Employee Spotlight: Chris Littell – Inszone Insurance – Technologist

Here at Inszone, one of our missions is to make sure that every employee is appreciated, acknowledged, and recognized for their achievements. This Employee Spotlight series aims to celebrate success and highlight the talented individuals we have at Inszone, Cover Cannabis, and California Pool Association. Each month we’ll be featuring Inszone employees on our website, blog and social accounts.

Chris Littell is a Head of Recruiting at Inszone Insurance Services, joining the team in 2023. With over 20 years of experience, Chris has held various roles in Human Resources and Learning and Organizational Development, working with both local and international companies. As the company’s first full-time talent acquisition lead, Chris drives recruitment efforts for Inszone. He strongly believes in the importance of both technical and cultural fit in building and sustaining a successful, scalable organization.

When asked to share some words about Chris, Matt Rieck, who is Inszone’s Chief HR Officer, said, “Chris joined the HR Team almost a year ago now.  We were barely over 300 employees at the time and as of today we just past 740 Team Members, and Chris was a huge part of that.  Chris’s best quality is that he is eccentric and incredibly positive, and that is what we love most about him. He is an incredibly kind, thoughtful, giving human being, and we are incredibly lucky to have him leading recruitment for Inszone.

For those who don’t know, recruiting is a very tough job. Weeding through hundreds of resumes every week (half of them not formatted or even spell-checked mind you) to try to find great candidates to be Producers, Account Managers, Team Leads, Directors, and Vice Presidents is a thankless job that wears many people down.  The average employee in the recruiting field last only a couple of years, but when you have a good recruiter, someone that loves talking to people, it is a valuable find for a company, and those rare people are often in the role for a lifetime.

Chris we are very lucky to have you, and we are grateful for your leadership.  This recognition is well deserved, and so from me and everyone on the Inszone Team, thank you”

To get to know more about Chris, we asked her a couple of questions about him and his time in the insurance world:

Q: What initially brought you to the insurance industry?

A: I followed a great leader into insurance. I was working at a bank right out of college, and my leader transitioned to insurance. She asked me to join her.  My first role was in agent commissions, which led to roles in both training and account management.

Q: In what ways do you think your unique background or experiences contribute to your success in your role?

A: I have had two primary career paths: corporate training and human resources.  As my last role was as Human Resources and Training Director at an insurance company in Florida, I have specific insight on what makes a candidate successful.  I’m delighted to bring that experience to Inszone as our Head of Recruiting.

Q: Can you share a particular challenging situation you faced in your career and how you overcame it?

A: At a prior organization, we had a leadership role that was particularly difficult to fill: the business owners required statewide travel – sometimes at a moment’s notice – long hours and on-call availability.  As their Head of Human Resources, recruiting for the role fell to me.  Leadership had done no research as to what to call the role based on its job duties, nor any research on the appropriate salary for the role.  The business owners had owned the company for more than 20 years and had no recent information about the job market.  After doing a compensation study based on the role, I then had to approach the owners with a suggested change in title, from Manager to Director.  One owner in particular was not in support of the change, because it was his business, and he knew what was best.  So, I came up with a compromise: post the role twice; once his way, and once, mine.  With the new title and salary, I filled the role in six days with a candidate who invested long-term in the company as its new Central Florida Area Director.

Q: If you could describe your approach to teamwork in three words, what would they be and why?

A:  Communicate, innovate, collaborate.  Share information as it becomes available and verified as fact; work with the team to review processes and be open to reinvention if it allows us to work smarter and reduce operating expenses; include team members in important decisions, as procedures with buy-in are most quickly adopted and supported.

Q: What do you think sets you apart, and how does it benefit your team and clients?

A: I am, by nature, an inventor.  Looking at old ways with new eyes can provide strong strategic insights and allows for positive changes in processes, from speed-to-market to efficient and cost-effective solutions.  I am applying this strategic visioning to 2025 and beyond as we leverage our resources to scale future growth.  You will see some more proactive efforts from Recruiting as well, introducing our outstanding culture and value proposition to future Inszone team members.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence or mentor in your life, and what valuable lessons have you learned from them?

A: My sister, Kathy.  She is my only sibling.  From her, I learn patience, kindness, thoughtfulness, and balance.  Wife, Mother, Grandmother (dubbed NeeNee by the kids), Businesswoman, Singer, Civic Organizer, Club President, and my heroine.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career so far, and what did it teach you?

A: At Inszone, it is the pace at which I’m bringing new talent on board (on average, one a week).  In the last 9 months, I have been responsible for recruiting more than 5% of our US workforce, in roles from Sales to Service, from Claims to Marketing, Finance, Administration and everything in-between.   Four of them have appeared in our Top 25 Sales Leader Boards, including Top 3 placements (so far).  In addition, the cost of using agencies for recruiting employees can be significant.  In my role, I’ve been able to see tangible results of my efforts, both in the positive impact to our operating expenses and the successful careers of talented people who I have helped lead to their new careers at Inszone.  I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity.

Chris, your leadership and dedication in recruiting top talent have been invaluable to our team’s growth. We appreciate your efforts in building a strong foundation for our future success and look forward to achieving even more together!