Field Management Seminar
(FMS)
What is the Field Management Seminar (FMS)?
- The insurance
industry’s answer to the continuing needs of field
managers. It’s sponsored by the Agency Management
Training Council
- An opportunity
for field managers to sharpen and refine their
management skills through intensive, peer-oriented
training consisting of discussions, workshops, and
audio and video presentations
- One full day
devoted to a topic of major concern to all field
managers
Who should enroll?
- All field
managers qualify to attend the FMS
- A special
invitation is extended to agency marketing directors
and marketing specialists
What are the benefits of the FMS?
Managers who enroll in the FMS have the opportunity to:
- Develop new
field management skills
- Polish and
refresh unused skills
- Interact
locally with peers who are interested in common goal
of management skills development
- Use practical
tools and techniques in the same way as they would
use them in the field
- Be involved in
a continuing management development program
When, where, and how is the FMS organized?
- Classes are
offered either through the training department of
your company or through a sponsoring organization in
your country designation by LIMRA. Each local
organization appoints an FMS chairperson who is
responsible for such activities as enrolling
students, recommending a class moderator, and
arranging for classroom facilities
- Moderators are
primarily responsible for class functioning once the
seminar is under way
How does the FMS fit into my company’s management development program?
- The FMS is
intended to augment your company’s efforts, not to
replace them
- Follow-up and
reinforcement by your company’s field officers and
training director is part of the benefit of the
seminar
- Students are
exposed to standardized field management principles
that work for all distribution systems
- Students are
asked to critically evaluate the forms, procedures,
processes, systems, etc., that they now use to
manage. Based on this analysis, students may adapt
the seminar materials and/or create new ones so they
are better able to manage their unit/agency
- The end product
of the seminar is the completion of postseminar
projects encompassinng one or more of the areas of
planning, recruiting, selecting, training, and
performance management. These projects focus on
implementation of the skills covered in the seminar.
- Your company
may elect to sponsor the FMS through its management
development system. Contact your home/head office
for further information on this option.
FMS Topics
Recruiting Systems for
Profitable Growth
- Creating and
managing the recruiting system so that it produces
enough names of high-quality candidates to meet
recruiting objectives
- Creating an
annual recruiting business plan
- Exploring
effective contemporary recruiting techniques and
developing skills in their use
- Defining which
techniques work for each manager and creating a plan
to use them more effectively
Productivity and Retention-Through Marketing Systems
- Exploring the
relationship between effective marketing and
enhanced productivity and retention
- Creating and
managing marketing systems that improve productivity
and retention
- Enhancing
skills for identifying target markets and developing
plans to penetrate those markets
- Creating
effective processes and plans to help new and
experienced agents to become market driven
Brilliant Performance from the Start-The Manager’s Role in High Agent Productivity
- Creating and
managing a new agent activity system
- Creating
management systems focused on enhancing high agent
productivity
- Developing
systems for tracking agent activity
- Determining
which activity management techniques work for each
manager and creating a plan to use them more
effectively
- Developing and
enhancing kills in helping plateaued agents get back
on track
Recruiting and selection in a Demographically Changing Market
- Apply the
national demographic trends affecting the industry
to the individual field manager’s local marketing
area and unit/agent operations
- Creating
recruiting action plans focused on increasing the
number of candidate names from three distinct
groups-women, older/mature people seeking a second
career, and ethnic and minority groups
- Expanding
awareness of and appreciation for the dimensions of
diversity used in the recruiting process
- Customizing a
standardized selection process to the unique needs
of candidates from these groups
Compliance: A Survival Kit for Field Managers
- Creating a
climate for ethical activities and maintaining an
ethical culture within the unit/agency
- Exploring the
legal environment within which the industry is
operating and the implications of this environment
for field managers
- Discussing the
legal and ethical implications for recruiting and
selection of agents, office staff, etc.
- Discussing the
parameters of errors and omissions (E and O)
insurance and its necessity in today’s business
environment
- Determining
actions within the unit/agency to meet compliance
demands
- Providing
practical experience and skills necessary for
ethical management
Managing Your Management Future
- Identifying the
issues currently presenting challenges to the
profitable operaion of units/agencies and the types
of skills that successful managers will need in the
future
- Expanding
awareness of the effects of changes on people and
systems and developing processes and procedures for
managing profitably and effectively in times of
change
- Analyzing
trends in resource availability in order to use
current and future resources effectively and
profitably
- Tracking and
analyzing use of time
- Identifying and
implementing ways of better controlling time using
time and self-management principles
- Using
goal-setting and objective-setting in time and
self-management
Role Models for Management Success: Tips from the Top
- Discussing and
analyzing the processes used by successful
practitioners for setting and communicating
realistic expectations for new agents
- Examining the
elements of effective, new agent supervision systems
vis a vis attendees current systems to determine
ways of increasing their effectiveness
- Exploring the
manager’s role in increasing the productivity of
experienced agents
- Discussing the
impact of goal-setting and a culture of productivity
on increased agent productivity
- Examining
strategies for merging field organizations with
different cultures into one organization with a
common sense of purpose, a common mission, and a
commitment to team goals
- Discussing ways
of assessing agency team/leadership team strengths
and weaknesses and determining the characteristics
needed by new team members
- Discussing the
importance of ongoing team-building and exploring
successful management techniques for ensuring
continuing synergy
- Discussing
effective marketing techniques and strategies that
can help agency management build a positive image in
the marketplace
The Power Launch: Selecting and Coaching New Peak Performers
- Selecting the
coachable agent and discussing the importance of how
managers recruit
- Reviewing the
latest selection research and determining what
changes managers must make to their current
selection processes to select peak performers
- Discussing the
importance of using the selection process to create
and build a relationship with potential new agents
- Creating and
implementing a “fast start” environment to coach new
agents
- Using the new
agent business plan to launch productive new agents
- Discussing ways
that a manager can help new agents to develop habits
for success
- Managing
performance for the agents long-term productivity,
including goal-setting and systems for tracking and
managing activity
Tune Up Your Team: A Marketing Blueprint for the 21st Century
- Making the
shift from sales to marketing
- Examining
agency vision and goals, agency culture,
organizational resources, an distribution issues
- Adapting
strategies for current marketing approaches to meet
the marketing needs of the 21st century
- Developing a
personalized marketing business plan tailored to the
agency, including new and established agents
- Implementing
the plan
- Discussing
compliance, ethics, and market conduct