Factors Affecting Life Insurance Agent Turn Over Commerce Essay

Factors Affecting Life Insurance Agent Turn Over Commerce Essay This case study aims to explore factors commonly believed to affect life insurance agent turn over. Several factors has been affected to life insurance agent turnover. The factors are demographic, organizational and selling skill factors. Factor demographic are age,length of service, family size and responsibility, education,martial status and . Second the organizational factors consist of employee commitment, employee satisfaction, compensation. training and development, supervisor-agent relationship and organizational Culture. Third factors are seling skils consist of running out client list, lack of interpersonal skills,lack of salesmanship skills. Impact of all factors has been positive significat to turn over. Keywords: Life insurance agent, turn over, demographic, organizational, selling skill Introduction Turnover of life insurance agent is a classic problem that occurs in almost all insurance companys, therefore it is becomes important for them because it associated with the development of the companies. Agent development was surved by many research companys and one of them is LIMRA Life Insurance Marketing and Research association (LIMRA). They publication in 2005 has been results, 68% of agents to end his career in the insurance companies in the first 2 years on their career .(Honans, 2006). Honan pointed out that some agents often voluntarily leave from one company to another for company or make own business for themselves. Beside that agents are asked to leave due to not achived minimum target requirements, than there are agents turn over 31% with a 4-year retention rate of 14% according LIMRA survey. In Indonesia survey for agent development very periochial, we only found about growth as insurance companies. Base on survey Indonesian economy in 2010, as reflected in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 14.4% from Rp5,614.3 trillion in 2009 to Rp6,422.9 trillion in 2010. Within the same period, gross premium income of insurance industry increased by 17,5% from Rp106.4 trillion in 2009 to Rp125.1 trillion in 2010. Thus, the ratio of gross premium to GDP increased in 2010 from 1.90% to 1.95%. As of the end of December 2010, there were 377 companies having business licenses to operate in Indonesia which consist of 142 insurance and reinsurance companies, and 235 insurance business supporting companies. The insurance and reinsurance companies consist of 46 life insurance companies, 87 non life insurance companies, 4 reinsurance companies, 2 companies administering social insurance program and workers social security, and 3 companies administering insurance for civil servants and armed forces / police. The number of life and non life insurance companies per 31 December 2010 is the lowest for last five years (Indonesia Insurance 2010). The other hand survey all staff turn over has been done by the global management consulting firm Hay Group Hay Group .Base on their survey rate of staff turnover in Indonesia was increased The research was shown that the Indonesian insurance industrys turnover in 2007 is at 10.7% and 12.7% in 2008. The research indicated that salary increase is the most cited reason for job hopping. The study suggests that companies must make a continuous effort to create an attractive working environment to retain employees. In general, people have bought insurance product based on 20% of the benefits of the product, 20% was seen the background of the insurance companies and 60% depending on agent offered. Because the Indonesian people in general are prefer interacting and their want to get more detailed information directly from agent. Hence to said insurance agent is the vanguard of the company. The purpose of this study is to explore factors commonly believed to affect life insurance agent turn over in the JV Insurance Indonesia. Furthermore, a case study of turn over is presented to show the impact of turn over in the JV Insurance Indonesia. In order to ensure the confidentiality, the name of company has changed, so that the informations indicated do not affect the reputation of the company The JV Insurance Indonesia. The JV Insurance Indonesia belongs to JV Group of Companies, the largest life insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia with its two distribution channels the tied agency and bancassurance.The JV Insurance Indonesia started its operation in Indonesia in1996, with headquarters in Jakarta and several Sales Offices in big cities in Indonesia. The JV Group is a subsidiary of O Bank, the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets. It is among the worlds highest rated banks, with a long term credit rating of Aa1 from Moodys. It is also ranked by Bloomberg Markets as the worlds strongest bank. Since 1908, The JV Group has a strong legacy of putting you first. We make life great by providing financial security, and promoting good health and meaningful relationships. With our comprehensive suite of plans to meet your every need, you can be assured of true peace of mind. Literature Review Insurance Agents Insurance agents are primarily responsible for searching, collecting, selling insurance products and