Perceived Factors Influencing Intention to Leave Among the Sales Agents in CFC Life Assurance, Kenya
Abstract
High turnover of newly contracted assurance agents is a wide-spread problem faced by many life
assurance companies. This trend has made the failure rate of newly contracted agents become
notoriously high, leading to frustrations as well as lack of personal development among those
who seek opportunities to become agents in the assurance industry. At CfC Life insurance the
increasing turnover of sales agents is more obvious in 2008 and 2013, where about one-third of
the agents have left the life insurance business is worrying. Factors contributing to this scenario
have yet to be confirmed and the identification of the factors also has yet to be explored. This
study sought to determine the perceived factors influencing intention to leave among the sales
agents in CFC Life Assurance, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design.
The target population for the study was all 365 CFC Life Insurance Limited sales agents. A
structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. A proportion of the
respondents strongly agreed to the following statements concerning the factors influencing intent
to leave: product training that enables them to be more competent in their job, work is
emotionally exhausting, an effective process to help them identify my developmental needs, are
paid fairly for the contributions made towards the company’s success, care about their wellbeing,
are satisfied with the training programmes to develop their skills and abilities and receive
adequate career guidance and counseling whenever needed. Hence the study ultimately
concludes that rewards and remuneration, organizational support, and product knowledge are
perceived factors influencing intention to leave among the sales agents in CFC Life Assurance,
Kenya. The study recommends that there is need for CFC Life Assurance, Kenya to offer their
sales agents rewards and remunerations fairly compared with other organization and also
establish a clear link between how well a sales agents performs’ and the remuneration expected.
There is need for the company to offer organizational support through taking great pride in sales
agents’ accomplishments while offering appropriate and fair recognition to their contributions.
There is need to employ the services of a dedicated team of trainers who spearhead the product
knowledge process across the board for the sales force of any organisation. Further study in the
same line should be done to incorporate at least 3 other players in the industry or all, furthermore
the mentioned objectives though achieved are not the only factors that influence retention of
insurance sales agents and other factors should be looked into or identified.