Area Manager: Broker Service at AVBOB South Africa

Description

Using appropriate methods and a flexible interpersonal style to help build a cohesive team: facilitating the completion of team goals in building a successful team.

• Develop direction by ensuring that the purpose and importance of the team are clarified (e.g. the team has a clear charter or mission statement); guides the setting of specific and measurable team goals and objectives.
• Develop structure to clarify roles and responsibilities of broker consultants; help ensure that necessary steering, review or support functions are in place.
• Make procedural or process suggestions for achieving team goals or performing team functions; provides necessary resources or helps to remove obstacles to team accomplishments. Facilitates goal accomplishment.
• Listen and fully involve broker consultants in team decisions and actions; values and uses individual differences and talents.
• Share important or relevant information with the team such as new products that AVBOB will introduce.
• Adhere to the team’s expectations and guidelines; fulfils team responsibilities; demonstrate personal commitment to the team.

Obtaining information and identifying key issues and relationships relevant to achieving the team’s goals; committing to a course of action to accomplish goals after developing alternatives.

• Identify and fill gaps in information required to understand problems and opportunities.
• Generate alternatives by creating relevant options in addressing problems, opportunities and achieving the desired outcomes.
• Formulate clear decision criteria by considering implications and consequences choose an effective solution.
• Commit decisions to action and implementation.
• Include others in the decision-making process as warrant to obtain good information.
• Make the most appropriate decisions and ensure buy-in and understanding of the resulting decision.
• Using appropriate interpersonal styles and techniques to gain acceptance of ideas or plans; modifying one’s own behaviour to accommodate tasks, situations and individuals involved.
• Describe expectations, goals, requests or future goals in a way that provides clarity and excites interest.
• Seek, give and summarize information; ensure that the situation/issue at hand is understood.
• Present own ideas; seek and develop suggestions of others; make procedural suggestions.
• Use appropriate influence strategies (such as demonstrating benefits or giving rewards) to gain genuine agreement; persist by using different approaches as needed to gain commitment.
• Establish good interpersonal relationships by helping people feel valued, appreciated and involved in discussions (enhances self-esteem, empathizes, involves, discloses, supports).

Building partnerships, identifies opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s area of responsibility and others.

• Analyse the organisation and own area to identify key relationships that should be initiated or improved to further the attainment of own and organisational goals.
• Formulate action plans through collaboration to determine courses of action to realize goals. This would for instance involve the implementation of new products.
• Monitor and evaluate the partnerships and attainment of set goals to market new products.

Focusing and guiding others in accomplishing work objectives.

• Collaboratively works with Broker Consultants to set meaningful performance objectives; sets specific performance goals and identifies measures for evaluating goal achievement.
• Collaboratively work with Broker Consultants to identify the behaviours, knowledge and skills required to achieve goals; identifies specific behaviours, knowledge and skill areas for focus and evaluation.
• Ensure that opportunities for development are available; offer to help individuals overcome obstacles to learning.
• Collaboratively with training department identify observation or coaching opportunities, training, workshops, seminars etc. that will help the individual achieve important goals. Self-development plays a major part in the development of members.
• Use techniques to track performance against goals and to track the acquisition and use of appropriate behaviours, knowledge and skills.
• Hold regular formal discussions with each Broker Consultant to discuss progress toward goals and review performance; evaluate each goal, behaviour, and knowledge and skill area.

Formal presentation: Presenting AVBOB products to individuals or groups, deliver presentations that suits the characteristics and needs of the clients.

• Define clear goals that clearly reflect the needs of the audience.
• Maintain audience attention.
• Present main ideas that support the objective of the presentation. Present facts and details describing the products available in a logical sequence.
• Use non-verbal communication.
• Use audio and visual aids to enhance the audience’s understanding of products.
• Listens and responds to questions and objectives.
• Summarizes the presentation.

Planning and organizing by establishing courses of action to ensure that work is completed efficiently.

• Identify more critical and less critical activities and adjust to sell products.
• Allocate appropriate amounts of time to appointments.
• Dedicate required time and energy to assignments or tasks to ensure that no aspect of the work is neglected; works to overcome obstacles to completing tasks or assignments.
• Establish criteria and/or work procedures to achieve a high level of quality, productivity and service.

Setting up ongoing procedures to collect and review information needed to manage an area office or ongoing activities within it.