other financial services. Knowledge agents on selling product have been considered equal to company knowledge. Misconduct of an agents are responsibility of the company; This are bind company to clients. Notice from clients to insurance agents, as same as to the insurance company. (http://www.aaji.or.id/InfoCenter/Dictionary.aspx) Turnover Turnover is defined as the number of people who leave a job or organization (DeNisi Griffin, 2008). Cascio and Boudreau (2008) said that a more appropriate way to define turnover is to consider, not only separation, but also the replacement of employees leaving. Turnover in the organization has become a very investigated area (eg, Marsh Mannari, 1977; Mobley, 1977,1982; Bluedorn, 1982; Horner, Hollingsworth, 1978. Cotton Tuttle, 1986; Mathieu Zajac, 1990; Babkus, Cravens, Johnston, Moncrief 1996;; Gaertner, 1999; Hom Griffeth, 1995; Rhodes, Eisenberger, Armeli, , 2001; Meyer et al, 2002; Alleyna, 2002; Zacharatos, Herschcovis, Turner, Barling, 2007; Hong, Wei, Chen, 2007; Clark, 2007). Turnover can lead to loss of productivity, quality of service interruption, lost of business opportunities, and demoralized employees who live (Hom Griffeth, 1995; Mobley, 1982). Limiting turnover would be beneficial to organization. Insurance Agents and Turnover Empirical research on the insurance agents and turnover is limited. Current statistics indicate the turnover rate of 85% for women and 81% for males four-years model (Huffman, 2007). This statistic is an increase from two years earlier that showed the overall turnover of 89% in 2005 (Brown, 2004) and 86% in 2004 (Higgins, 2003) using a 4-year retention rate. While the turnover rate has increased, losing more than 80% of the industrial workforce for the past four years is quite expensive. Muise (2007) showed that 28% of U.S. insurance agents hired in early 2006 were not employed with the same company at the end of 2006. Moreover, the greatest loss occurs before the second year employment is complete. Huffman (2007) determined that 62% of women and 53% men are no longer employed by the same insurance company at the end of two years. Berris and Jackson (2008) notes that turnover was the biggest frustration for managers, owners and employees of the insurance companies. It is clear that i nsurance agents are a valuable commodity in the field of insurance. Sadly, there are not sufficent agents to adequately serve the community. In addition, retention is at a staggering low level while recruitment cannot compete with the speed of the insurance agents leave the industry. In addition, turnover is a consistent problem that inhibits the insurance industry. Determining the factors that increase retention and minimize the necessary intention to leave for the insurance industry to continue to thrive. There are many factors that cause an employee to intent to leave the organization. The research was not all encompassing. This study only offered additional information to the body of knowledge. Prior studies and research in the future will continue to add to the body of knowledge considering employees intent to leave the organization. Problem Description The company is a complex organization that consists of many resources, one of which is human resources. One of problems in corporate human resources is inten to leave of employee impress of agent turn over, If agent has a sense of satisfaction in work or enviroment of company, then the agent would demonstrate good personally in companies. Base on theory, job satisfaction is negatively related to employee turnover, higher job satisfaction associated with low turnover, whereas the less satisfied employees show higher turnover. But in the current conditions of the country of Indonesia with a high unemployment rate and lack of alternative work, will lead to a lot of people would think twice about leaving their job, they prefer to stay in their job even though it may in fact employees are not satisfied with the work. Based on the pre-survey in the JV Insurance Indonesia was found in 2011 a common problem associated with the employee is the employee dissatisfaction on commision factors and the relationship between superior and subordinate that makes some employees who are not satisfied will resign his job. It marked the turnover rate of employees in the BL Insurance Indonesia in 2011 is higher in the amount of 20.60% depend on 5,76 % in 2010. This is certainly very interesting to study further. Is there job satisfaction associated with employee turnover rate in the companys current condition? Based on the mentioned hence the issues will be investigated in this study are: 1. What factors that can influenced turn over rate of insurance agents of The JV Insurance Indonesia? 