Insurers slash budget on staff training

Insurers slash budget on staff training

Chuks Udo Okonta

The Director General Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) Adegboyega  Adepegba, has said insurance companies have continued to slash their budget on staff training.

He told Inspen that the reduction in budget posed great challenge to the development of the industry, adding that the industry needs qualified personnel to thrive.

He noted that finance has deterred most operators from acquiring the knowledge and skill required to boost their performance. 

He said: “The industry human development is faced with a lot of challenges; of course finance is the major issue, whether for the institute or the corporate bodies that would send their staff for our programmes.

“Over the years, I want to suspect, that the budget for training has being falling, I do not have the figures, but I suspect, that there might be some scaling down of budget for training, this is a major challenge. This is because no matter how good and elaborate a training programme is, if we do not have more of our members attending there is a challenge.

“It is no longer fashionable for a practitioner to just have one certificate in the present dispensation.  Professions have intertwined, that somebody must have a bit of what is obtainable in other professions.”

He said the knowledge an operator acquired 10 years ago may not be sufficient to drive the business of today.  Therefore, there is the challenge for insurers to change in learning new things and asking more questions.

“There is also the challenge on research, raising qualified people who can impact knowledge on young practitioners. Our professionals are very busy people, but the time has come for them to give back something to those that are coming up. The challenge we have here, is that the professionals have their primary duties and must meet certain targets in their officers,” he said.

Adepegba said the institute has been trying to encourage professionals to mentor young operators, adding that it is believed that the many good hands in industry, which may not be getting younger, would begin to impact on others.