AGENTS ATTRITION IN THE PUB AND PRIVATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN INDIA SUNEERA P A 1 TEENA C SASI 2 Dr.VENUGOPALAN K.V. 3 1 & 2 Research Scholars, P.G and Research Department of Commerce, St.Peters College, kolenchery 3 Associate Professor, P.G and Research Department of Commerce, St.Peters College, kolenchery ABSTRACT Life insurance sector is a fast growing service industry in India with great potential to develop. Human beings are aware about the various risks involved in their life. Even though, they are not ready to take insure coverage without some external compulsion. Success of an organization depends on the efficiency of human resource management.distribution channel plays a significant role in increasing penetration of insurance in India. Attrition is the most serious issue ever faced by insurance companies. In the present scenario attrition creates problems to insurance companies in large scale. The primary cause for this high attrition is the large scale poaching in a competitive insurance environment. So it is necessary to retain the talented work force with the company. The present study examine the attrition in the life insurance sector in India. Key words: Agents Attrition, Life Insurance, Distribution Channel, Job Satisfaction, Insurance Penetration Introduction Life insurance industry in India is a fast growing sector with great potential to develop. Its innovative products and services itself is the reason behind this growth. Human beings are aware about the various risks involved in their life. Even though, they are not ready to take insurance coverage without some external compulsion. It is not mere sales of insurance policies, which has a wide scope like identifying customer needs, satisfying them, maximise market share, tap new markets etc. So marketing of insurance service is not an easy task. A professional approach is necessary to handle consumers and to convince them. Due to this difficulty and importance, distribution channel and life insurance agents have greater importance in the industry. Success of an organization depends on the efficiency of human resource management. Large amount of revenues in the form of premium receives today; it is due to the effort of agents. But today s attrition will lead to tomorrow s saturation. At that time companies cannot earn this much premium. The companies should realize this fact today itself. Insurance is a kind of sacrifice because customer has to pay premium at present, but the benefits will be received only in future. They need to be convinced by talented marketing personnel. So the marketing personnel have more importance. Focus on the distribution channel is an important pre requisite to an efficient sale of insurance product. Distribution channel plays a significant role in the penetration of insurance in India. There are multiple distribution channels with a large variety. Individual agents are the most important one. Insurers are very conscious about establishing and developing cost efficient and result oriented distribution strategies. The distributor is the first line representative of the life insurance company. He should understand the needs of the prospective customers and he should be able to recommend suitable products to them. He is a vital element in the insurance policy life cycle. A distributor is the vital link in the policy life cycle. His role begins the time he starts prospecting till settlement of claims (chandraseharan, May 2009).The distributor must be trusted financial advisors for the customers. The www.researchscripts.org 1 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

distributor s styles may make differences in quality of advice to the customers. That s why most of the private insurers use different distribution channel mix. The insurance companies are moving from mere selling insurance to marketing an essential financial product. They are searching for well educated and vibrant individuals for insurance marketing. Studies reveals that more than 80% of the sales are achieved through 30 lakh agents of the insurance companies. It is really a fact that there is a positive correlation between motivation, employee retention and firm productivity. Insurance penetration and density highly influenced by agent s attrition. In 2008-09, Insurance penetration and density was 4.00 and 41.2 US Dollar respectively. Now it increased to 3.17 and 42.7 respectively in the year2012-13. Under Sec.2(10) of the Insurance Act, 1938, an insurance agent means an agent licensed under section 42 who receives or agrees to receive payment by way of commission or other remuneration in consideration of his soliciting or procuring insurance business, including business relating to the continuance, renewal or revival of policies of insurance (karve, 2009) Importance of the Study The role life insurance agents are wide. Now a day s agents are being called as insurance advisors. Success of a life insurance company very much depends on competency of life insurance agents. Attrition is the most serious issue ever faced by insurance companies. In the present scenario attrition creates problems to insurance companies in large scale. Studies reveals that nearly 50% of the insurance agents are facing attrition on an average rate in our country. It is a rate of 14% is the attrition rate in India, which is more than the global average. The primary cause for this high attrition is the large scale poaching in a competitive insurance environment. Attrition creates troubles to both company and customers. The high attrition is a result of short term approach (Ghosh, Sep.2011). When primary list of leads are over attrition begins. Studies reveal that most insurance workers are working under tension and due to the stress no one can perform their optimum work according to their ability. So it is necessary to make arrangements to prevent attrition and to retain them. For the past few years, life insurance companies have been facing this serious problem of attrition. So it is necessary to make a study on attrition of life insurance agents and suggest solution to retain the work force with them. Review of literature In the world more than ninty percent of premium was procured by Individual agents and Brockers Naga Raja Rao(2004). Dr Usha, (2014) stated in her study that the most important factors contributing employees job satisfaction are: comfort work place, relationship with superior, convened working hours, fairness, participation in decision, chances for future development and overall satisfaction with present job. As per the study conducted by Sayali S. Yadav (2014) on Attrition of sales force in life insurance sector She could identified the primary HR challenges in insurance industry are listed Difficulty in identifying talented persons as agents, Difficulty in retaining the talented persons so recruited, Difficulty in managing expenses of talented agents.somen & Anup kumar (2012) revealed that High level of attrition amongst frontline employees and agents clearly indicate the lack of well thought HRM practice for these cadres. Most of the Insurers don t have much in store for Agents to build long term bonding. Agents actually look forward to something more apart from commissions which will serve as a catalyst to long term loyalty.mark david (2014) commented that the employees in the insurance industry suffer from high levels of distress, aggravated by a sluggish economy, growing regulation and outdated selling models. Government reforms have not had any significant impact on the health of this sector. In India nearly three fourth of the agents are www.researchscripts.org 2 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

