Engaging the Next Generation of Insurance Professionals with Tandeka Nomvete

In this episode, ADJUSTED welcomes Tandeka Nomvete Director of QGrads. Tandeka shares her thoughts and recommendations on how to attract and retain the next generation of insurance professionals.

Season 3 is brought to you by Berkley Industrial Comp. This episode is hosted by Greg Hamlin and guest co-host Allison Marlow, Sr. VP Business Development & Marketing for Berkley Industrial Comp.

For more ADJUSTED content, visit the Berkley Industrial Comp blog at https://www.berkindcomp.com/blog/. Music by Cameron Runyan. Email camrunyan9@gmail.com for inquires. For all other inquiries, email marketing@berkindcomp.com.

Additional Resources: 

- High School Outreach: 

•  Certified Insurance Service Representative High School Program (CISR by the National Alliance): www.scic.com/cisr-for-high-school 
• InVest Program: www.investprogram.org 

- Associations that young professionals can join: 

• Young Risk Professionals (YRP): www.yrpimpact.org 
• RISE: https://riseprofessionals.com/ 
• Bloom Collective: www.justbloomcollective.com 

- The Transitions offers a free mentorship program: https://thetransitions.org/mentoring-program
- Insurance Careers Month is a social media campaign (throughout the month of February): https://insurancecareerstrifecta.org/
- Questpro Career Portal (for those seeking work in this industry): www.questpro.com/career-portal
- QGrads student resources: www.questpro.com/qgrads-students 

Transcript

Greg Hamlin: 0:12

Hello everybody and welcome to adjust it. I'm your host Greg Hamlin coming at you from beautiful Birmingham, Alabama where the skies are always blue. And with me is my co-host for the day Allison Marlow. She's also from Birmingham. Allison, could you say hello to everybody?

Allison Marlow: 0:30

Hello, everybody. I love that the skies are blue today, Greg.

Greg Hamlin: 0:35

Absolutely. Allison's our Vice President of Marketing. And so we're really glad to have her here with us today. And our special guests for the day is Tandeka Nomvete I hopefully I said that. Right. She is the Director of Q grads at Quest Pro Tandeka, could you say hi to everybody?

Tandeka Nomvete: 0:53

Hello, everyone. I'm super duper excited to be here today. So thank you for having me.

Greg Hamlin: 0:59

We're excited to have you we have a really exciting topic that I think's really timely right now, I wanted to talk to Tandeka about this topic, because this is what she does all day long. We're in the middle of what a lot of people are calling the great resignation. And we've now been virtual for two years. So most people have in some form. And so obviously, that's a challenging time. And we're probably in the hottest job market that the country has seen since the 50s is what I was reading in the paper actually this week. So challenging time as the industry changes quite a bit. And we thought you would be an expert on this topic to talk to us about that. But before we get into that piece of it, tell us a little bit about yourself and DECA.

Tandeka Nomvete: 1:40

Yeah, absolutely. So, my name is Tandeka Nomvete, I was born and raised in South Africa, in a very small town called Mutata. I moved to the US when I was about 17 years old, I spent a year in Maine. And then I came down to Atlanta, Georgia, I have some family here. So that's what brought me here a little bit more about myself. And like how I got into the industry and whatnot. When I came here, I started off at a community college because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. So I sort of went through the rounds of majors. I liked the business major. So I thought I wanted to be an accountant. In hindsight, I realized it's because of exposure, right? You think about like TV shows and movies and books and everything, like young people always exposed to accounting and that career path. And so that's what I thought I wanted to do. You know, with my skill set, and with the things that I was interested in the love that accounting classes, finance, economic business in general, I had good math score. So I was taking a bunch of math classes. And I was sitting in a calculus class when the student next to me, told me about this wonderful, magical thing called actuarial science. I was like, what is that? Yeah, oh, we're sitting in a math class. And she's talking about science. I'm so confused. So I started doing some research, right? If you do any research and actuarial science, it's always number one job in USA. Six figures straight out of college, you know, so I was like, Yes, that sounds good. Yeah, I want I want that. That sounds like the job for me. So I transferred to Georgia State University, I declared my major as actuarial science. And it was not for me, Greg it was not for me.

Greg Hamlin: 3:25

A lot of Math and a lot of tests.

Allison Marlow: 3:28

Oh, yes. Yes. The word actuarial sounds painful. To start with.

