The property and casualty insurance industry was shaken to its roots by the Great Recession, and that adversity continues for many players. Companies hoping to make a full recovery need to follow best practices for developing their workforce, managing change and implementing innovations.

With the stock market's recovery, insurance companies now are seeing an exodus through retirement of their most experienced and talented leaders. At the same time, there is a dearth of qualified recruits to take entry-level positions, and most companies have eliminated effective in-house training that once was commonplace in the industry.

Meanwhile, the marketplace for property and casualty insurance has become even more competitive.

• GEICO and Progressive, which pioneered online delivery of insurance services, are grabbing an ever-larger share of the personal lines business.  (Is commercial next?)

• At the same time, other companies are finding that their offerings leave little to differentiate themselves from the other players in the market.
  

These trends make it increasingly important that companies in this industry call upon all their internal resources to manage change, and that they train and support emerging leaders carefully and strategically. It is a time that calls for boldness in innovation, not timidity. The marketplace will reward companies that find ways to develop new lines of business and price them carefully to capture new clients while taking on an acceptable risk profile.

A key to this innovation will be people. Success will come from:

• Hiring good people at the entry level.

• Training them well in the basics of the business, tapping experienced pros before they retire to share their experience in assessing and managing risk.

• Reinvigorating in-house training programs.

• Carefully choosing new people to lead innovation while supporting them with seasoned mentors.