standard procedure or workflow that an employee must follow when performing a business activity . Be it providing an auto id card or supplying a certificate of liability insurance to a third party , the procedures manual outlines the steps to take to carry out the activity .
Outlining the appropriate and correct workflow for everybody to follow reduces mistakes . Second , since mistakes do happen , the procedures manual can and should be regularly updated , especially after discovering mistakes have been made .
Whether it is an individual who didn ’ t follow the procedures manual or a critical step is missing from the manual , a regularly updated manual is an active , breathing document that seeks to help the agency learn from its errors and make improvements moving forward .
Improved Employee Efficiency Related to the employee training benefits below , a good procedures manual helps improve employee efficiency by accurately anticipating questions of both new hires and existing employees and covering those questions in the manual itself , which reduces the amount of time other employees or the management team will need to spend answering questions .
Simplified Training Process Hiring and retaining employees is one of the biggest challenges our industry is facing ( i . e . see Dave ’ s article about our recent agency survey on page 26 ; our agents identified as hiring & training as their # 1 challenge ). Utilizing your procedures manual as a training tool for new hires benefits both new hires as well as your agency .
New hires can familiarize themselves with your procedures and workflows enumerated in the manual . And , by having new hires work through your procedures manual , you can obtain their feedback on what makes sense , what could be improved , what should be updated to reflect new technologies or processes , etc . It ’ s a great way to gain credibility by seeking the feedback of your new hires and then implementing at least some of their ideas .
Reduction of Potential E & O Claims Having a well-written agency procedures manual ( that is regularly updated and followed by all employees ) reduce an agency ’ s liability , especially as it pertains to E & O claims .
When one of your clients suffers an uncovered loss or underinsured loss , it is crucially important to show the steps your agency took to reduce or mitigate any potential losses . Courts will look at a variety of factors in determining liability , but having standard procedures in place to prevent mistakes and uncover exposures is a great defense for insurance agencies .
Creating and regularly updating an agency procedures manual is a daunting task . But one that is very worthwhile to your agency due to its benefits .
• You will have employees that bristle at having to change their way .
• You will have producers and account managers butting heads and passionately disagreeing about the best and most efficient workflows for certificates and endorsements .
• You may have team members that absolutely refuse to follow a procedures manual ( Kristina Dietrick of HR Partners can help you in that scenario !).
It ’ s likely everyone in your agency will have to change some of their workflows . But the end product is not just better E & O loss control , but a more efficient , productive , and highly train staff that can focus on better service to your clients . •
Beth Smoller is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel for KAIA , and has been in the insurance industry for 18 years . She earned her Bachelor ’ s degree from Kansas State University and her Juris Doctor form the University of Kansas School of Law . She previously worked as an operations director and commercial account manager for an independent insurance agency .
22 KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER