Service Center Team Lead chez Western National Group & Umialik Insurance

Description

Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers' property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern, Northwestern, and Southwestern United States. Known as “The Relationship Company®,” we define success as a measure of the relationships we’ve built over time. In everything that we do, we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. That’s the power of “nice”. At Western National, nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you?

Western National is seeking a Service Center Team Lead to join our team! The individual in this role will have the opportunity to provide coaching and leadership to our Service Center Team while delivering prompt, professional, and courteous customer service through multiple channels to our policyholders and agency partners utilizing the Service Center model.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?

• Coaches, develops, and retains staff to achieve company, departmental, and individual goals. 
• Serves as a primary responder and resource for questions within the department. 
• Serves as a secondary responder to Service Center-partnered agencies (agency leadership and agency team members).
• Handles escalated agent and customer calls. 
• Trains staff on new and / or updated systems, processes, procedures, and products. 
• Develops and delivers agency partner and agency team training on Service Center-related topics.
• Monitors team workflow and coordinates team schedules to maintain proper service levels. 
• Monitors customer calls and provides coaching. 
• Organizes people and work distribution and creates and maintains related metrics for simple to complex processes. 
• Demonstrates ability to understand and empathize with challenges faced by Service Center–partnered agencies, assisting in identifying solutions and vetting potential new service offerings.
• Acts as Service Center liaison in meetings with other departments to support effective two-way communication.
• Utilizes knowledge, experience, and available resources to find solutions. 
• Recognizes and documents call and interaction trends, providing feedback to manager. 
• Identifies needs and develops training to enhance overall customer experience. 
• Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer’s expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer’s issue is resolved.

Requirements

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?

• Proven ability to lead teams with experience in coaching, training, and relationship-building.
• Proven ability to speak comfortably in front of groups. 
• Passionate about customer service excellence, with strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of personal lines insurance, especially with regards to coverage and policy elements. 
• Demonstrated ability to learn and work concurrently across multiple systems.
• Proven ability to understand the customer’s perspective and empathize.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving. 
• Proven ability to prioritize and organize.
• Bachelor’s degree; experience in lieu of a degree acceptable. 
• Proficient use of various core systems, office and computer equipment, and software packages.

What will our ideal candidate have?

• Previous property-and-casualty insurance experience.
• Licensed as an insurance agent in state of residence. 
• Knowledge of personal lines coverages and policies.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, direct, and develop people.

Compensation overview

The full hiring range for this role is $65,000-$89,320, annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate, as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and / or may be considered for other positions.

Western National Insurance Group reserves the right to fill this position at a level above or below the level included in this posting.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National has long been known as “The Relationship Company®” and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability, and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset. 

Currently ranked as the 41st largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for consecutive years. In addition, the Group is consistently recognized as a Ward’s 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:

• Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more!
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
• Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio
• Paid Time Off – including holiday, vacation, and volunteer
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education)
• Paid parental leave
• Bonus opportunities

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs. 

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.