Tandeka Nomvete: 3:35

It was not what I thought it was gonna be like, I might as well have been getting a degree in math and statistics, you know, it's not so but I stuck it out for about a year, you know, I was like, No, this is what I want to do with my life, but to clarify that, so stick it out for about a year. And then I was like, okay, that's not really what I want to do the rest of my life. So I spoke to the Career Advisor, the career counselor, and she suggested risk management and insurance. So Georgia State University you could study actuarial science, or Rmi, or a combination of both like to have major or minor in either so took a couple of our my classes loved it was right up my alley, more of what I was looking for. So to the edge of our my classes in that final year, and I had enough credits to graduate with my bachelor's in risk management and insurance and a minor in Actuarial science. So that's a little bit of my background.

Greg Hamlin: 4:25

Just so I know, you said you were born in South Africa. So when you were growing up in South Africa, did you imagine yourself in the insurance industry?

Tandeka Nomvete: 4:33

I did not, no. And it's exposure right? And now because I work with with that population, right, with high schoolers, college students, and graduates, I now realized that it's just all about exposure, you know, so growing up when I was in high school, I never heard about the insurance industry, you know, let alone the job opportunities and the different you know, facets of this industry and all that. When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but that's because my mom Is the doctor, you know, direct exposure, you know, for my mom and also that pressure, you know, to go into like, the medical field. So when I was there, that's what I was thinking. So

Allison Marlow: 5:11

Given that you went to your career cloud counselor, and they started talking to you about insurance, tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are today in the organization that you work for.

Tandeka Nomvete: 5:22

Yeah, absolutely. So when I was in college, I made that switch over to the RMI side. Took a couple of classes, as I mentioned, and loved it. I felt like that's the business of that balance of business that I was looking for, you know, and even things like essays. You know, if you think about, like writing essays, or you have a question, it's all about how you argue it, right? There's no right or wrong answer. It's just how well, you put that thought process together and how you can showcase those critical thinking skills and whatnot. Whereas with math and statistics, you're either right, or you're wrong, right? There's a question, there's a formula and you know, you're the right or wrong to the fourth decimal place, or it's wrong. So enjoy the RMI classes a lot more. But then in my final year, I was kind of like, oh, my gosh, I know nothing about this industry. You know, the whole time I was focused on actuarial science. I don't know about risk management, insurance. And what that means, you know, I had a lot of questions about like, what what job does that actually translate into? What does that career path look like? I started doing my own research, connecting with people within the Atlanta area. And they were so welcoming to me, that's something that I really enjoyed, you know, at that time as a student about this industry is people were more than willing to go out of their way to connect with me to have lunch with me have coffee with me dinner and just talk about what they do on a day to day basis. So that's something that really shaped how I got to where I am today, I was lucky enough to have been scooped up by Marsh, it's a commercial insurance brokerage. So I did an internship with them had a great experience was good fit. So they gave me a full time offer once I graduated, and I ended up working for Marsh for five years. During that time, I had the chance to transfer within the company. So I got a chance to move down to South Florida, I absolutely loved living over there. But I got a chance to just grow in my career. So I got to see, Ed March they, they've broken up the house into two sides. So there's the carrier facing sides. So I got to do that for a little bit, connecting with underwriters getting to know the insurance marketplace and whatnot. And then on the other side, there's the client facing side. So that's the side that I enjoyed a little bit more. So I ended up spending most of my career on that side. So I was working for Marsh for about five years. And then it got to a point where I felt like my colleagues are happy, my clients are happy, my manager, my boss is happy. But I wasn't necessarily feeling fulfilled with what I was doing on a day to day basis. So I started thinking about, you know, what's, what else is there? Right? Like, what's the next step from here. And I realized was the type of work that I was doing on a day to day basis that I wanted to change, I didn't want to just, you know, hop over to a competitor or you know, what most people do is just go to a competitor. Okay, it's really easy transition. But for me, I wanted to change the actual type of work that I was doing. So at that time, I did some introspection and realize that I like working with college students. I like working with the younger generation Gen Z. I'm a millennial. So Gen Z is the younger population. Always ask me questions about me? Yes. So Gen Z is that the younger population. So I'm very much an extrovert. So I feed off of the energy that's around them. And for a lot of college students, they have what I like to call stars in their eyes. They're uncertain about the future, and they're still kind of figuring it out. And they're looking for that first job out of college. And everything's just so fresh. It's so new for them. So I enjoy connecting with that population. And I enjoy the like a guide for them, if you will and mentor for them and just answering questions I've been having, connecting with them in ways that they want to connect, which will make it more meaningful for them at the end of the day. So I was looking for those types of job opportunities. And I was lucky enough to get scooped up by Gamma Yoda Sigma. It's a Student Association, or students that are interested in risk management, insurance actuarial five oh, so I got a chance to work with him. I was one of six staff members. That worked six of us nationally. So we got to work remotely. And this was pre-pandemic. So I was like, Oh, okay this is so cool. Where it was a thing, I got to work from home. So I did that for almost two years, had an amazing time got to connect with universities from across the country. I got to connect with professors. I got to connect with students. And I got to connect especially with student leaders and how to provide them with a toolkit like tips and tricks on how they can feel empowered to now go out and create local events, you know, for their communities and to tell their peers about opportunities within this industry. So I spent a lot of time educating them about this industry and then just empowering them to go out and, and lead be the president of their chapter, the secretary treasurer, etc. So I did that for almost two years. And then I was scooped up by Quest Pro, or the company that I work for now. And Quest Pro is a staffing and recruiting firm that is solely focused on this industry. So they had been looking for someone to lead their Q grads division for almost a year, found out about the job opportunity, read the description, and I was like, Oh, my gosh, is perfect. Like, that's, that's me. That's my job, what they're describing. So I've been working them working with them for about a year and a half.