about to go out from business because of change in policy about Unit Linked Life Insurance in September 2010, (New ULIP norms throw 1.2 million agents out of work, 2010) Objectives and Methodology In order to study the rate of attrition in Life Insurance industry, details are collected from IRDA Annual reports (from 2008 to 2014). Secondary data is collected from the published articles in journals, magazines, newspapers and reference books. The objectives of the study are: 1. To examine the growth of insurance agents in the public and private life insurance companies in India. 2. To analyse the attrition among life insurance agents in the public and private life insurance companies in India. Attrition-Definition Employee attrition is the reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or death. Attrition is necessary to a great extent since it brings new blood and ideas to the organisation. Companies have to invest more amounts on employees. Attrition leads to wastage of that investment. If attrition increases beyond a certain level, the gains are transformed into pains. Attrition can be calculated by using the formula: Attrition = (No. of employees who left in the year /average employees in the year) x 100 Major causes of attrition are: Job dissatisfaction, unfavourable work environment, Work pressure, less interested nature of job, lack of career growth opportunity, etc. The major HR challenges related to insurance advisors are: No security of fixed earning, Lack of proper awareness about career path, lack of proper training and guidance, adaptability and human relationship problem, leakage, IRDA regulations regarding tenure of job, high labour turnover, etc. According to Dr.Tulasi Das and Ch.Vijayalakshmi, (Tulasi & Vijayalakshmi, Feb 2015) Following are some of the strategies to mitigate attrition rate:- 1. Hiring suitable persons for the job 2. Communicate about the role and job descriptions to the new entrant. 3. Participative decision making 4. Sharing of knowledge with others 5. Shorten the feedback loop 6. Adopt fair pay package 7. Balance work and personal life 8. Adopt good Organisational culture 9. Conduct Exit interview with the leaving employee. 10. Provide motivational training. 11. No favouritism and partiality. 12. Employees hired through referrals. www.researchscripts.org 3 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

Results and Discussion Table 1 - Life Insurance Agents in India Total 2008-09 1592579(54.2) 1344856(45.8) 2937435 2009-10 1575476(52.9) 1402807(47.1) 2978283 2010-11 1302328(49.3) 1337064(50.7) 2639392 2011-12 1080651(45.8) 1278234(54.2) 2358885 2012-13 949774(44.7) 1172983(55.3) 2122757 2013-14 992584 (45.4) 1195916 (54.6) 2188500 Period Average 1248899(49) 1288643(51) 2537542 Source: IRDA annual reports. The table 1 shows the number of agents in life insurance sector for the last six years. It shows a decreasing trend even though population and number of branches show an increasing trend during the analysis period. The period average shows that 49 per cent of the agents are from private sector (22 life insurance companies as on 31.3.2014) and 51 per cent of them are from Life Insurance Corporation. Table 2 - Life Insurance Agents Left their offices in India Life Insurer 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Period average 194617 254596 372039 404747 387017 340571 325598(37) (22.3) (28.4) (35.8) (40.7) (50.2) (51.7) Pvt.Total 677653 642439 668615 589888 414263 318506 551894(63) (77.7) (71.6) (64.2) (59.3) (49.8) (48.3) Total 872270 897035 1040654 994635 771280 659077 877492 Source: Data compiled from IRDA annual reports Table 2 shows that, on an average,37 per cent of the total agents leaving their agency from Public sector() and the remaining 63 per cent of them are from private sector (total 22insurance companies)during the analysis period. Table 3 - LifeInsurance Agents Left to the Total Life Insurance Agents in India Total Insurance agents Insurance agents left Share of agents left to total agents Total insurance agents Share of agents left to total agents Share of agents left to total agents 2008-09 1592579 677653 42.6 1344856 194617 14.5 2009-10 1575476 642439 40.8 1402807 254596 18.1 2010-11 1302328 668615 51.3 1337064 372039 27.8 2011-12 1080651 589888 54.6 1278234 404747 31.7 2012-13 949774 414263 43.6 1172983 387017 33 2013-14 992584 340571 34.3 1195916 318506 26.6 Period Average 1248899 555572 44.5 1288643 321920 25 www.researchscripts.org 4 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

