The claims industry faces an ongoing talent shortage. At the same time, customer needs are continually evolving and remits ever-expanding. It is therefore essential that we nurture a diverse pool of expertise and broaden our insights.
This means developing talent across multiple disciplines, helping new and junior members rise through the ranks via our mentoring and development program, and ensuring a strong succession pipeline of employees into senior positions by promoting from within where possible.
Talent development is a key focus for Crawford and this is well illustrated by a raft of recent promotions and appointments in the Australian Global Technical Services (GTS) team.
In Western Australia (WA) Jonathon Vaisey has been promoted to GTS Regional Leader for WA, South Australia and Northern Territories. Jonathan has handled numerous multi-million-dollar loss claims in Australia and throughout the Asia Pacific Region, including a cyclone loss in the telecommunications sector worth $9 million.
But it is not just stellar adjusting experience we need as we seek to expand our capabilities. Attracting talent from different channels such as cyber, technology or forensic accounting, for example, is very important if we are to deliver a comprehensive solution for our clients.
In addition to loss adjusting, Jonathon has held positions in account management and most recently was the GTS National Marketing Manager, meaning he brings a strong client focus to the role. In WA, GTS also strengthened its forensic accounting capabilities with the hiring of Sing Liu, a qualified CPA with diverse experience across multiple industries, including four years as chief financial officer of a multinational health service company.
It is also vital we continue to develop talent with different insurance backgrounds and specialisation. The WA team also recently welcomed Robert Mitchell, for example – an adjuster of more than 12 years, seven of which were spent at a niche firm in the UK specializing in agricultural, commercial forestry and high net worth claims.
In Tasmania, Brad Hart has been promoted to the GTS team. In addition to more than 20 years of experience as a loss adjuster, Brad earlier spent 15 years as an underwriter of domestic and commercial risks. Having led both the Cairns office and most recently the Tasmanian operation, his expertise includes major domestic and commercial losses, rural and public liability claims.
In New South Wales, Brendan Breen has also been promoted to the GTS team, having spent 10 years as an insurer and adjuster in Ireland. In that time, he made two secondments to Australia to help Crawford in its response to Cyclones Oswald and Marcia, before relocating permanently to the Sydney office in 2015. Since then, Brendan has dealt with claims for high-net-worth domestic property, commercial and residential property.
We wish them all well in their new roles with GTS and look forward to continued recruitment and expansion.
