2009 Planning Session

MANAGEMENT SESSIONS

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Marco Island Marriott

1:30-2:30 p.m. Pitfalls Of Personnel Review with FAIA President & CEO Jeff Grady.

"Been there, done that!" This sometimes infamous saying is often the guiding light in how today's business owners manage human resources. While it certainly can provide invaluable wisdom for those difficult personnel management dilemmas, a more comprehensive plan that incorporates these lessons with other proven techniques is essential. During the last nine years, FAIA has "been there and done that" and developed a very unique human resource management technique that continues to yield impressive results. FAIA President/CEO Jeff Grady will share this experience and provide attendees with "take home" ideas and advice on how to best manage a business's most critical resource—its people.

Jeff Grady received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Florida State University in December 1987. He started his banking career in 1988 as a thrift examiner for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. In 1991, he was promoted to relationship manager for the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C., for FHLB thrift and commercial bank members. He joined the Florida Bankers Association (FBA) in April 1994 as vice president, thrift banker executive. He designed and implemented FBA Leadership Division in 1995. He then joined the Community Bankers of Florida in September 1996 as executive director. In October of 1998, he accepted the position of president at the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.

2:30-4:30 p.m. FIRST ORDER with Demmie Hicks, president & CEO, DBH Consulting. The first order of every agency is growth. The first order of every producer is to find value for clients. These two simple truths are at the heart of a unique new offering by Atlanta-based DBH Consulting, which helps agencies all over the country grow their business. Previewed at FAIA this year, the offering—called First Order—will enable you to better leverage the major drivers of growth in your agency. The DBH team will show you how to assess your agency's leadership, collaborative planning, communications, sales management and consultative selling—then use this knowledge in new ways to generate revenue and increase profitability. First Order is a first step toward transforming your approach so that your team consistently provides expertise (and value) to prospective clients—and builds "customers for life."

Demmie Hicks has helped organizations build and sustain growth—as a corporate leader, business development specialist, and growth strategy consultant for 25 years. Today, the founder and chief strategist of DBH Consulting helps agency and brokerage leaders shape and execute their vision for growth, a process that begins with evaluating the state of the company through the lens of an impartial third-party expert. Her work with leadership also includes strategic planning; helping sales professionals generate greater results; developing execution plans (and tracking their progress to goal); and strengthening the leadership abilities of company executives.

2:30-4:30 p.m. Creating and Fostering a Loss Control Culture with FMS Managing Director Jay Williams, AAI, AIP, CIC, CRM, ACSR.

Errors and Omissions losses can devastate an agency. In the hustle and bustle world of a busy insurance agency, it's easy to cut corners to save time. Sometimes that "corner cutting" can create potential E&O situations. In this session, you'll learn how to create an environment that focuses on doing things correctly, creating an efficient, loss-conscious environment while promoting the invariable practices necessary to defend you should trouble arise.

Jay Williams is a veteran of the insurance industry. He began his career as a licensed agent in 1979 as an independent contractor for a direct writer. In 1987, he moved to the independent insurance agency force. As an independent agent, he fine tuned his management, sales, and training skills as a producer, marketing and underwriting manager, and an agency operations manager. In addition to many FAIA classes, Jay has taught the 200 hour pre-licensing course for the Florida property & casualty 2-20 license. Jay is an animated instructor, which makes his classes fun and entertaining as well as educational.