Greg Hamlin: 10:40

That's exciting. I'm glad that you find your passion. I think that's always so important for people to find something they love. And I would imagine, at least we've seen this, that there are some barriers in attracting college graduates into the insurance space. And I know, one of the things you just mentioned was exposure. Like I don't think very many of us who are in the industry dreamed I might joke about that, but dreamed of doing this, not because it's not a good career or not, because it's not fulfilling, because we didn't know. So I would love for you to talk about some of the barriers that you face in attracting college students into the insurance space.

Tandeka Nomvete: 11:13

Yeah, absolutely. So there are a number of barriers for college students. Number one is just the name right. So insurance like right off, right, we've lost them. We've lost them right, right off the bat, because it's like, oh, you know, and you as a young person, when you think about insurance, the first thing that comes to mind is no offense, Greg a white man with a tie, right? You know? Exactly, exactly why it's so important. For some reason, everybody has this universal misconception right about insurance, that's the first thing that they think about. So for a young person, they're like,why would I really want to do that. Right? Why would I want to wear a gray suit every day and walk into Office? Right. So I think the media doesn't do a good job of, you know, portraying risk management and insurance professionals that every time they do, it's always in the negative light. You know, you think about like, the the first movie that comes to my mind is Along Came Polly, if you guys have seen that. Ben Stiller in that movie is an actuary. But you think about the character that he's playing, right? It's this nerdy character. And he's trying to make life decisions on a computer. And I'm watching that. And I'm like, oh, like, that's not what actuarial science is. Right. So, you know, right off the bat, we think about the name of Watson there. So that's a challenge in and of itself. Second, as you mentioned, exposure, there's a lot of young folks out there that do not know about this industry, they don't know about the job opportunities that are available. I think there's an extra layer of or an extra barrier for minorities, especially because there isn't representation. This industry has a huge DEI issue, you know, diversity, equity inclusion, you know, we have a huge DEI crisis right now. And it's because there isn't representation. So for a young person coming in, that's a minority, looking around in the building, they don't want to be the only XYZ, you know, right in the building. So that's, that's another barrier as well.

Greg Hamlin: 13:12

Great points, great points, I think, you know, I, I've seen a lot of those same things. I remember being at a job fair, years ago, and some of the things that came up from that. And we had, we were next to a bank that was having a position for a teller that paid probably $10,000 less than what we had, and would have been way less interesting. And they had a line around the block, you know, and I had to like, flag people down because people didn't know what we did. And, and then we had people who we had an underwriting position at the time, and I had English majors coming to me, who were thinking about, like, I love writing, I would love to, in fact, there are amazing things you could do with that. But that's not what an underwriter position is. So the title was confusing. So I definitely have seen some of those same things. So. So how do we change it?