• Determine which processes or areas need to be monitored; identify what information need to be obtained.
• Develop and maintain monitoring systems to monitor activities or outputs. Develop a system that is easy to use and that provide timely and pertinent information.
• Effectively put in place monitoring systems with minimal interruption for other organisational processes.
• Collect and review data on a regular basis to determine progress, anticipate needs and make necessary adjustments to personnel or processes.
• Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, unit, or organisations to help achieve business goals.
• Analyse the organisation and own area to identify key relationships that should be initiated or improved to further the attainment of own area’s goals.
• Exchange information with potential partner areas to clarify partnership benefits and potential problems; collaboratively determines the scope and expectations of the partnership so that both areas’ needs can be met.
• Collaboratively determines courses of action to realize mutual goals; facilitates agreement on each partner’s responsibilities and needed support.  Formulates action plans.
• Places higher priority on organisation’s goals than on own area’s goals; anticipates effects of own area’s actions and decisions on partners; influences others to support partnership objectives.
• Implements effective means for monitoring and evaluating the partnership process and the attainment of mutual goals.
• General: Administration.
• Manage the targets of district managers to sell new products.
• Manage the selection and recruitment of suitable personnel in co-operation with the recruitment department and the Manager: Marketing Administration.
• Ensure training is provided on functional, administrative, management- and marketing skills are provided in co-operation with Manager: Training. Functional training should be completed within six months.
• Arrange for counselling and disciplinary procedures as required in accordance to company policy.
• Management responsibilities.
• Anticipate research and report on future changes regarding life insurance management strategy and ensure such knowledge is factored into the planning of the department’s own strategy, resources and procedures and the awareness of corporate direction, mission, aims and activities.
• Plan and recommend the implementation of a life insurance strategy and activities consistent with overall aims and requirements of the organisation and according to an agreed development strategy.
• Manage direct subordinates as indicated below and ensure that their subordinates are managed  along the following guidelines:
• Interview and selection of staff and motivating for the appointment of new personnel to ensure that appointments are made along the requirements of positions and to ensure that sufficient members are employed at all times.
• Prepare job descriptions and other related material for new positions and compile and maintain job descriptions of subordinates to ensure that members are informed about their responsibilities at the required level.
• Identify training needs of new and existing personnel to ensure that members are able to perform their duties at the required level.
• Evaluate the performance level of sub-ordinates to determine the quality of work and performance levels and make recommendations regarding their career development/progression.
• Apply prescribed rules and discipline with the department to ensure that the work is done at an acceptable level.
• Develop, manage and motivate subordinates by providing of quality guidance, supervision and on the job training.
• Identify, develop and implement skills development and training opportunities.
• Manage the leave of broker consultants in such a manner that sufficient numbers of members are always available to attend to the requirements of other staff members.
• Liaise with other departments in the organisation in order to establish and maintain an effective and relevant investment approach in relation to the organisation’s operating functions.
• Communicate, liaise and negotiate externally using appropriate methods to facilitate the development of sustainable relationships.
• Use personal judgement and initiative to develop effective and constructive solutions to challenges and obstacles in relation to investments and fixed property administration. 
• Monitor, record, analyse and report on activities, trends, results and recommendations relating to area of responsibility. Attend meetings and contribute to company strategy and policy-making as required.
• Maintain personal ability in and appropriate use of all relevant ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and other systems within area of responsibility.
• Develop personal skills and capability through on-going training interventions and develop relevant knowledge, techniques and skills provided by AVBOB or external service providers.
• Maintain administration and relevant reporting and planning systems and prepare and submit relevant administration in a timely and accurate manner.
• Investigate, plan and implement strategically effective and relevant life insurance management methods which meet optimally the needs of the organisation and its customers.
• Financial Management and Budgeting.
• Manage the budget which is a detailed statement of estimated income and expenses and a historical record of the department’s activities during a given period.
• Use the budget to accomplish the following:
• It can assist to redefine goals based on realistic resources.
• It can compel members of the department to use funds efficiently.
• It can provide accurate information to adjust, analyse and evaluate programs and activities.
• It can provide a historical reference to be used for future planning.
• It can be an aid in decision making.
• Develop a budget along the following lines.
• Start preparations in time prior to the close of the current year.
• Prepare an outline of the department’s planned activities for the upcoming year.
• Determine available funds such as carry over balance from previous years, cash on hand and funds in the bank.
• Do careful studies of funding sources, costs, estimated and probable fundraisers.
• Estimate expected income and when it is expected to be available.
• Define required expenses for advertising, printing, supplies etc.
• Obtain price quotations on certain expenditures and delegate certain responsibilities to members.
• Rank the order of expenditures by their importance and consider which activities are the wisest expenditures of funds.
• Eliminate less essential expenditures or limit expenditures.
• Revise, review, coordinate, cross-reference and assemble into a final budget that is flexible to anticipate conditions which might have been overlooked during the planning process.
• Once approved, adopted and prepared it should be closely managed and general policies and procedures are required to achieve objectives.
• Keep an accurate log of financial transactions (income and expenses) and check and balance records periodically;
• Control costs by only allowing approved expenditures.
• Assess budget at any given point of time during the budgeted period.
• After the budget period has lapsed, determine the outcome of each expense and revenue.
• Judge and review actual cost in order to establish.
• Judge and review actual cost in order to establish priorities for the next budget period.

Identify opportunities and take action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, to help achieve business goals.

• Analyse the organisation and own area to identify key relationships that should be initiated or improved to further the attainment of own area’s goals.
• Exchange information with potential partner areas to clarify partnership benefits and potential problems; collaboratively determines the scope and expectations of the partnership so that both areas’ needs can be met.
• Collaboratively determine courses of action to realize mutual goals; facilitates agreement on each partner’s responsibilities and needed support. Formulates action plans.
• Places higher priority on organisation’s goals than on own area’s goals: anticipates effects of own area’s actions and decisions on partners: influences other’s to support partnership objectives.
• Implements effective means for monitoring and evaluating the partnership process and the attainment of mutual goals.

Requirements

• Grade 12 and life insurance related training programmes on NQF 5 level.
• Comply with FAIS legislation for registration as Fit and Proper individuals
• 140 Credits at NQF Level 4
• Be in possession of a tertiary qualification in marketing or sales
• RE 1 and RE 5
• Proficient in MS Office Suite (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint).
• Up to 5 years’ experience including 2 years relevant supervisory experience.
• Intermediate level negotiation skills.