Why Do Companies Have Different Employee Tenures

[ColdSlam49]

I was told by everyone I know in the industry that success is much more dependant on the office you work in as opposed to the company. However, when I look at the statistics there is a pretty big difference in the company wide retention rate of agents. For instance, MM tops the list of ALL companies (beating out Amazon) for shortest tenure which is .08 years. But then look at Metlife and you see that the average agent is there for 5 years.

So with that in mind, what would the dynamic be now that MM has bought the entire retail force of Metlife?

 

[DHK]

Who knows what the future will bring? However, you need to understand that Met Life had a very different way of paying their commissions to their reps.

They don't pay it out in a lump sum. They pay out 10% of your commission pool every week. So, if you have $25,000 in your commission pool, you get $2,500 per week until it has ran out. If you wanted a higher weekly salary, you needed to sell more, so your 10% grows. This practice probably helps with commission charge-backs as well as agent retention.

Of course, if you leave, Met Life or the office *may* be looking at ways to either keep that balance, or charge you for things so you may not collect it all. They hold your money "hostage", in a sense. I can't prove that nor do I have any stories... but if anything could go wrong with this, that would be it.

 

[NSRH]

I was told by everyone I know in the industry that success is much more dependant on the office you work in as opposed to the company. However, when I look at the statistics there is a pretty big difference in the company wide retention rate of agents. For instance, MM tops the list of ALL companies (beating out Amazon) for shortest tenure which is .08 years. But then look at Metlife and you see that the average agent is there for 5 years.

So with that in mind, what would the dynamic be now that MM has bought the entire retail force of Metlife?

Interesting stats, do you mind sharing where you found it? This would be an interesting read. Thanks!

 

[Cameron Lane]

I think this is nothing but business policy. This can differ from business to business.

 

[walthamny]

A much more realistic number is to look at who is standing after 3 years or 5 years. In statistics like this how do you account for people who quit after their 1st life sale. Here is an example how life insurance industry reports retention.

If I worked for Amazon and quit in September, do you think Amazon will continue to pay me until the end of the year. However, I quit NYL in July, because I had 6 months of production on the books, they kept me on their books until the end of the year so that upper management could collect their bonus on my production.

An easy way to check retention is to go on linkedin and look for life agents who have been with Ny Life, MassMutual and NorthWestern in any geographical area. You will find more life agents with 10 or more years with these companies.

Try doing the same search for Metlife, you will find less senior life people, you will find plenty of ex-Met and ex-Pru people.

A standard interview question should be can I meet someone who you hired 5 years ago and is still in this business. Don't talk to some rookie who just closed a 700K annuity sale to his uncle. You will not get anything useful.