Tandeka Nomvete: 14:02

Yeah, so there's, there's a number of things that we could do, you know, as individuals, as organizations within this industry, the industry itself, there's a number of associations and organizations as well nonprofit organizations within this industry that are just trying to change the narrative, and are trying to expose more of the younger generation and young talent to this industry. So as individuals, what we can do is just be a champion for this industry. You know, find those day to day opportunity. So if you think about yourself, connect with younger folks within your local community. So reach out to high schools, within your community reach out to colleges within your community. The next time you're around young people have a conversation with them about risk management, insurance, actuarial science, talk to them about your job and the things that you love about your job to help attract them. To this industry, let them know that there are opportunities here for them, regardless of what their background is, regardless of what they're studying, you know, even if it is, you know, English, if they have an English major, that's okay, they can find job opportunities within this industry. So that's one thing that we could do personally, we could also, as individuals, we could look for opportunities to network with younger people, there's plenty of associations that you can join, you don't think about things like rims cpcu, there's rise professional, which is an organization that aims to connect young professionals that are under the age of 40, there's YRP, young risk professionals, you could reach out to your local chapter of YRP, and ask to be a guest speaker, or asked to, you know, get involved somehow and have that audience, younger folks that you could talk to. So that's one thing we can do as individuals, as companies within this industry, I think we need to take a look at hiring practices and see how we could make things easier on that front. So you just mentioned job descriptions. That's something that an HR team can do, right? Like, do we need to call it underwriter? Can we call it something else? You know, instead of calling a position operations? Representative, three, you know, could could we call it like, claims associate?

Allison Marlow: 16:20

Like what am I operating, what does that mean?

Tandeka Nomvete: 16:24

Right? Three, right? If there's things we could do there, you know, like, young folks love the term associate, you know, it's cool to be like a risk analyst or, you know, claims associate underwriting associate or something like that, you know, there's, there's things that we could do to change the job description to change the job title, we could take a look at salaries as well, you know, as the salary that your companies operate, competitive, you know, if you bumped it up by another 3000, you could attract so much more people, you know, from from across the country for that role. I think that organizations could also look to get involved with some of those groups. As I mentioned, the YRP. And risk professionals are Wise Professionals is another another one as well, where they could connect directly with younger folks and just find those opportunities to tell them what it is they do. And to increase that exposure. There are several organizations within this industry that we could support as well. Invest is one that comes to mind invest program, they specifically are targeting high schools across the country. And their aim is to expose them to insurance careers, specifically to high schoolers. So they have the STEP program, I believe their website is WWE dot invest program.com. But they have all sorts of tools and resources on their website where you could literally go there and download a PowerPoint presentation that kind of walks through what is insurance, what are the different career paths and things like that. So they have provided all of these tools that are free and accessible and online, that you could download it and then take it and go and connect with a local high school or college in the area. Same people RP, same thing for ice professional, there's so many opportunities and resources that are out there. The CISR program by national alliance is another one that comes to mind. They specifically target high schools and high schoolers across the country, they take it a step further where they look to give them designation. So it's an actual program that a high schooler can take. It's an online pass course. And by the end of it, they have a designation. So that gives them a leg up. They don't necessarily have to major in risk management and insurance or actuarial science. They could major in whatever they want. But they already have a designation coming out of high school within this industry. So how cool is that? So they help to educate them about the career paths about these industries and things like that. So we can support those types of organizations and the work that they're already doing, reaching out to those high school, high school population.

Allison Marlow: 18:52

So I didn't know that that's very interesting, especially the designation part going into college. You said a lot of things. But something really struck me when you're talking about the fact that we're not having the exposure. People don't know about the industry, but they probably also don't know about the skill sets that would make them a good candidate to be in industry. And so can you talk to us a little bit about if you were sitting down with a prospective student who doesn't know what they want to do? You know, what kind of degrees or program should they have? What kind of personality traits what kind of interests would make them a good candidate for the industry?

