The Results-Oriented Insurance Workplace

Insurance jobs, whether claims, appraisals or investigations, are involved in a lot of detail. When insurance people are so engrossed in the details of their jobs, it's easy for them, for anyone actually, to lose sight of the job's major contribution.

A Results-Oriented Insurance Job Description is different from a traditional job description because it focuses an employee on the several job results that answer the question: What results must this insurance affairs job accomplish for the organization?

Insurance Job Standards added to job expectations tighten management controls by clarifying how well and when results must be accomplished.

Insurance Job Objectives establish management and employee plans by highlighting important current and future results needed.

Job-specific Insurance Employee Management Forms maintain consistent and legally sound management actions by basing manager-employee interactions on job results.

The Purpose of Insurance Jobs

Stated in a results-oriented, three-line style, insurance affairs jobs--

PROVIDE INSURANCE AND POLICYHOLDER SERVICES by

assessing insurability; conducting appraisals; assessing risks; issuing policies; investigating, processing and litigating claims.

Types of Insurance Jobs

Some insurance jobs take policyholder information, issue policies and make adjustments to the policies as requested by the policyholder. When a claim is filed, other jobs consider and investigate the claim and either accept or reject it. Sometimes claims have to be litigated.

Still other jobs study the likelihood of events happening, and thus the risk of insuring them. Somebody needs to make sure that policyholders are billed for the services provided. And, of course, somebody has to manage and supervise the insurance people and processes.

Insurance Job Management Tools

Here are actual job examples of how insurance affairs job actions can be focused on results and kept on track using each of our job management tools:

Results-Oriented Insurance Job Descriptions form the foundation of all job management tools. Our uniquely structured job descriptions focus on the result to be accomplished first and prominently, followed by the duties performed in order to accomplish the result. For example,

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

Insurance Job Standards sharpen employee attention and management control by defining and communicating how well the insurance affairs results must be accomplished and what benchmarks will be used to measure job results. For example, for the job result above, the job standards might be:

• Insurance situations are correctly understood.
• All options are identified and evaluated.
• Insurance recommendations are ready when needed.

Insurance Job Objectives point the direction for employee actions by focusing job efforts on current and future insurance affairs issues. Job objectives are written in the three-line, results-oriented structure. For example, for the job result above, a job objective might be:

SPEED-UP DECISION MAKING by

reducing time to deliver insurance affairs recommendations by 10% by (date).

Insurance Employee Management Forms tied specifically to each insurance affairs job description are more helpful (and legal) than generic forms used for all different kinds of jobs. Job-specific forms are used to state job qualifications, guide job interview questions, orient new employees, plan job training, and appraise job performance.

Insurance Job Qualifications are stated in the same terms used in the job description. They are not translated into generic (typically behavioral) terms. For example:

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

Insurance Job Interview guide questions are inserted directly below each job result in the job description: For example:

• "What specific job responsibilities have you had in this area?"
• "Where did you have these job responsibilities?"
• "When did you have these job responsibilities?"
• "How did you go about accomplishing these responsibilities?"
• "What accomplishment in this area gave you the most pride?"
• "In this area, what were some of your biggest challenges?"
• "How did you overcome the challenges?"

The Insurance Job Orientation guide reformats the job description sequence so that job explanations, policies, protocols, processes, and procedures are logical and complete and can easily be checked off. For example:

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

The manager might say: "Here's the procedure and format we use to analyze and present insurance affairs recommendations."

The Insurance Job Training plan guides a thorough examination of actual job knowledge, skills, and abilities as described in the job description that need improvement or that might be enhanced. For example:

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

The manager might say: "Analytical skills would be improved by enrolling in a statistical analysis class."

The Insurance Job Performance Appraisal guide is a job-specific form. It is not a universal form used for all jobs. The guide adds an appraisal scale below each job result in the job description so that attention can be drawn to each job requirement and expectation. For example:

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

__ Great! Just want we wanted.
__ We have a problem.
__ Improvement is needed.
__ Much, much more than we asked for.

Comments: _________________

Insurance Résumé Template

Potential employers want to know what a job applicant has accomplished in his/her insurance affairs work career. They don't want to be bored with minor details. Our Résumé Template provides:

• an outline to help assemble personal background information.
• a Results-Oriented Job Description to provide the insurance affairs job language-focused on results-needed to write an effective résumé.
• Insurance Job Objectives to orient thinking in terms of accomplishments.
• instructions on how to use a Results-Oriented Insurance Job Description and Insurance Job Objectives to express job accomplishments.

Use the insurance affairs job description responsibility statement as a base:

RECOMMENDS INSURANCE ACTIONS by

analyzing system controls.

Select the insurance affairs job objective that fits your experience:

REDUCE COSTS 10% by

improving insurance affairs processes.

Combine the two into a résumé statement:

Reduced costs 10% by analyzing, identifying, and recommending new insurance affairs system controls.

Insurance Career Links

Careers-in-Finance, Insurance

Overview of industry, skills and talents, job options, salaries, links and resources, facts and tends, firms, job listings.

CareerOverview.com, Insurance Careers

Non-commercial website dedicated to providing aspiring career professionals and students with relevant, reliable and up-to-date career and job information whereby helping them to make better, more informed career choices.

Emory University, Goizueta Business Library, Career in Insurance

Career information, industry directories, industry information, journal articles, trade associations, web sites.

State of Texas, Careers in Insurance

Method of entry, use of advanced technology, nature of the work, working conditions, employment outlook, knowledge, skills and abilities, licensing and certification, training.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners and Investigators

Training and education needed for claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners and investigators jobs, earnings, expected job prospects, what these workers do on the job, and working conditions.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Insurance Underwriters

Training and education needed for insurance underwriters jobs, earnings, expected job prospects, what insurance underwriters do on the job, and working conditions.