2. How is improvement efforts need to be implemented by the JV Insurance Indonesia to enhance employee satisfaction and reduce the levels of turnover occurring? STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Considering all these issues study determines its Factors Affecting Life Insurance Agent Turnover (case study in The JV Insurance Indonesia ) FINDING Demograpic analysis Demographic factors may influence the occurrence of turnover. Those factors are age, length of service, education, family size and responsibility and marital status. Age The result of these study show that the majority of respondent are young agent. Young agent indicate a higher turnover rate than workers with older. Previous research shows there is a strong negative relationship between age and turnover, The negative relationships that exists in these studies mean as age increase the rate of turrnover decreases, Older agents are reluctant to move because of work and family responsibilities and they do not want to work from the beginning in a new place. They do not get comfortable even though their will get a new salary and more facilities more bigger. The length of service The length of service as define by Bluedorn (1982;140) is the amount of time an individual has been a member of organisation. The result of these study has been indicated a negative relationship between length of service and turnover, Its mean the agent with shorter length of service with an organisation are more likely to leave Family size and responsibility Stone and athelstan (1969) who studied turnove among famales shows that there is positive relationship between increses in family size and increased tendencies to turnover. This contrast in the findings on the impact of family size among male and female turnover can be simply explained by the typical rule of traditional sex-role differentiation in the family Education Recent studies dealing with education, suggest that there is evidence to link better-educated agents with higher rates of turnover than less-educated agents. The result of these study has been indicated a positive relationship between education and turnover Marital Status Several previous studies have demonstrated the relationship between marital status and labor turnover. Unmarried agent are more likely to leave a job compared to married agent. The result of these study has been indicated a positve relationship between marital status and turnover. That means single agent have higher turnover than that of married agent. Organizational Factors analysis Several researchers have examined the turnover problem as a consequence of high turnover or excessively costly to the organization (North et al., 2005). Previous research has shown that many considerations affected to the decision to leave a company. Quantitative and qualitative research studies have shown correlative patterns that can both explain and predict agent turnover. The literature on agent turnover is very broad. The shortage of workers significantly impact overall organizational effectiveness and employee spirit (Bame, 1993; Fitzpatrick, 2002; Harrington, Zimmerman, Karon, Robinson, Beutel, 2000). When agent turnover becomes excessive , productivity suffers, decreased services, increased cost, and leaves the knowledge of the firm (Drucker, 1998; Fitzpatrick, 2002; Shaw, Gupta, Delery, 2002). Employee Commitment The relationship between agent commitment and tendency to either stay with or leave an organization has been the source of much academic inquiry (Blau, 1985; Meyer, Allen, Smith, 1993; Morrow, 1983). Commitment to job or the employer has been the subject of confusion because of different definitions for the concept of commitment (Morrow, 1983). Meyer and Allen (1991) define organizational commitment as a psychological state that (a) the character of the relationship between employees and the organization, and (b) has implications for the decision to continue or discontinue membership in the organization (p. 61). This could take shape in the way employees become emotionally attached to or identify with an organization, the fear of losing their commitment and identity with an organization, or a sense of obligation to an employer (Meyer Allen, 1991). Based on emotional commitment, two main directions of research that appears (a) studies examining agents emotional commitment agents and (b) studies examining attitudinal commitments. Agents commitment has affected the turnover rate. in these study showed little their commitment to an company. Employee Satisfaction Employee satisfaction has the effect of work-related outcomes such as job performance, commitment to an organization, discretionary activities, absenteeism, turnover, and delays (Hulin Judge, 2003; Johns, 2001, Judge, Parker, Colbert, Heller, Ilies, 2001; Warr, 1999) Employee satisfaction is one that affects the turnover can be divided into three sub-categories: (a) dispositional, (b) situational, and (c) integrational (Arvey, Carter, Buerkley, 1991; 2001 Judge et al.) In these study suggests there is a tendency not fulfilled employee satisfaction Compensation Compensation affected the agent retention strategies (Corporate Leadership Council, 1999, Williams Sunderland, 1999). Many studies show that compensation was a key determinant retention (Dreher, 1982; Gerhart Milkovich, 1992; Griffeth, Hom, Gaertner, 2000; Harrison, Virick, Williams, 1996; Porter Lawler, 1968; Schwab, 1991; Steers Mowday, 1981). there are variations of several studies have shown that compensation for increased performance (Milkovich Newman, 1996). Other researchers have questioned the premise that retention is connected to compensation (Kim, 1999; Kohn, 1993; Pfeffer, 1998). Pay-for-performance structures have been studied for their impact on individual performance improvement (Jenkins, Mitra, Gupta, Shaw, 1998) and organizational performance (Gerhart, 2000). Because a lot of insurance companies pay their agents based on commission, not salary, they do not making enough money from commission may realize that they will not be able to fulfill their basic necess ities and may need to look elsewhere for work. In these study compensation has affected the performance of the agent to remain in a company. Training and Development According to some previous studies the effects of training and development programs have reduced turnover. That program on employee development has shown that improving agent skills as a result. Martin (2003) asserts that there is a complex relationship between turnover and employee development. Martin found that increased the skills of workers on the job resulted in a lower rate of turnover for the organization.. Supervisor-agent Relationship This study is the relationship between agent and supervisor. The quality of that relationship affects the commitment of the agent (Galagan, 2000; Kaye and Jordan-Evans, 2000; Kinni von Hoffman, 2000; Tulgan, 2001). These study has shown that voluntary turnover is due to the low quality of the supervisor-agent relationship (Dobbs, 2001; Kaye and Jordan-Evans, 2000). Supervisor-agent relationship quality assessed by the effectiveness and communication styles between the two sides. In the supervisor-agent studies and their impact on motivation and job satisfaction, the differences in communication styles have been neglected to date (Mayfield, Mayfield, Kopf, 1995, 1998; Sharbrough, Simmons, Cantrill, 2006 Organizational Culture The study of effects cultural organization have been at the retention of employees show there is a strong correlation between organizational culture and turnover (Galagan, 2000; Kaye Jordan-Evans, 2000; Kinni von Hoffman, 2000; Salopek, 2000). Work environment or organizational culture where relationships are based on trust and integrity, the staff is treated as a unique individual, and personal relationships taken care positively impact employee turnover. Good relationships between supervisors and agent or between agents and agents affect the decision to stay or leave a company (Friedrich, 2001; Morrison Chan, 2000). Instead, the results showed that the stress levels of employees, lack of support from supervisors or management,, and non-empowering work environment had negative effect on turnover (Friedrich, 2001; Hemingway Smith, 1999). Sales Skills Sales skills factors caused insurance agent turn over. There factors are consist of Running out client list Running out client list due to agents have been limited relationship held and the lack of ability to build relationships with new people. They were afraid ask for references from their clients Lack of interpersonal skill Agents are not motivated due to lack of support from managers to provide encouragement and the assistance required. They were not given enough motivation to remain in the company. Lack of salesmanship. Agents had been unable to selling product because they were not received training on how to selling a good product, lot of agents do not have a background in marketing and insurance so that they had difficulty in adapting the marketing environment Discussion Turnover agent has been affected by job satisfaction. Job satisfaction can be broken down into short-term assessment and long-term assessment. Short-term assessment is the intention to leave the company before 1 year. Long-term assessment in relation to intention to leave in the next 24 months. Respondents indicated that the commission, rewards and benefits are part of the top level in the short term. Gifts of money, non-monetary rewards and appreciation even considered as an important reason to consider when deciding to leave in the short term. Factors such as operating procedures, the nature of work, organizational communication, co-workers, and supervisors are most strongly associated with intention to leave in the short term. Factors of working enviroment, good career opportunities, and communication around the organization in the long term will occurred for agent, they will be becomes important when considering leaving within the next two years. Operating procedure is still the most important and minimal supervision can still be considered in turnover. Overall, in the short term, the five strongest factors to consider reducing the intention to leave in the next year including affective commitment, commitment to sustainability, contingen awards, commissions, and benefits. The five least important factor for respondents in the short term include normative commitment, operating procedures, justice, information, monitoring, and nature of work. Suggestions for minimizing turnover Companies should improve the recruitment agent system. companies create training programs that aim to meet the needs of agents such as how to increase ability to sell products and good approach to clients. The company should require agents to have an agency license Companies must improve operating system procedures, so that agents can smoothly in administrative affairs. Designing forms used for agent activity in selling products The company should improve the system of compensation, bonuses and awards. The