Tandeka Nomvete: 19:28

Yeah, absolutely. So the good news is on that front, I think that most people have the skill set that is needed for this industry. So regardless of background, where they come from what they're studying, most people possess a natural skill set that can be utilized in some way within this industry. Obviously, if the student is studying risk management, insurance, actuarial science that gives them a leg up, right because when they're graduate by the time they're graduating college, they're already familiar with the terminology with the lingo they know Like the lifecycle of a policy, they know what a broker is, they know, you know, what underwriters do, and things like that. So they can advance faster within this industry. So I always recommend studying risk management and insurance. But even if the student has not studied risk management insurance, you know, they have a degree in business that can be utilized, if they have a degree in marine biology, we can utilize that as well, there's marine insurance, you know, so they can take all that terminology and everything that they've learned and apply it and do well, within Marine, we have aviation insurance as well, you know, so any student that has an interest in that can go and specialize in that type of insurance, there are all these different types of insurance in line. So not just the classic property and casualty was or light health and benefits, or all these other ancillary lines that are out there, that students don't know about. There's entertainment insurance, you know, students knew about that they were jumping all over it, right, like how to be like the risk manager of an entertainment company, or your broker focusing on just that, just that type of insurance. So it's really just about exposing them to all the different opportunities that are there. But in terms of skill set, it's very, very basic for entry level opportunities. I'm looking for someone that has good communication skills, you know, so that's written, verbal, you know, over the phone. Empathy is something that's needed as well, you know, just having that empathy to be able to connect, especially, you know, talking about claims, right, like to focus on the claimant, and communicate that through their voice and their tone and things like that, that you have that empathy to make them feel better organization is something that's needed as well being able to multitask, prioritize tasks, project management is another skill. So the good news is that all these things are soft skills, right? They're soft skills that students can develop things like presentation skills as well, even if someone's introverted, there's things that they can do in college to help them push through that right to pursue their introverted ness and be able to get up and deliver a presentation in front of a roomful of people, sales, having some aspect or at least some knowledge of sales is helpful, because we find those everywhere, whether you're on the risk management side, the claim side, even an underwriting with a brokerage, there's always a sales aspect within the company. So having some sort of knowledge, at least on how to do that how to effectively communicate at the end of the day to get a point across at the end of the day, they could focus on harnessing those skills, they can find a place within this industry.

Greg Hamlin: 22:38

That's awesome. I think you hit on a lot of the things that I look for. And you're right, I think so many of them can transition into really successful careers. In the insurance space. One of the things that that I think is challenging, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that seen this is retention, I always say it takes us about a year on the claim side before somebody is really, truly adding value in the beginning. You know, they're learning they're helping, they're growing. But the one of the challenges is, we do so we focus on worker's comp only. But every injury is different. Every person is different, every state is different. So there's so many things to learn in a highly regulated industry, which the insurance space is what keeps people from your experience, how do you retain those young college students? And what do you think we can do better as an industry to help our grads stay and grow? Because if they stay for a year and a half, two years, and then they leave, then we restart this whole process?

Tandeka Nomvete: 23:36

Yeah, absolutely. And from, you know, Again? from an HR recruiting perspective, those are the two main challenges, right, it's attracting them the recruiting piece, and then there's the retention piece, because you spend all this time, effort, money, energy, you know, bringing them into your company. And then like you said, a year later, they're gone two years later, they're gone. So companies need to do a little bit of work, right? They need to do that introspection, they need to take a look at their company culture, you know, perhaps even do a culture audit. Because, you know, unfortunately, there's there's instances and circumstances where right at the top, like leadership might have good intentions, you know, and they might focus on company culture and DEI and things like that, you know, and they're hoping that all these good intentions will trickle down throughout the organization. But it does not always end up that way. You know, each office is different. Each region is different. So I think companies especially at the top, they need to do that culture audit throughout the organization to see what's going on, especially if there's like a location, for example, a region that is constantly losing people, if you're constantly losing people every two years. Something's wrong, right? Get in there and figure out what's going on. What is it? The for young people, things that they're looking for is growth opportunities, right? So for a young person, they may become frustrated if after three years, four years, they haven't been promoted, they're not getting a bonus, they're not moving up to the next level, they might pick up on material really quickly. And after a year, they might very well be bored with their job and might be bored with that day to day aspects. So we need managers that have that empathy and have that skill set where they're able to connect with their team. And they're able to identify those types of high performing individuals and be able to make exceptions for them and promote them, or, you know, give them a raise or do what they need to do to retain them, you know, even if that means giving them additional projects that are outside the scope of their day to day job, or even inviting them to join more meetings, inviting them to go out and meet the clients, inviting them, you know, to have those travel opportunities and things like that. That's important for young people, as I mentioned, especially those high performers, they're looking for those opportunities, because after six months, they got it, you know, they're doing their job really well and they're ready, they're ready for the next level, they're ready for the next step. So organization, sometimes, unfortunately, you just can't move quick enough, they can't move, you know, after six enough to help accommodate those individuals. What ends up happening is that we lose them. So organizations need to look into that to be able to make exceptions. company culture is also really important. Having some sort of ERG or BRG health. So a business resource group or a green resource group, ERG BRG, that's something that helps. So you can call the BRG, or the ERG, whatever you like. But as seen some for young professionals are examples of rising professionals for this company. If your company doesn't already have one, they could look to creating one and then invite all the young professionals within the organizations to join this it's like an association within the company. And then they can assign leadership's positions to each other or have the positions rotate, you know, every year or every six months, however, we want to do it and they can then lead the charge. So they could for example, start to host Happy Hour events, you know, once a week, a virtual as well as understanding when the middle of a pandemic, you know, they could host virtual happy hours. ERGs are typically BRGs are typically supported by the companies to funding so the company is actually setting aside money, you know, to go send to the local young professionals group in Atlanta in our Atlanta office, for example. And they then take those funds and use it to maybe pay for the drinks or pay for the appetizers or, you know, reserve a room at a local pub, or whatever it is they choose to do as professionals, but things like that help give that young professional, something else to do within the company, besides just going in and working, you know, and coming home, they get a chance to then connect with other young professionals and maybe even start to make friends and things like that.

