Could do better

Just seven years into the 21st century and some of the world's next superpowers are emerging with startling clarity already. The rampant regeneration of countries such as India and China is catalogued on an almost daily basis in the national media and televised news bulletins.

Whether the UK is up to the challenge posed by these rapidly developing economies was the question the government sought to answer when it commissioned former Zurich Financial Services chief executive Sir Sandy Leitch to investigate the UK's long-term skills requirements. This skills health check concluded that the UK urgently needed to raise achievements at all levels. It also stressed that the responsibility for achieving ambitions must be shared between government, employers and individuals. The message was clear; in order to maintain its competitive position internationally, the UK needs to invest in skills if it is to remain ahead.

Following the Leitch Report, the Chartered Insurance Institute conducted its own examination of where potential skills shortages may exist within financial services. The CII Skills Audit, which canvassed opinion across all its faculty members, mirrored uncomfortably Leitch's findings to conclude that skills levels are not what they were ten years ago. In particular the report found a shortage of technical, soft and general skills in key business areas. Almost half (47%) of CII members were acutely aware of the problem as they already perceive the UK to be falling behind other countries in terms of skills levels. A further 55% of respondents also believed that if the current issues facing skills levels persist the UK will be in danger of being left behind by 2020.

Both the Leitch report and the CII's skills audit are part of a growing consensus that professionalism and standards in UK financial services need to be improved. The Financial Services Authority has already been vocal in its criticism of the current behaviours and business models among intermediaries, which in turn led to a major review of retail distribution of which professionalism and reputation is one element.

The CII Skills Audit research highlighted the key skills challenges facing broking as seen by its Faculty of Broking members. When asked 'who feels worse equipped than ten years ago', brokers and claims faculty members were the groups most in agreement. However, of the two, brokers were the highest with 56% followed by their counterparts in claims at 51%. In comparison only 35% of the London Market Faculty felt it was worse off.

While brokers felt strongly that they were not as well equipped as ten years ago, they were among the group most likely to agree with the statement that 'the industry does enough to keep me up to date with skills training'. Across all faculties 58% agreed with this statement.

Another positive finding among the results showed that brokers are the most satisfied with the CII's provisions for their skills needs. When asked 'how effective at meeting the requirements for today's skills sets is the training and competence solutions provided by CII?', brokers gave a mean score of 4.17 on a sliding continuum of 6, ranging from 1 (very poor), to 6 (much better). The CII was rated the highest by brokers between 'good' and 'better'.

To assess where skills needs were greatest, respondents were asked to state from a broad list of options what the most important were when it came to skills training. At the top of the list for brokers were developing technical skills (56%) and soft skills (55%). However, the shortage of technical skills was perceived to be far greater in underwriting (78%), claims (75%) and the London market (69%).

When asked 'in your view, is the industry doing enough to encourage obtaining professional qualifications?' only 34% of brokers, the second lowest, thought the CII was doing enough. Claims faculty members were the least likely to agree at 33%, while the London market (41%), life and pensions (42%) and the Personal Finance Society (46%) were most likely to agree.

To understand the attitudes of the industry towards the current state of supply of training and skills, 71% agreed that 'the CII is at the forefront of skills training and professional qualifications in the UK financial services industry today'. Brokers were significantly more likely to agree, along with claims and life and pensions. In response to the statement 'currently it is employers that are driving training rather than it being industry led (i.e. by CII)' the majority response of 47% also featured brokers as the group most likely to agree. This echoed one of the conclusions by Leitch that the responsibility for achieving ambitions must be shared between government, employers and individuals.

Of course the issue of attracting talented individuals into insurance in the first place also lies at the heart of the problem, which is why the CII has begun targeting all 400 of the UK's universities and 6,000 schools. The right training is not only crucial in closing existing skills gaps, but is also what will entice fresh blood to the diverse opportunities that exist within our industry. Raising awareness and offering first class training and development programmes towards a defined career path that rewards ability and learning will go a long way to attracting talented staff, as well as addressing the skills shortage.

The CII is further playing its part by orchestrating a dialogue with the industry and its senior figures to develop a comprehensive plan of action. This plan will be published in a consultation document in the near future and then implemented.

Of course, all sectors throughout the UK must engage the threat from an increasingly hungry and determined global marketplace by taking stock of the skills gaps and addressing them at an individual business level. The UK financial services sector is the single largest contributor to the UK balance of payments. It is therefore up to those in it to use the resources available to keep businesses fit and in doing so maintain the UK's position as a world class player.

- Lee Gladwell, Group sales and marketing director, Chartered Insurance Institute.