin to the lottery mindset; it is counterproductive. We need to re-set our thinking and focus on the individual — and their hopes and aspirations — and together make plans accordingly. These individuals can be employees or candidates. We must help them with their future career goals and aspirations, give them a clear path, allow them to be an integral part of determining what that path will be and how fast and how far they can go.

We must segment our roster of future leaders into two categories — strategic operators and strategic thinkers. Both are critical for long-term viability and success.