Greg Hamlin: 27:46

I love that. I love that. I've never heard of that. And I think that's a that's an amazing idea. Like there needs to be opportunities for these young, new employees to have opportunities to lead and grow. Because without that, you're right. Like they could feel like wow, what's my what's my chance to further my career now,

Tandeka Nomvete: 28:02

You know, exactly, may have a lot to offer. The flip side of that, too, is we spend 90% of our lives at our office. So having those connections with individuals that you work with are so important, because they're who you're with all the time. So be able to go a little bit deeper. I really liked that idea, too. From that perspective. That's very interesting. Yeah, absolutely.

Greg Hamlin: 28:24

One of the things that's been on my mind lately, and I think it's partly as I'm a huge Simon Sinek fan, so I love to hear what he has to say. But I think we do a really bad job sometimes explaining the why behind why we exist. And if it's to if we say well, we exist for ROE, there's not going to be too many college kids are like, I'm really excited about ROE, I cannot wait into that. ROE, right which, you know, equity. Okay, which is great, right? We want to be profitable, obviously, that that makes everybody, everybody's careers go well, when we get when we have that. But if our why really if we dig down deeper, and we realize we're really there to provide security for people, we, especially as a model and carrier, we're helping people who have had catastrophic injuries recover and return to their employment. And we're making sure that those employers have security while that's happening. I mean, that's huge. That's a huge why where people can make a difference. But instead, I think, as an industry we focus on and we need to focus on those things, but we need to get back to why are Why do we exist? And and if it's ROE, I think we're going to have problems having people buy into that.

Tandeka Nomvete: 29:31

I completely agree we need to focus on the why. And if we if we look at young professionals and look at what it is they're looking for, I think that's a good place to start in terms of attracting them. And that's that's a strategy that I use as well and look at what it is the young professionals are looking for. And my job is to let them know that they can find those things here within this industry. For example, they're looking for things like work life balance, compared to a other industries like finance, for example, that's notorious for working 80 hour weeks, you know, and things like that. Just being able to tell them that you can work a standard 40 hour week within this industry, you can find those job opportunities where you don't have to work every night, you don't have to work every weekend, you know, we have work life balance here, you can find those opportunities. Or if money is important to young professionals, it's about telling them that they can make money in this industry, they can make as much money as they want, you know, they could go into actuarial science, they could go into sales and make commission, they could have a base salary with unlimited, uncapped commissions literally make as much money as they want, they can find those opportunities within this industry, if that's important to them. A sense of community is something that's important to this generation as well. So it's about telling them that even though our industry has all these different sectors and job opportunities, it's actually a relatively small industry. And as you start going to conferences, whether it's local, regional national conferences, you start to see the same people over and over again, and you start to connect, like, just how we connected, for example, through Claire.

Greg Hamlin: 31:10

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Tandeka Nomvete: 31:13

Right. That's an example of how small this industry is. So just telling them that we do have that sense of community that you can meet people from across the country and start to build meaningful relationships with people within this industry. And then, of course, like you said, the why, you know, it's about talking about why you do what you do what your company's actually doing for the community at the end of the day, because that's something that's important to them as well. I'm finding more that young people want to make a difference in this world, right? So especially when they're at that age group, right? 20-21 years old, that's what they want to do. They want to find a job, that's going to make a difference that's going to help someone in some way, they may not be able to articulate that, of course, money is important. They have to pay their student loans, they have to pay their car loans or credit card bills and all that. But they want to feel fulfilled with what they're doing on a day to day basis. And I'm a testament to that as well, you know, I got to a point where, after my debts were paid, you know, after five years, and I could think about what it is I really wanted to do in my life, I realized that I was missing that, that I wanted something, really fulfilling. And I was able to find that within this industry.