Table 3 reveals that 25 per cent of the agents from and 44.5 from left during the analysis period. The period average during the analysis period was 25. per cent and 44.5 respectively for the and private sector insurance companies. Table 4 - Additions and Deletions of agents in the public and private life insurance companies Additions Deletions Increase/Decrease Additions Deletions Increase/Decrease 2008-09 943484 677653 265831 345729 194617 151112 2009-10 625336 312547 312789 312547 254596 57951 2010-11 395467 668615-273148 306296 372039-65743 2011-12 368211 589888-221677 345917 404747-58830 2012-13 283386 414263-130877 281766 387017-105251 2013-14 383381 340571 42810 341439 318506 22933 Period Average 499878 555572 33394 322282 321920 18781 The table 4 shows additions and deletions of life insurance agents during the period 2008-09 to 2013-14.The first two years shows that the additions were more than deletions and the remaining three years shows a decline in additions and more deletions in both the sectors. In the last year again shows an increase in additions and decrease in deletions in both sectors. Again, the difference between additions and deletions were high in private sector than that of during the same period. The attrition of life insurance agents in private sector was higher than that of Life Insurance Corporation during the analysis period. Table 5- Number of offices in India Total 2008-09 8785(74.4 ) 3030(25.6) 11815 2009-10 8768 (73.0) 3250(27.0) 12018 2010-11 8175(70.8) 3371(29.2) 11546 2011-12 7712(69.1) 3455(30.9) 11167 2012-13 6759(65.7) 3526(34.3) 10285 2013-14 6193(56) 4839(44) 11032 Period Average 7732 (68) 3579(32) 11311 Source:IRDA Annual reports From the table 5 we can understand that number of offices of increasing from 25.6% to 44% during the study period. In private sector, it is decreased from 74.4% to 65.7% respectively from 2008-09 to 2013-14. The period average of number of life insurance offices of was 3579 (32%) and the total of private sector was 7732 (68%) during the analysis period. www.researchscripts.org 5 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

Table 6 - Number of Life Insurance Agents per Office in India Agents per office Agents per office 2008-09 181 444 2009-10 180 432 2010-11 159 397 2011-12 140 370 2012-13 141 333 2013-14 160 247 Period Average 160 371 Table 6 gives the number of agents per office in the public and private sector life insurance companies in India during the analysis period. The agents per office show a declining trend both in the public and private sector during the period. The average number of agents per office in was 371 agents but in private sector, it was 160 agents. Table 7 - Premium Collected by a Life Insurance Agent in India(in Rupees) Premium per agent Premium per agent 2008-09 210000 400000 2009-10 240000 510000 2010-11 300000 650000 2011-12 300000 640000 2012-13 320000 650000 2013-14 300000 750000 Period Average 230000 600000 Table 7 depicts the amount of premium collected by an agent in the and private sector. The average premium collected by an agent during a year in was 600,000 where as it was 230,000 in private sector. The yearly premium collected by an agent shows an increasing trend in both the sectors during the analysis period. Table 8 - Number of Insurance Policies Collected by an Insurance Agent in India Policies per agent Policies per agent 2008-09 9 27 2009-10 9 28 2010-11 9 28 2011-12 8 28 2012-13 8 31 2013-14 6 29 Period Average 8 29 www.researchscripts.org 6 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

Table 8 shows the period average of number of policies per agent in the public and private sector insurance companies in India. The number of policies collected by an agent in was 29 where as in the private sector, it was 8 Table 9 - New Business Premium (Individual & Group) of Life insurers- Channel wise (in percentage) Life Individual Corporate Agents Direct Brokers insurer Agents Banks Others selling Total 76.90 1.56 0.55 0.37 20.63 100.00 2008-09 Private 47.44 19.19 9.54 1.96 21.87 100.00 Total 65.45 8.41 4.04 0.99 21.11 100.00 71.14 1.17 0.46 0.37 26.86 100.00 2009-10 Private 41.85 22.02 9.34 3.16 23.63 100.00 Total 60.91 8.46 3.56 1.34 25.73 100.00 61.79 1.44 0.42 0.03 36.32 100.00 2010-11 Private 36.48 28.29 7.39 4.22 23.62 100.00 Total 53.90 9.81 2.59 1.33 32.36 100.00 52.55 1.51 0.12 0.05 45.76 100.00 2011-12 Private 31.59 36.08 6.92 4.42 20.99 100.00 Total 46.64 11.25 2.04 1.28 38.78 100.00 53.96 1.74 0.09 0.02 44.19 100.00 2012-13 Private 27.59 35.20 5.16 4.14 27.90 100.00 Total 46.40 11.33 1.54 1.20 39.52 100.00 2013-14 45.25 1.30 0.05 0.03 53.37 100 Private 26.48 34.38 4.09 4.21 30.84 100 Total 40.64 9.43 1.04 1.05 47.84 100 Period Average 60.27 1.45 0.28 0.15 37.85 100.00 Private 35.24 29.19 7.07 3.69 24.81 100.00 Source: IRDA annual Reports. Table 9 shows the distribution channel of insurance products by public and private sector life insurance companies in India. The various channels used for the purpose are individual agents, www.researchscripts.org 7 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

