ASHEVILLE, North Carolina and PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies on June 26 presented the Award in Innovation at its 2019 Management Conference in Asheville, N.C., to MMG Insurance, headquartered in Presque Isle.
MMG received the overall award for its innovative approach in attracting millennials to its employee base and developing leadership skills within currently employed young professionals.
“Facing the looming talent shortage industry-wide, we realized the need for a new and innovative approach to career design and evolution,” said Larry Shaw, president and CEO of MMG. “It’s a multi-pronged approach that creates a strategic and successful talent pipeline in which employees are empowered by aspiration and the narrative around the insurance industry has been transformed.”
MMG’s goals in creating this new strategy were to improve the quality of entry-level employees; increase the percentage of millennial-age employees; capitalize on developing talent; and prepare promising segments of the company for long-term growth. And, from September 2013 to December 2018, the percentage of millennial employees has nearly doubled at the company, increasing from 21 percent to 38 percent of its workforce.
“This strategy has enabled our company to achieve a significant shift in demographics, increasing our millennial percentage in particular,” said Matthew McHatten, MMG’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“As we develop new and existing talent and support emerging leaders, the positive impacts are felt across the workplace, from increased collaboration to more mindful approaches to work-life balance and refocused attention on career growth and movement,” McHatten said. “We’re confident we’ve designed an approach that reinforces the value of our industry.”
In presenting the award to Shaw, Chuck Chamness, NAMIC’s president and CEO, remarked, “Throughout the United States, businesses are scrambling to fill jobs left behind by retiring baby boomers. This talent shortage has moved the property/casualty insurance industry to the forefront of creating new and innovative ways to attract young people to the industry, all the while developing leadership skills within current employees to prepare them for the future.
“The creative and effective strategy employed by MMG to build its employee and leadership base is a great example for the insurance industry and the business sector as a whole.”