Allison Marlow: 32:26

Given that we're kind of in interesting times. Right. So we've got the great resignation that's happening right now. And given your role in the industry in attracting new talent, who's your what's your perspective and the impact that this is going to have on us as we do? I'm going to go back to your comment before what the stereotypical image of a insurance individual is right now. They're retiring. Right? So we're going to have this gigantic void in our market right now. And then on top of it, there's a great resignation going on. So just from your perspective, kind of what's that impacts? And what can we do to, you know, attract the talent and get those folks to our companies?

Tandeka Nomvete: 33:05

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, so the talent gap is very real. The great resignations, also very real. So this, this industry is specifically facing the talent gap. And it's, it's already here, there's a lot of companies that are already feeling it. And basically, that just means that the rate that people are exiting and leaving the industry, mainly due to retirement is larger than the rate of people entering the industry. So the gap is here. And that's unique to this entity that's related to risk management, insurance actuarial

Greg Hamlin: 33:34

That's great I love what you were saying about side, the great resignation is also very, very real. And it's something that's happened over the past few years because of COVID. Right? So for the first time for many, many people, this was the first time in their adult lives, where they were at home for such a long period of time, right? And you think about all the things that are happening around them, there's so much debt, right? We've been surrounded by so much debt over the past few years. It's really made people think about what it is they really wanted to do with their lives, right. So for the first time, we're seeing a bunch of people at home for some of their adult lives, that they're at home for an extended period of time. They're thinking about the true meaning of life, how much time they have left on this earth and they start making those decisions, right. They realize, you know, what, I've been unhappy in my job for 15 years unhappy my job, you know, for 20 years and it's just not worth it anymore. You know, so they quit they don't wait. What we used to see is the line people waiting for the bonus payouts right so like more payouts because like, you know, I worked so hard this year, I'm gonna get that bonus before I leave. But what we saw over you know, the past few years is people don't even wait for that anymore, you know, so they're just like, it's not worth I'm not going here is my resignation note, so that's definitely something that's been very real in sweeping the country so, but it's not good news for us right now in industry because we already have this talent crisis. And now the great resignations, just the icing on top of that. So companies really need to take a look within themselves, and they need to make their companies a better place to work, right. So it's, it could be a number of things, it could be external things, superficial things, if you will. And then there's deeper things that we could look at. So some of the external things, for example, like we talked about with, you know, job descriptions, things like that maybe even salary, take a look at increasing salary ranges to stay competitive, or maybe just put yourself ahead of the curve, even if that means just adding a couple extra$1,000, you know, to the roles, including entry level role, so we could capture that population as well. You could take a look at office space, you know, is your company, one of those companies, where you're still forcing everyone to come into small, incremental things. And I think honestly, most big wins work every day, right? You know, why not introduce hybrid options, or why not go 100% remote, or why not leave it up to the individual, so that they have that option to either work 100% remote, come into the office everyday, if there's an office or work a hybrid schedule that suits them, and suits their family and whatnot, you know, I've, I've connected with people who their ideal schedule would be coming into the office, Monday to Friday for half the day 8am to 12. And then being able, you know, after lunch to go pick up their kids bring their kids home, have that little time with them, and then continue working remotely in the evening. Why not allow your your employees that flexibility? Why not let them build their own schedule. So that's something that they could take a look at doing. ERGS are somethng that we talked about, as long as your company had an erg, you know, set some money aside for that provided with some funding, you know, and let let those energies build themselves. So not just young professionals, but I see a lot of ERGs that are focused on minority groups, you know, so there's like African American ERGs, or Asian heritage ERGs, you know, things like that, or for the LGBTQ IA community, you know, having those types of ERGs, where they can connect with each other and have more meaningful conversations about the struggles, just the struggles of being in corporate America, you know, and support each other through these difficult times. So I think that companies need to take a look at that. Some at some even superficial things, if you haven't, if your company has an office is taking a look at the are actually lots of little things that add up over time. office space, you know, when you walk into that office space every day? Is it a fun environment? Is it inviting? Is it friendly? Do you have any pains? Is there color anywhere? You know, in the building? Or is it just all brown? Is that a place that a young professional wants to spend eight hours a day? You know, every day? Are you offering lunch for your employees? You know, I've seen companies do that where they're like every Friday, we're gonna buy lunch for everyone who comes into the office, you know, so that that was a way of bringing, you know, together and they're, you know, and it doesn't have to be expensive sandwiches, chips, or cookies. You know, it's really not that much to buy lunch for your colleagues every Friday and just show that employee appreciation. Other companies have gone above and beyond where they're scheduled time within the workweek for colleagues to do yoga, for example, or to have like a Wellness Hour. So they're looking for volunteers within the organization to raise their hands, or they're bringing in someone externally yoga instructor. So everyone knows, okay, Wednesdays, coming to work with your yoga pants, your workout clothes, bring your mat, and from four to five, we're all going to be upstairs on the rooftop doing yoga together. How cool is that? Yeah, it doesn't have to be something. It doesn't have to be a huge overhaul. It's just small things where if you focus more on the employee and employee experience, and think about how you can enhance that, that's going to increase your retention because now that the person is going to think twice, you know, if they get another job offer, they're going to be like, Oh, is this company offering yoga on the rooftops every Wednesday? I'm gonna think twice, before I accept that job offer. That's been my experience. And I love some of those ideas that you threw out there. One of the things I've been so impressed just talking to you today Tandeka is just how passionate you are like you have a light in your eyes. You're excited about what you're talking about. You can tell that you love what you do, and you and you love what we're talking about. What drives you?

Tandeka Nomvete: 39:43

Yeah, so what drives me is being able to guide young professionals and to help them transition into this industry because I remember when I was in their shoes, I remember you know, just not knowing what was out there and Trying to figure it out. And those people that were able to guide me and mentor me through that transition period, as I was finishing college starting my first job was so instrumental, you know, and they truly helped shape me. So I want to be that, for other people, I'm wanting to be that for college students that are thinking about what to do next. I love connecting with them, I love telling them about the opportunities within this industry and letting them know that they can find their place here. Because from my perspective, you know, as we know, people jump around between the different sectors, right? People go to risk management, and they'll spend a couple years of brokerage side and then go to claims and underwriting. And from my perspective, that's okay. Because they're still here in this industry, right? So it's not like they're taking all that knowledge and the connections that they've made and everything and left, you know, and gone, like accounting, banking requirements, and, you know, we never see them again. So for me, if I could just convince them or you know, just drive that message that it as long as they stay here within this industry, that opportunity is all there, you can hop over to brokerage underwriting claims, or whatever it is, they're still they're building on the skill set that they're growing, and that all these skills are transferable between the different sectors of the industry. So, that's definitely something that drives me.

Greg Hamlin: 41:21

That's amazing. Well, one of the things I'm trying to do this year that is a little different than the past seasons, is I wanted to focus on some things that are good, because I think right now, between the pandemic, and I just feel like maybe as a culture and society, we've gotten very, like whoever screams the loudest must be right. So then everybody screams really loud. And like, we've forgotten how to like, have empathy and love each other. And remember that like what it's all about, and I think I'm feeling that way, maybe especially today, yesterday, we had our sixth baby. And there's just something really special about holding your child. And I'm one of those crazy people that will have a 17 year old and a baby, but you know, I have hope, I hope hope I have hope I wouldn't have had another kid. It wasn't an accident was on purpose. And I wouldn't have done that. I'm that crazy. But I wouldn't have done that if I didn't believe that this is like there's hope and that there's going to be good. And so I wanted to end this year having each of our guests share a time in your life that you were happy. And who are you with? And what were you doing because I think people need to smile.

Tandeka Nomvete: 42:24

So I was actually really happy this past weekend. It was a Saturday night I was at this lounge with my husband. And we were listening to Afro beats music. And I was just having the best time because he was out there on the dance floor. Just moving right here. And usually like I you know, I have this I have this big personality, right. So usually when I go places, I'm like the center of the room center the tension might have Yeah, where's our, you know, he's totally okay with being in the background. So here we are at this lounge. And he's just like, right in the center of the dance floor taking it away. And I just felt so appreciative. Right. And that's what it is, at the end of the day just love family. It's about friends. It's about being grateful for the small things. And so I'm very, very grateful for my husband and for him being my support system. So yeah, that's the time when I'm happy.

Greg Hamlin: 43:24

That is awesome. Our family has we put little quotes on our wall like the five quotes that are the things that we say Hamlins do and one of them is feel the music because I think that's what it's about, right? Like if you can't find the music and rhythm of life, then you're missing out on some of the most beautiful parts. I love that that was great. We really enjoyed having you here. And of course if you do need staffing, you know in our industry, check out Quest Pro they're a great option. And I always just like to close with our motto which is do write think differently, and don't forget to care. Thanks, guys catch you next week.