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Sharad Gangal, GM HR, HDFC Standard Life (View Comments)
Posted On Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 10:23:15 PM
Transcript of the live chat conducted with Sharad Gangal, GM HR, HDFC Standard Life (Life Insurance) on March 10 between 3-4 pm
Moneymatters: Hello Sir. Wanted to check the minimum qualifications required to join an insurance company?
SharadGangal: For the front line Sales, what we call as Sales Development Manager the qualification is Graduate in any discipline with about 18 to 24 months sales experience. We also have a programme called first advantage where freshers are selected on the basis of test and interview and then they undergo a 3 month training on both, Insurance and Behavioral and on successful completion they are taken on company rolls.
Radhika: Hi, what are the various career options at an Insurance firm that a management graduate can look for?
SharadGangal: We have a Managment Trainee programme that started about 2 years back and we have been taking MT's in HR, Operations and Sales. However, for this programme one has to come through the campus.
Zoya: Often the high performing people in NBFC sector are getting the offers from competitors with drastic hike in the salary. In these tough times its not always easy to compensate them accordingly. What should be done to tackle this?
SharadGangal: The answer to this is actually, mentoring employees that compensation is not the only differentiator, we need to engage young talent in conversation relating to the richness of the job, career, learning and development, culture, celebration and the values the organization brings to the table. Its not only about compensation, all of us learn by experience that the excitement of salary hike has a limited shelf life.
Alethea: Are there any specialised courses for jobs in the Insurance sector?
SharadGangal: Apart from the Banking and Insurance on the syllabus of some of the Universities, not that I am aware of, pl connect with Insurance Institute of India at Pune, they may have. The kind of skill set that is required in Insurance sector is unique and the Industry in a true sense is still evolving and in a development phase. Thats the reason why we have started the course of First Advantage as you can see from my response to Moneymatters.
Rebecca: What are the different Insurance sales careers?
SharadGangal: You probably mean, as to where does one go if he or she joins as Sales Development Managers, in our case, we have a career dev. programme that starts immediately after the confirmation. On achievement of certain milestones one can go to the next level. Generally after these achievements for say about 18/24 months one does get qualifed for what we have in our compnay called as Branch Managers, for which one has to pass the Assessment Centre test.
Pramodh021: The perception of common man to the career in the insurance sector is not that good.Any Comments?
SharadGangal: Not true, today Insurance sector is one of the biggest employer, it is in fact a sun rise sector. All of us have in front of us more than 22 companies in pvt sector and LIC. All of them put together have huge number of employees and given that the starting is graduation with about 18/24 months experience, it does provide ample opportunities to the common man, I feel.
Kinjal: HR role differs from industry to industry,what kind of role HR plays in insurance industry?
SharadGangal: The basic role of HR life cycle is from recruitment to retirement, to put it very simplistically. The domain deliverables do not differ much, its about rescourcing, engaging, HR generalist, HR operations, Learning and Dev. etc. The emphasis may differ from company to company depending on the life cycle the company is and the business strategy the company is pursuing.
Nivi: Please let me know the career prospects in insurance industry as compared to telecom.
SharadGangal: Diffiicult to compare as they are completely different sectors. All I can say is that the potential for penetration is quite high in Insurance sector. However, the skill sets required are also quite distinct between telecom and insurance.
Ranjeeta: Hi Sir. I want to know what kind of HR Org structure is followed in an Insurance Company? What type of Performance Management system is followed and what measures is taken to make it a transparent system?
SharadGangal: HR is basically organized at the regional levels and also at the HO. The regional roles are recruitment, induction, and onboarding. The HO roles are about centres of excellence like Talent Management and Development, Learning and Development etc. The performance measures are around the Key Result Areas defined at the beginning of the year, that align to the company goals and their achievement or otherwise. At the end of the year as in any other industry appraisal is carried out and rating and increments are decided. I can speak for HDFCSL , we have a very transparent process of KRA's deifned and the reviews done. In fact we carry out Appraisal workshops every year for the benefit of Appraisers and Appraisees to make them aware of the process.
Pritampyare: What solidifies a career in the insurance sector?
SharadGangal: If you take sales as a career, one should have selling skills, domain knowledge about financial services and in particular Insurance sector, Relationship Managment , ability to build trust, Team managment and mentoring juniors on how to do apart from what to do makes one successful?
Zac: What is the maximum an HR executive can get paid?
SharadGangal: That depends on the profile and the skill set one brings to the table.
Kingston: Do you have a team leader position based totally on variable pay, yes/ no? Please elaborate. SharadGangal: We dont have a team leader position on a completely Variable pay. We have financial consultants who are compensated by way of commission basis the sales they bring in, its completely variable as you can see.
Rebecca: What are the qualifications or experience needed to be a trainer in the insurance sector? SharadGangal: Sales Training Experience and a post graduate, basically the person should have passion for training and if he/she has done actual selling too, it will be even great as the person will be able to marry real life with concepts or otherwise.
Sujata: I would like to know as im working for education industry (Asst Manager - HR). Is it a right option to shift to Insurance & Banking?
SharadGangal: Yes, provided you have professional qualifications in HR- M B A HR?
Zac: What according to you are the skills an HR executive is expected to have and what type of skills differentiate him from the masses?
SharadGangal: Already answered this,
Somil: Hello sir. I m a student of actuarial sciences & a new entrant in this field. I have heard that there are lack of training opportunities in the actuarial job market. What is the future scenerio of this crunch that you foresee?
SharadGangal: Not sure of training opportunities, but the career opportunities for Actuarial trainees are immense, with newer Insurance companies coming in and innovation on product lines, the industry as of now has a huge apetite to have actuarial intake. In fact we encourage our Actuarial staff, who come in as trainees to successfull complete the course.
Zoya: Are there any technical qualifications needed to be a part of the insurance industry?
SharadGangal: What exactly you mean by technical, if I take a guess for Actuarial dept. yes, for Underwriting yes. Otherwise its largelyl Grads, M B A's, CA's etc. I hope I have answered.
Somil: Why the companies are not hiring people who have completed around 4-5 papers without training experience. what according to you is the best time to join as a trainee in actuarial field?
SharadGangal: One should start once one has done the level you have mentioned. I think you should have reasonably good opportunites.
Indrani: I am an MBA HR. getting calls from consultancies. Is it worth to start from a small consultancy? SharadGangal: One gets learning from every opportunity, unless you have personal reasons not to go, please do it.
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