Game changer in insurance: Human capital development

By Cheranka Mendis

With Janashakthi Insurance posting record profits for 2012, crossing the Rs. 8 billion mark in consolidated revenue with an accelerated growth rate of 62% in what was described as a tough year for the insurance industry, the company counts its stringent cost controls coupled with strategies of prudent underwriting and skilled and empowered sales force as key factors that have driven the company to the heights it enjoys today.

Janashakthi General Manager Sales and Marketing Shehara De Silva noted that the sales force is the strength of the company and that Janashakthi invests Rs. 60 million on training to ensure that the quality and the level of the workforce remain at a higher standard within the industry.

Speaking to the Daily FT yesterday, De Silva said that insurance is a people driven industry of which success or failure depends on the calibre of its sales people. “We have taken a huge amount of interest in improving our manpower and training,” she said. “We are spending as much as Rs. 60 million now on training. People are sent from USA to Japan, UK, and Singapore for training. On top of that, we have a training department with seven or eight full time trainers and a calendar of activities all year round.”

Stressing on the huge emphasis on human capital development, De Silva said: “We feel that this is going to be the game changer.” There has been an increasing emphasis on issues related to self regulation and ethics, she asserted, and this means “playing hard and playing right.”

Knowledge is key, she said, and there is much emphasis on skill development and competency. The company has embraced a model through which they train the trainers and spend more attention on the type of people they bring in.

Janashakthi is also one of the few, if not the only insurance company, that is putting aside a fair amount towards paid salaries. “We are paying because we feel that they are morally responsible to us and attached to us in a more committed manner then,” De Silva said. “We pay more EPF, ETF and drive the business in a way that we feel is much more accountable. Of course, this means the costs are high but hopefully we will get a better calibre of individuals.”

The company has controlled its costs has ‘excellently’, given the fact that they have spent considerable sums on branding, upping their game in terms of salaries and in what they are offering to retain people, which is a major issue faced by the industry. “The industry has a huge problem when it comes to retention. This is part of the pressure. However, being able to pay more in salaries while getting good profits show that our efforts have not been in vain.”

Looking at 2013 as the ‘real year for pushing Life insurance, she noted that in this area of business, Janashakthi has done a fair amount of cleaning up and rationalising, migrating from investment products to conventional products. “We have rebranded ourselves. We have started changing our touch points. The logo has been refreshed. We retain our core identity but we are pushing a slightly broader perception point – we are modernising the brand while keeping the core values of the company,” De Silva explained.

Janashakthi is proud to be local, down to earth, simple, friendly, and accessible. “We do however realise that we have to be more aggressive in how we reach out to the market.”

The company places heavy emphasis on product innovation and is looking at ways to bridge the gaps in the market. The recently launched ‘Janashakthi LifeSaver’, a product developed by its founder and current Deputy Chairman Chandra Schaffter, is one such product.

Describing this as a “game changing product”, De Silva acknowledged that this latest offering serves the national needs of a fast aging population as a pension or retirement product which is a two-in-one, multi faceted one.

“On one level, it is almost a two-in-one product so it has a Life insurance, a life policy cover in case of an inevitability of death and we have a component which is a retirement or savings product. It is the most flexible product, I would think anywhere in the world, in the way it is structured.”

Mid this year, the company hopes to launch a product that supports the education sector as well. On the motor side, the business is much stronger for the company, she noted. Janashakthi, which has its own garages and an interesting vehicle emergency plan, is now concentrating on value addition by offering motor clinics for the people. “We feel that we are very competitive.”

“Research has shown that in terms of brand strength and brand loyalty, people are very happy with the mother brand ‘Janashakthi’,” De Silva said. Janashakthi will continue its journey by playing its part in distributing knowledge about insurance among the public, presenting products that will benefit the society and engaging in CSR projects that will enlighten and empower segments of the community.

Above all, the company will pursue its activities in establishing a skilled sales force to take the company to greater heights while helping the insurance industry grow. “At the end of the day, everything depends on the sales volume we bring in,” she said.