Why is this screen black with green text? (how to not scare away the next generation of talent)

Alternatively, you could go with a recruiting pitch of: Join our team - it’s like working in The Matrix!

There are many reasons for an insurance company to consider implementing a modern core system. If you’ve recently been through the process of developing a business case for such an initiative, you’ll know that the tangible benefits can be significant. (Our Value Consulting group, which has had the honor of helping insurers to develop over 50 such business cases, reports that the average claims business case is worth 1.0 – 1.5% of a carrier’s DWP.) However, it is the strategic benefits that are often the most compelling part of a business case, even if they’re hard to quantify. A good example of this is employee morale. With modern core systems, insurers can expect that their employees will face less frustration due to technological limitations, system downtime, etc. Over time, this will contribute to a happier, more productive workforce and lower employee turnover.

Although it might be challenging to assign a specific financial value to improved employee morale, it is clearly a strategic benefit and as such, should not be ignored. In fact, I propose that you can take this one step further: insurers that do not embrace modern technology will struggle to attract (and then to retain) the next generation of talent, and this effect will only increase in the coming years.

If you think I might be over-stating the importance of technology in recruiting, I offer the following thought experiment: give a teenager a non-touchscreen phone and see how frustrated they get trying to use it. Now imagine that same person taking a job at your company in 5 years. And finally, imagine how you would explain what a mainframe is, why simple requests to IT can take months or years, or why information that was already entered into the system is not immediately available for consumption. Does this sound like the beginning of a long, satisfying career? It certainly doesn’t to me.

Although young job applicants are highly unlikely to ask what your core systems are as a part of the interview process, they will quickly figure out whether your company culture embraces technology or fights against it. If you’re in the latter category, I advise you to make an effort to be extra nice to your recruiting team – they’re going to have a very tough task in front of them!