Prudential Singapore is stepping up its recruitment of mid-career individuals and fresh graduates amid the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The life insurer is hiring up to 500 more financial consultants in 2021 than this year, as the current health crisis has triggered growing awareness of and interest in insurance. The number of new hires will include up to 200 mid-career individuals selected for its new talent management programme. Additionally, it also wants to support the Singapore economy by giving a fillip to the employment market.
Prudential Singapore’s Chief Agency Officer John Soong said, “As one of the largest insurers in Singapore, we want to offer support to both mid-career job seekers and young people who face limited employment opportunities in this tough climate. We are also expanding our agency force to meet rising demand for medical and protection solutions, as the pandemic has brought into sharp relief the importance of insurance.”
He noted that the COVID-19 outbreak has severely disrupted the economy, and impacted businesses and individuals alike.
Opportunity for mid-career individuals who want to reinvent their careers
To support mid-career job seekers who want to pursue a career in insurance, Prudential Singapore is investing S$1 million in a talent management programme to train up to 200 individuals in financial advisory.
The insurer is also putting additional resources into recruitment, performance management, compensation and benefits, to ensure the success of the programme slated for launch in January 2021.
Eligible candidates will undergo a two-year structured training programme, including a 12-month competency and skilling course. The course covers both soft and hard skills such as technical training, product knowledge, leadership development, effective communications and social media content creation. To set the recruits up for success, they will be mentored by agency leaders who will provide them with the necessary support and guidance.
They will also receive a monthly allowance of up to S$10,000 pegged to relevant work experience for a period of 24 months.
“For mid-career individuals, this is an opportunity for them to reinvent their careers. Our programme has been designed to help eligible candidates fast-track their insurance careers by equipping them with critical technical and practical knowledge as well as the necessary soft skills. They will also benefit from mentoring by a team of agency leaders who will help them grow and succeed in their roles,” said Mr Soong.
More roles created for fresh graduates and young job seekers
Recognising that fresh graduates are also struggling to gain employment in the current economic climate, Prudential is creating more financial consultant roles for young job seekers.
Successful applicants will undergo a curated in-house training programme covering topics such as financial planning, plan construction, financial needs analysis, investment and retirement planning, to help them build their financial advisory skills and knowledge.
They will also receive a monthly transition allowance for the first 24 months to help them kick-start their career in insurance.
Strengthening the agency force’s digital capability and professionalism
As part of the digitalisation efforts, all financial consultants are equipped with digital tools and solutions to help them do their jobs more efficiently.
During the COVID-19 circuit-breaker period, the company invested in technology aids to allow all recruitment, onboarding, training, sales and advisory activities to be done completely online. For instance, the financial consultants could make use of PRURemote Advice - a video conferencing and e-signature tool - to provide financial advisory and complete policy sales online, without having to physically meet their customers. They could also leverage PRUForce, a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, to support them in engaging their customers more efficiently.
Prudential also places great importance on continuous learning and development for its agency force.
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