Posts by Robert Houghton

My favorite professional sports season has officially started:  The NFL. There is nothing like the NFL.  Why do more than 20 million people watch the NFL every Sunday?   Some like the community aspect – it brings people together.  Check.  Some like the violence and physical nature of the sport.  Check. Why me?  I like…

I had a long-time client of mine in WDC ask for my presence at their monthly executive roundtable meeting this past week.  The topic?  How to retain our top people. It’s a great question and one that I get very often from my insurance clients. As many of you know, the average age of an…

On any given day, I talk with at least a dozen individuals exploring new opportunities with my insurance clients. When the discussion turns to compensation, it’s amazing how many of these very bright insurance professionals are severely underpaid because they don’t know how to negotiate a raise with their existing employers. In particular, I find…

A headhunter’s perspective on Attributes versus Experience In preparation for our monthly executive coaching session, a client asked me this past week, “Rob, how do you rate a candidate’s attributes against their experience…what is more important?” Interesting question. It all comes down to this: People are usually hired for what they’ve done, but always fired…

I’m seeing a lot of abuse in the workplace lately.  Not physical abuse, but more so worker exploitation.  I thought we got rid of this as a society in the early 1900s in our country, but I am seeing it more as a trend now in the workplace I recruit in. Here are just two…

We released our 21st Semi-Annual Insurance Salary Report covering the WDC metropolitan region including Virginia and Maryland for the period ended June 30, 2024 this past week.  If you missed it, here it is: 2024 Insurance Salary Report The report illustrates how and why the market for top insurance account management and producer talent across…

I had a client of mine last week inform me that, “I am not paying you a search fee to find me a gray hair that is older than me.”  The candidate in question is someone who is very dynamic, highly qualified, and not even 60 years old. I found this very distasteful and wrong…

America’s Independence Day (or commonly referred to as “The Fourth of July”) is one of the most misunderstood of all holidays.  Here are some strange, but true facts about this very important holiday: •              Thomas Jefferson changed the wording on the Declaration of Independence from “the pursuit of property” to the “pursuit of happiness.” •             …

I don’t have an actual “rant” to make this week, but I do want to thank Lisa Harmon & Anna McEachern & the entire IIAV (Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia) organization for having me as one of their main speakers this past week at their annual conference held in Virginia Beach. The topic of, Rob’s…

If you boss wins, you win, right? Your objective is to make your boss more effective to get them promoted. And if your boss is unsuccessful, rarely does the next person in line get the job…you guessed it; it is someone brought in from the outside. I do this all the time: 95% of our…