A Macquarie Relationship Banking survey reveals employment within the broking sector is in robust health, with more than half of all firms planning to recruit more staff.

Its Insurance Broking Benchmarking Survey reveals 55% of broking firms are on the lookout for more staff within the next year.

Large firms (69%) are likely to be the most active within the recruitment market compared to small broking businesses (41%).

Competition for talent could be intense with a third of those polled looking for people capable of generating business revenue. Most firms (69%) expect difficulty in recruiting new staff.

Firms must also ensure they are meeting the needs of existing staff, the report says. This can take the form of increased communication, performance transparency and recognition and adequate training and development.

“Both monetary and non-monetary [recognition] can make a big difference to staff who have faced their own challenges and uncertainties during the past 24 months,” the report said.

Australian broking firms currently employ an average of 11.4 staff and generate revenue per staff member of $162,766 or $1,047,642 per principal.

Industry knowledge and expertise are identified as key training needs while customer relationship and sales skills are also considered vitally important.