UM recruitment A guide Back Ground: The company has been growing rapidly in terms of number of branches over the

e last couple of years. It is, however, observed that many of the branches are struggling to get the required number of UMs on board. Sometimes in their anxiety to get the numbers, they compromise on the quality, resulting in attrition after sometime and they find themselves back to square one. A Study: We have conducted a study on UMs who had joined us between April and December last year and have performed well in terms of recruitment and New Business. The following points were observed:

While most of these UMs came from insurance background, UMs from Pharmaceuticals and education sectors also featured among them. Some of the UMs were previously top performing SBI Life advisors who got promoted to the UM level through the Utkarsh scheme. Most of these UMs were recruited though references of existing UMs, BSMs/DSMs The existing UMs and BSMs who recruited these fresh UMs knew these people through constant interactions in the market. They were able to identify the top performers among the competition and through proper positioning of SBI Life brand were able to recruit them easily Some of the top performers from competitor companies were identified while interviewing average performers from the same companies by garnering data of the top performers. Some of the positive features of SBI Life highlighted while recruiting were the brand image, commission structure, promotion policy and incentive scheme.

Identification of Quality UMs

We should be on a constant lookout for quality people in the industry without waiting for a vacancy to be created in the system. Performing UMs tend to stand out in the industry because of their excellence. Our endeavor should be to collect performance data of UMs from the competition and regularly analyze such data in order to identity top performing UMs. The existing UMs on board are also a good source of information regarding performing UMs in the industry. One method of identifying top performers from the market is to collect data of these performers while interview candidates from the competitor companies as indicated by the study. Generally, during the interview of a prospective candidate, his performance in the previous organization is compared with the other UMs working with him. His ranking among his peers is indicated in the performance data. This data can help us in identifying performers above/below him. These identified people become our prospective candidates. Another method is to visit the branches of the competitor companies in your area. In a typical branch setup, the names of the top performing IAs and UMs are put up on a notice board in the form of rankings to highlight their performance. For example, the top performing UM of the week, the top 3 performing UMs of the month, top 5 performing UMs on a YTD basis , the top performing IA of the month etc. Such people also become our potential candidates. An attempt should always be made to identify such potential candidates and maintain a pipeline so that vacancies can be filled early. Building a relationship After identification of the potential UMs, the next step should be to develop a friendly, professional relationship with them. Data relating to the performance of SBI Life top performing UMs can also be shared with them in order to give them insights on the performance standards of SBI Life. Why SBI Life RA channel? While interviewing such prospective candidates, it is necessary to position the company in such a manner that they get inclined to join the company no matter how comfortable they are in their previous role. Some of the things that can be highlighted are:

Brand image of SBI Life Contribution of RA channel to the total business Key features of the UM promotion policy and career path R& R Incentive schemes Commission structure Success stories of top performers in SBI Life.

There is a possibility that some of the candidates will be reluctant to join SBI Life because of the high productivity standards. It is known that the UM and IA productivity standards of SBIL are the highest in the private sector life insurance industry. It becomes necessary to make the reasons for such high standards of SBI Life known to them. Some of the reasons are huge brand presence, the customer trust in the parent company SBI, R&R programs, MDRT incentives etc.

Post recruitment After the potential candidate has joined as a UM, it is necessary to nurture him initially in order to ensure that we retain him for long term. It becomes the BSMs responsibility to handhold the UM and guide him. This can be done by:

Classroom sessions: The BSM should interact with the newly joined UMs and make him aware of SBI Life work culture and his career path apart from sharing his experiences. These sessions are necessary in order to make him understand the day to day functioning of the branch and the other important activities to be done by the UM. It is also advisable that a meeting with the team members (UMs/IAs) takes place during these sessions so that the UM feels at home in the branch. Field Activities: BSMs should spend initial 8-10 days in the field with the new UMs, sharing with them their experiences on how to recruit IAs, identify the primary and secondary markets, generate leads and make joint calls.

The work of the BSM does not end here. It should be always be kept in mind that to ensure a long term relationship with a UM and ensure better quality

of performance continuous handholding and guidance is required whenever needed. Please ensure that these guidelines are circulated among all BSMs/DSMs. Please also make sure that they have gone through this and understood the concepts. I hope that these guidelines based on real life experiences help you in fulfilling UM vacancies with quality candidates.

Best Regards A J Bose Country Head Retail Agency