Crawford Australia has announced a significant investment towards its attraction and retention strategy, creating a dedicated permanent role to focus on quality and people development.
Craig McLeod has been appointed head of quality and people development for Loss Adjusting, effective 1 November. As a consequence, Crawford is in recruitment mode for a new head of Specialty Loss Adjusting, McLeod’s current position.
Crawford Australia President Jonathan Hubbard said introducing the new role makes good business sense.
“We are a people business; we are people helping people. In an environment where the war for talent isn’t getting any easier, we must come up with innovative ways to stand out in the employment market and then ensure when great people join us, they choose to build their career with us long term,” Hubbard commented.
In his new role, McLeod will be responsible for talent management, talent development, talent retention and talent succession planning of Crawford’s loss adjusters.
“I’ve known Craig a very long time and he is one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met in terms of developing young adjusters’ careers, so he really is the ideal fit for this vital role within our business.
“He importantly knows adjusting like the back of his hand, having been an adjuster his entire career, and creating this role frees him up to be totally focused on our people, their development and enhancing the overall quality output that Crawford offers clients,” said Hubbard.
McLeod noted: “I’m looking forward to the challenge; I’m looking forward to taking a really deep dive into conversations with our people about what is most important to them in a workplace. Talent mapping is something we need to do better, and making sure we are really tuned in to our high potentials who are going to be Crawford’s leading adjusters, and leaders, of tomorrow.
“Engaged people, who are technically excellent at their craft, are central to Crawford’s ongoing success. To have the headspace to solely focus on that is a privilege.”
The new role adds to Crawford’s existing people development strategy which features, among many things, the Crawford Manager Acceleration Program (MAP) and a Leadership Development Program. Crawford requires all its people who supervise employees to undertake MAP over a 12-month period.
“It’s common in any business for people to be promoted based on their technical ability, but then all of a sudden those people also find themselves as ‘people leaders’ required to motivate teams. To become a great people leader, we believe we have a responsibility to equip people with the necessary skills to motivate and build trust; that is what MAP is all about. Well-functioning teams are another key ingredient to success,” Hubbard said.
Hubbard also praised McLeod’s “significant contribution” to Crawford’s Specialty Loss Adjusting area: “Craig has been with Crawford for eight years and led Specialty for the past four years – it’s a very solid business, with great people who are excellent teams, and much of that is down to Craig’s superb leadership.”
