While bancassurance is a new concept in India, it is fast catching up. In such an environment, both insurer and banks could face HR (Human Resource) and operational challenges in the early stage of its implementation. Some of these challenges relate to training of employees, compensation, before and after sale services etc. The success of both insurers and banks in this area would, therefore, lie in the strategies adopted to tackle these issues.
Bancassurance,
as a concept in India is of a relatively recent origin.
The roots of this concept could be traced to the reforms
in the insurance sector and the permission given by
RBI and IRDA to the commercial banks to distribute insurance
products during the latter half of 2002. Thus, it is
but natural that both the insurers and the banks face
HR and operational challenges in the early stages of
implementation of this concept. The success of both
the insurers and the banks in the area of bancassurance
would therefore lie in the strategies adopted to tackle
these issues.
To
undertake the distribution of the insurers' products
on as-is-where-is basis, the bank employees have to
undergo a certain minimum period of training (100 hours
of training for either life or general insurance, 150
hours for composite training in both life and general
insurance (reduced to 50 and 70 hours respectively for
employees with specified professional qualifications),
followed by a test and get themselves licensed. For
bank employees, especially in the Indian banks, having
a higher age profile, it becomes an onerous task. Banks
ideally look forward to a minimum strength of 100-plus
employees for promoting bancassurance at potential centers
all over the country. Thus, the task of identifying
suitable employees volunteering to enter this field,
sending them for 100-hour training, making them sit
for the examination and getting them licensed turns
out to be a laborious exercise for the banks. Moreover,
the standards of the examination have been raised in
the recent past making it difficult for many examinees
to clear the same. |
