RelianceLife targets small cities to hire salary-based agents

• Posted by Sindhuri G August 28, 2012 - Filed in Business - 2,112 views

  New Delhi: Leading private sector insurer Reliance Life Insurance will target small cities and rural areas to hire over 5,000 advisers on fixed-salary basis by the end of this fiscal.
  
  "We are aiming to hire over 5,000 insurance agents from small towns and rural areas and give them jobs as their career option with a sense of security. The recruitment drive is targeted at Tier II and III cities," Reliance Life Insurance President and Executive Director Malay Ghosh told PTI.
  
  "We believe that the fixed salary-cum-variable income will be a game-changer in the domestic insurance sector," he added.
  
  In India, insurance agents work on commission basis and have uncertain income level. Hence, the industry is facing a very high attrition rate.
  
  The Anil Ambani-led Reliance group company has identified some potential non-metro cities, small towns and rural areas across the country to hire sales agents on its pay-roll.
  
  The company is betting on the fixed salary-based agents in order to check increasing attrition and provide committed customer service.
  
  In the beginning, Reliance Life Insurance will be recruiting these career agents across 200 out of over 1,200 branches across India.
  
  "We have already hired over 500 career agents and deputed them in about 100 branches across the country. Now, our aim is to hire around another 5,000 career agents by March 2013," Ghosh added.
  
  The company is hiring 5,500 insurance advisors this fiscal under a new distribution channel, Career Agent, with a view to providing young people with career paths where successful agent could become supervisors in three years.
  
  "The objective is to give a fixed stipend to insurance agents in the first six months during their training tenure and help them pass the licensing examination. This will help them take their jobs with greater commitment," Ghosh said.
  
  When asked, whether this new distribution format will hit the exiting advisor workforce working on commission basis, Ghosh pointed out that the two distribution channels are positioned differently in terms of composition and execution. "Rather both will complement each other and improve customer service."
  
  With the passage of time, Reliance Life Insurance plans to take the salary-based advisor system to the next level with bigger numbers and proliferation.