On the contrary, says insurance industry leader Bruce White. It’s a way of building culture, attracting employees, and helping your firm grow.
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At Newtown, Pa. insurance brokerage firm Johnson Kendall Johnson — known to its employees, clients and neighbors as JKJ — giving back has been part of the culture for decades.
But in recent years, CEO Bruce White confides, two things have changed. First, the firm — one of the leading independent insurance brokerages and risk management firms in the U.S. — has become less shy about talking about its deep commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. Second, giving back has become its secret weapon when it comes to attracting a younger generation of employees.
“I think we were a little bit ahead of the game with the younger generation,” says White. “We didn’t have to add that culturally – that was part of us.”
JKJ is involved in an array of CSR activities. It provides significant financial support to nonprofits like Oaks Integrated Care and Woods Services (its SI nonprofit partners), and it encourages its employees to participate in initiatives like the Eagles Autism Challenge (and many others).
In this conversation, Bruce White talks about the power of celebrating CSR; the benefits it brings a company; and why he’s so excited to be a new member of the Satell Institute.
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JKJ is…
…an insurance brokerage firm. We’ve been here almost 70 years now. I’ve been here close to 40.
In 1994…
…I became the managing partner of JKJ. Along with my two partners at the time, we said we really need to define ourselves. Who we’re going to be. Who we answer to. What role we have in the community. What role we have with the client. We saw a changing world in the insurance industry, for sure.
At the time we had about 20 people. Now we have about 125. I think we’ve created an amazing culture, really driven by the people that we hire and the things that we live by.
What’s very important to us…
…is that we’re part of the community and that we give back to the community. And that we answer to the client. The employees own JKJ. The idea is that we go from generation to generation just doing what’s right for the client, doing what’s right for the community. That is what JKJ is every day.
One key to our success has been…
…that we create partnerships between us, the client, and the insurance provider who’s taking on the risk. Those partnerships are meaningful to us. Because when something goes wrong, you need to be able to trust in the people that you’ve chosen.
One thing I’ve learned about Corporate Social Responsibility…
…is that it’s okay to speak up about it. We used to be very quiet about what we did, but over the years we decided that we’re not bragging, we’re just encouraging others. We have many clients who say, “Hey, Bruce, can we join you in the Eagles Autism Challenge?” They’ll become part of it. It happens a lot with our health and wellness initiatives, too.
We’re not bragging about what we do. We’re really just encouraging other organizations. Every little thing that a company does, or a household, or a person — it all adds up.
Giving back to the community helps our company because…
…culturally, it’s an amazing attraction and retention tool. When I was young, you just got a job and, like your dad told you, worked your tail off. You didn’t really pay attention to the other stuff. But that’s not how I raised my kids, and so today it’s much different.
Younger people don’t want to just be in the insurance business. They love what we deliver and provide to the client. But there has to be a bigger purpose than that.
I’ve talked to a few young people who’ve said…
… I really want to work for a nonprofit. And I’ll say, I understand. But did you ever think of working for a for-profit company that’s not ashamed they’re a for-profit company, but gives back in a really strong way? Because there are some really strong advantages to what we have and to our culture. And after a while they’ve said, I get it now.
Another benefit of CSR…
…is that it creates a lot of teamwork. You can see groups of people coming together. An idea comes out, and a small group of people get together to expand on that idea. Before you know it, you have an initiative, then you have a strategy related to that — this is what we’re going to do. We celebrate that activity, and then somebody’s thinking of another one. What else can we do in the community?
Giving back…
… becomes part of your life.
I’d heard about the Satell Institute…
…for a long time. But the more I learned about it, the more I was like, I can’t think of an organization more in line with who we are and what we do. Hearing about the conferences and the chance to interact with other business leaders to talk about giving back to the community – you’re talking my language.
It’s a funny thing…
…but the more I’ve given back in my life, the more I’ve gotten. The more we give, we just keep on having more success. Which says to me something is looking out for us to remain a relevant organization to be able to keep on doing the things we can do.