Identity Crisis

A rose by any other name, blah, blah, blah…Shakespeare never worked in insurance.

There is no consistency when it comes to titles in the world of risk and insurance. Let’s start with claims (because I used to be a claims adjuster, and also it’s my blog and I can do what I want).

Is a Claims Adjuster the same as a Claims Examiner? If I throw the title Senior in there, is that the same across the board? Is a Senior Adjuster in one TPA similar to a Senior Claims Examiner in another TPA?

Just for funsies, lets throw in some roman numerals. Are a Claims Adjuster II and Claims Adjuster III both considered Senior?

I know of a TPA that refers to their claims adjusters as Resolution Managers…because they manage the resolution.

If you’re confused, you’re not alone. Hiring managers and job applicants struggle with the lack of consistency.

It gets worse when you start to look at Risk Management roles. Some organizations have a single Risk Manager, who oversees the risk management program, but does not manage people. Other Risk Managers may have a team of direct reports. Some Risk Managers are given Director level work and responsibility without Director level pay. Other organizations may have a role that has evolved into something different. Perhaps the Safety Manager now oversees the Workers’ Compensation program, despite the fact that this responsibility isn’t listed in the title or the original job description.

To make matters worse, some risk management professionals have specializations that are not listed in their title. A Director of Risk Management at a hospital may be a physician who specializes in patient safety. A Director of Risk Management at a bank may specialize in Credit Risk. A Director of Risk Management at a software company may specialize in data governance and cybersecurity.

They are all “Directors of Risk Management” yet they are all doing different work.

As an industry, we have been complaining about the struggles of recruitment and the talent gap, and the ambiguity in titles isn’t doing us any favors. And to make matters worse, I see article after article about companies using AI to vet candidate resumes. I worry that we are missing out on some great candidates if AI cannot capture the nuance of certain roles in our industry.

Hopefully, we start to see more consistency in titles and clarity in job descriptions.

Some titles I have given myself over the years:

·       Chief Worry Officer

·       VP of Uh Oh Prevention

·       Director of “Don’t Do That”

Accurate? Sure. Clear? Not exactly. This is why I’m not in charge of coming up with names.