S4 EP14: Doing right in a fully charged, flexible culture - with Laura Crossin, SVP Human Resources, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

“Our culture has gotten us through a lot of different challenges. 2020 opened a lot of doors to do things differently”, says Laura. “Now that people are working differently, how do we recreate opportunities for people to connect to our culture and thrive, keeping that drive to win, succeed and do right by our people.”Laura gives us an insight in to her career paths of HR and Insurance, joining Team Phly and the journey to becoming a business with $4bn of premiums, 2000 employees and becoming part of the Tokio Marine Group family. She shares the scope of her role, heading up a team of 50 HR professionals, covering talent attraction, development, CSR, comp & analytics and employee engagement. Laura highlights the competitive advantage the company’s culture brings and the type of people that thrive in the environment. “We have a sales and marketing team, that’s unique from a carrier perspective. It really drives a very entrepreneurial and competitive spirit in the organization in a good way.”Laura discusses how the tenure of the business’ leadership has influenced company culture. “Those culture carriers have been able to keep our culture consistent but not static but also making sure that we're continuing to evolve and grow as, as the market changes, as the world changes.”Laura emphasizes the impact of hybrid working and encourages says executives coming for interview need to put their seatbelt on. “Things move fast, you need to be nimble and agile enough to navigate and go with the flow.”Laura concludes with advising fellow HR professionals to listen to their people. "It is such a critical ingredient. We ask our employees questions, we listen to what they have to say. Their voices have a big role in a lot of our initiatives.”Connect with Laura Crossin on LinkedIn or find out more about Philadelphia Insurance Companies.The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is hosted by Nick Hoadley, CEO, Insurance Search, the Executive Search Consultancy for growing Insurance and Insurtech businesses around the globe.To discuss identifying & attracting the very best talent to your team or being a podcast guest, reach out to Nick via [email protected] Copyright Insurance Search 2023 – All Rights Reserved.