company established a corporate culture for all employees, especially convenient for the agent. Improving relationship between supervisor and agent, thus forming a mutually beneficial relationship between two parties Conslusion These study revealed interesting results regarding intent to quit before 1 year. Most agents were satisfied and had no intent to quit in 6 and 12 months. Several economic and demographic factors like comission and age did not affect agent intent to quit before 1 year. In marital status factors almost half of unattached employees, such as single, widowed, and divorced agent had intent to quit before 1 year. The result shown that a higher percentage of unattached agents intent to quit before 1 year and had lower organizational commitment. In organization commitment factor was lack of organization commitment that contributed to the external factors, such as downsizing and outsourcing. Also, unattached agent have minimal risks with intent to quit due to less years invested and limited retirement investments. The results revealed that married agent no intent to quit due to high organization commitment, in order to maintain family responsibilities and future retirement. The relationship between commision and turnover is significant. Agents anticipate their sacrifice of time, energy and completion of job responsibilities to be demonstrated through rewards, such as reward and bonuses. When rewards and bonuses are not sufficient, then employees feel unappreciated and dissatisfied. As a result, negative attitudes and behaviors are demonstrated through minimal job performance and productivity like low achived premium target . In addition, negative attitudes and productivity increase agents intent to quit from company for additional experience and skills for potential career advancements. Similar to commision, promotions contribute to agents intent to quit in 1 year. However, insufficient commition and limited promotions increase agents intent to quit from organizations, in order to obtain additional experience and skills for higher commition and future career advancements. Future research and Limitations The limitation of these research identified the collection of data from a small site in Jakarta Indonesia to generalize to a large population of employees in the insurance industry. Future research is needed to obtain feedback from a larger sample rather than a smaller sample of the population. Future research will enable levels of management and human resource programs to enhance existing and incorporate additional programs to accommodate a diversified population of employees. Another area of future research includes modifications with the demographic survey. The survey used in the study did not include variables, such as status of education.

Destiny as a Fictive Device in Cats Cradle, Mother Night, and Jailbird

The literary genius of Kurt Vonnegut is evidenced by his ability to weave a story from the most mundane of characters and circumstances into an intricate web of possibilities for his stories by using literary tools such as cause and effect, congruence and destiny. Here we will examine Vonnegut's use of one of these literary tools, destiny as a fictive device, which serves to propel the three following books: Cat's Cradle, Mother Night, and Jailbird. Kurt Vonnegut is a master of fictive devices because he uses them to construct an intricate web of possibilities for his stories to proceed on. Destiny, as the dictionary tells us, is "a predetermined course of events often held to be a resistless power or agency," and in these three novels, Kurt Vonnegut implies that destiny is just the way things are bound to be. Some of the many forms of destiny used by Vonnegut to guide his characters and to shove his stories into the right direction include: destiny for people who don't believe in destiny; such as religious persons, anti-destiny; the idea of what might have been, and predestination; the idea that what happens to you is already decided. In Jailbird, Vonnegut uses a particularly obscure main character named Walter F. Starbuck. Walter F. Starbuck was a normal, law-abiding citizen in his fifties, with a wife and a son who didn't like him, but, by using destiny as a fictive device, Kurt Vonnegut creates an amazing story filled with adventure, love, and betrayal. In the novel Mother Night Vonnegut lays out the life of his main character, Howard W Campbell, Jr., from when he was ... ... "And, inwardly, I sarooned, which is to say that I aquiesed to the seeming demands of my vin-dit."(p137 Cat's Cradle). A vin-dit is "...a Bokononist word meaning a sudden, very personal shove in the direction of Bokononism,..."(p53 Cat's Cradle). By making the character of John believe in destiny, anything that happens, which sounds like destiny, the character will react to. This gives the author more to write about. Kurt Vonnegut is a great author of American literature because of how he uses literary tools to write his exciting stories. Destiny used as a fictive device is the easiest tool Kurt Vonnegut uses to fertilise the lives of his characters, but it is also the most effective. If more teachers taught about how destiny is used as a fictive device, then we would all benefit, as writers and readers.

