For decades, talent management in insurance has been treated as a supporting function. Hiring, training, performance management, and career development lived largely within HR, operating alongside the business rather than at its core. That model is no longer sufficient. In a recent article published by The Insurance Lead, the argument is direct: talent must evolve the same way technology did, from support function to strategic infrastructure.
This shift matters because insurance careers are accelerating faster than the systems designed to support them. Digitalization has fundamentally changed how work is done, how quickly professionals advance, and how capability is built. Without modern talent infrastructure, organizations risk moving strategy faster than their people can realistically execute.
When Experience No Longer Accumulates Slowly
Historically, insurance expertise was built through time and repetition. Professionals learned by sitting beside experienced colleagues, handling similar scenarios year after year, and gradually developing judgment. Digital tools have compressed that learning curve. Automation, analytics, and workflow systems now handle much of the repetitive work that once reinforced experience.
As a result, professionals are advancing faster. Promotions happen earlier. Responsibilities expand more quickly. Decision-making authority increases before intuition has fully formed. This is not a failure of talent. It is a structural gap.
The article highlights a critical reality. Digitalization removed the slow, experiential paths that once built judgment, but organizations have not replaced them with intentional systems that develop capability at speed. The result is a workforce moving faster, but often without the scaffolding needed to sustain performance.
Why HR Can No Longer Carry This Alone
Another key insight from The Insurance Lead is that HR is no longer structurally positioned to own enterprise-wide talent architecture. Over time, HR’s mandate has expanded significantly. Compliance, regulatory oversight, workforce risk, benefits complexity, and employee relations now consume much of its capacity.
This does not reflect a failure of HR. It reflects overload. As organizations digitize and regulatory scrutiny increases, HR becomes a risk management function as much as a development function. Expecting HR alone to design and maintain dynamic talent systems across the enterprise is no longer realistic.
Talent development today intersects directly with operations, technology, and strategy. That makes it an organizational responsibility, not a departmental one.
Talent Must Be Built Like Technology
The article draws a powerful parallel between talent and technology evolution. Technology once lived on the margins, supporting the business. Over time, it became essential. Today, it is infrastructure.
Talent must follow the same path. Treating talent as infrastructure means building systems that intentionally develop capability, not relying on time or proximity to do the work. It means designing clear pathways for progression, feedback loops for learning, and visibility into where skill gaps are forming before they become risks.
Organizations that take this approach gain execution readiness. They know whether their people can support new strategies, absorb new technologies, and scale new models. Those that do not often discover gaps only after performance suffers.
Why This Matters Right Now
Four forces are converging to make this shift urgent. Technology acceleration continues to reshape roles faster than job descriptions can keep up. Demographic shifts are thinning layers of experience as senior professionals retire. Generational expectations emphasize growth, clarity, and progression earlier in careers. At the same time, HR functions are stretched by expanding compliance and workforce risk demands.
Together, these forces create a dangerous condition. Strategy moves faster than capability. Organizations launch initiatives, adopt platforms, and pursue growth without a clear understanding of whether their talent systems can support execution.
This is not a future problem. It is happening now.
What Leaders Should Take Away
The takeaway from this perspective is not about hiring faster or training more. It is about designing intentional systems that align talent, capability, and strategy. Leaders should ask whether their organizations have visibility into how people develop judgment, how learning scales, and how roles evolve as work changes.
Treating talent as infrastructure creates resilience. It allows organizations to adapt without burning out their people. It provides clarity about readiness and risk. Most importantly, it ensures that as insurance work becomes more digital and complex, human capability keeps pace.
Building the Foundation for What Comes Next
From ReSource Pro’s perspective, this reframing is essential. Insurance organizations that treat talent as infrastructure rather than an HR sub-function will be better positioned to execute strategy, absorb change, and sustain performance over time. Talent systems are no longer optional supports. They are core operating assets.
The organizations that recognize this shift early will not just attract and retain talent. They will build the capability required to compete in a faster, more complex insurance landscape.
Source
Talent as Infrastructure: Why Talent Management Will Leave the HR Incubator Nest
Author: David Kaplan
Publication: The Insurance Lead
Original Publication Date: 2025