brokers, direct selling, banks and other channels. While comparing all these we can find that as far as concerned with majority of premium coming through individual agents. But for private insurance companies, they are very much depends on channels other than individual agents for their income. The share of insurance agents to the total distribution channel during the analysis period in the public sector () was 60.27per cent where as it was 35.24.per cent in private sector. The public sector,that is, Life Insurance Corporation depends more on insurance agents for selling insurance products that that of private sector. High attrition in the life insurance sector cause may problems to the insurance sector and is a big challenge to prevent the attrition in the sector. It will adversely affect the confidence of insurance sector among the public and the insurance company may struggle for the collection of premium, claim settlement and other services that are given by the insurance agents who left the office. Any decrease in the number of agents will lead to a similar decrease in the collection of renewal premium, issue of new business policies and other services in this sector. Hence the insurance industry should concentrate more on retaining the insurance agents in this sector by providing better salary packages, simplifying the licensing procedure, minimizing paper work, proper training, fixing targets based on efficiency and giving timely motivation to insurance agents. Findings Life Insurance Sector is a fast growing service sector industry in India. The low insurance penetration and insurance density in this sector shows a wide potential for growth in this sector. The agents play vital role in the insurance sector because they are people who met the general public and face to face interact with them about the insurance products available in India. They can create awareness and need of insurance products and sell insurance products in a simple manner than that of other distribution channels such as corporate agents, brokers and direct selling etc. During the study, it was found that 1. There is an increasing tendency among the life insurance agents to leave the job that leads to a decrease in the number of agents. The analysis shows a decreasing trend in the total number of agents in the life insurance companies in India. 2. The problem of attrition was more among private sector life insurance companies than that of public sector insurance companies in India. 3. The number of agents, premium collected and the number of policies issued are positively correlated. Any change in the number of agents will have an influence in the premium collection and new business of insurance companies in India. Conclusion Life insurance plays a crucial role in popularizing and promoting insurance products in India. The share percentage of individual agents to the total in the distribution channel was high in than the private sector insurance companies in India. equally depends corporate agents for the sale of insurance products than public sector insurance companies in India. The attrition among insurance agents will adversely affect the growth of Indian insurance sector. In order to reduce attrition IRDA has insisted many measures such as offering training and mentoring, financial and nonfinancial incentives to high performing agents, etc. More over IRDA also decided to remove minimum persistency criteria (the minimum number of policies sold by agents that have to be www.researchscripts.org 8 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com

renewed), minimum persistency rate reduced from 50% to 35%.Insurance agents are the backbone of insurance sector and their efficiency and efforts will lead progress in the life insurance sector in India. References: 1. IRDA, annual reports, various years 2. Annual reports of,various years 3. Chandraseharan, D. (May 2009). Marketing of lie insurance -Have things really changed? IRDA Journal, 18. 4. Dr Usha, T. (nov.2014). An analysis of job satisfaction and its impact on employees performance at life insurance corporation of India. Abhinav international monthly refereed journal of research in management and technology, 19. 5. Ghosh, S. (Sep.2011). Persistency challenge -The bottoms up approach. IRDA Journal, 21. 6. Karve, S. k. (2009). principles of Life insurance. In S. k. karve, principles of Life insurance (p. 94). mumbai: Himalaya publishing house. 7. Mark david, D. (2014). Employee distress in the life insurance industry, case study. Indian Journal of applied research, 122. 8. Sayali., Y. S. (Dec.2014). Study of attrition of sales force in life insurance sector. Episteme:an online interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, multi cultural journal., 128. 9. Somen, M., & Anup kumar, G. (2012). A study on effect of attritio over financial performance of the companies in life insurance sector in India. National conference on emerging challenges for sustainable business, 743,744. 10. Tulasi, D. D., & Vijayalakshmi, C. (Feb 2015). Employee attrition and retention in life insurance sector : An empirical study. PARIPEX Indian Journal of Research, 84. www.researchscripts.org 9 editor.researchscripts@gmail.com