My Favorite Restaurant

I don’t like homemade food too much so I often tend to go out to have lunch or dinner; I’m not talking about fast food, in fact I don’t like fast food that much. So the first place that always popped to my mind is the Ponto Alto restaurant; it is my favorite restaurant in town for many reasons. I visit this restaurant 2 to 3 per week; it is located on a hill in the Bahsass area in front of the sea, so you can imagine how beautiful the view is up there. This is the biggest reason why I like this restaurant the view is amazing especially during the sunset!One can sit-down and have their food while looking to its beautiful view, it is so relieving. Of course since I go there a lot the food must be great. It serves Italian food such as pasta and pizza and also large varieties of chicken and beef with its remarkable sauce. It’s not like fast-food it much closer to home food but more delicious and very healthy also. The dà ©cor and design inside are very creati ve; it has a large painting on the ceiling with cheerful colors that draws a smile on your face every time you look up and see it.Moreover, the restaurant also play many classical English and French music, which make you relax and comfortable! Lastly all the servants in the restaurant are both warm and hospitable they make you feel like at home. In conclusion, I think that Ponto Alto is the perfect place to eat and have a quite time especially if you are out with the wife or girl friend. I don’t hesitate for a second to recommend anyone to visit and try this unique restaurant.

Colugos Lemur-looking Creatures but Unrelated

Colugos (Cynocephalidae), also known as flying lemurs, are arboreal, gliding mammals that inhabit the forests of Southeast Asia. There are two living species of colugos. Colugos are skilled gliders that rely on flaps of skin that stretch between their legs to glide from one branch to the next. Despite one of their common names being flying lemur, colugos are not closely related to lemurs. Physiology Colugos grow to lengths of between 14 and 16 inches and weights of between 2 and 4 pounds. Colugos have long and slender limbs, all of which are of about equal length (front limbs are not shorter or longer than rear limbs). Colugos have a small head, large front-facing eyes and small round ears. Their eyesight is very good. The flap of skin that extends from their limbs to their body is well suited for gliding. Of all mammals that glide in a similar manner, colugos are the most skilled. The gliding membrane is also known as a patagium. It extends from the shoulder blades to the front paw and from the tip of the front paw to the rear paw. It also runs between the rear paws and the tail. There is also webbing membrane between the fingers and toes. Despite their skills as gliders, colugos are not very good at climbing trees.​ Colugos inhabit tropical rainforests throughout Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal mammals that are usually quite shy and solitary. Not much is known about their behavior. They feed on leaves, shoots, sap, fruit and flowers and are considered to be herbivores. Their intestine is long, an adaptation that enables them to extract nutrients from leaves and other plant material which is often difficult to digest. Colugos are threatened by habitat destruction. Their lowland forest habitats are being felled and hunting also has also negatively impacted their populations. Colugus have unique incisor teeth, they have a comb-like texture and shape and each tooth has numerous grooves in it. The reason for this unique tooth structure is not yet understood. Colugos are placental mammals but they are also similar to marsupials in some ways. The young are born after a 60-day gestation period and are tiny and not yet well-developed. During the first six months of their life, they cling to their mothers belly for protection as they grow. The mother curls her tail to hold the young colugo as she glides. Classification Culogos are classified within the following taxonomic hierarchy: Animals Chordates Vertebrates Tetrapods Amniotes Mammals Culogos Culogos are divided into the following taxonomic groups: Sunda flying lemur (Galeopterus variegates) - The Sunda flying lemur inhabits the tropical forest in Southeast Asia including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Sunda flying lemurs are nocturnal arboreal mammals that feed on plant material including shoots, fruit, flowers and leaves. There are four living subspecies of Sunda flying lemurs and are distinguished by their range (one lives in Java, another in Sumatra, one in Borneo and another in Malaysia and Mainland Southeast Asia).Philippine flying lemur (Cynocephalus volans) - The Philippine flying lemur, also known as the kagwang, is endemic to the Philippines where its populations are centered near Mindanao and Bohol. Philippine flying lemurs inhabit lowland and montane forests.  Philippine flying lemurs are folivores, which means their diet consists mainly of leaves, fruits, flowers and buds. Philippine flying lemurs are arboreal and forage primarily in the treetops. They rarely come down to the forest floor to move ab out or forage.