Maintaining a Motivated Workforce
At PartnerRe, we want our employees to have satisfying careers with us over many years and be compensated appropriately. We are committed to retaining a highly motivated staff in a softening environment, as well as through the up cycle. Commitment works both ways, and the expertise, continuity and stability provided by long-term employees, who believe in our strategy and culture, is invaluable.
We are in a long-tail business which requires financial stability over many years, and so PartnerRe’s culture and compensation systems reward behavior that builds long-term value. We focus on the risk and achieving the right amount of return per unit of risk – not the other way around.
Our decision-making process requires a management framework that is clearly articulated and communicated to our multinational staff, which is spread across our business units in 14 offices. The CEO and senior executives travel extensively to meet with the employees who are making decisions on a daily basis. All levels of management demonstrate our values daily, which helps guide employees in making the right decisions in any given situation. The qualities required for management and leadership are clearly articulated, and training and development programs assist managers in developing core skills.
Our infrastructure and processes also support our culture. We have very clear, consistent valuation tools; we use one reinsurance system, one capital allocation and ROE pricing system and one financial reporting system. The integration of these systems ensures that the right management information goes to the right people at the right time.
In a recent survey, senior managers were asked for their level of agreement on a series of statements regarding what has been created to date within the organization and the future direction of PartnerRe. The results (highlights above) suggest that the next generation of managers will ensure continuity and consistency in approach in the future.