Insurance agency org chart example
An independent insurance agency of about twenty-five, drawn around the split every agency lives with: the producers who bring in accounts and are paid on commission, and the account managers who keep the accounts and are paid a salary. The two are different jobs with different measures, and the chart draws them as different lines under the principal, then shows, with dotted lines, exactly where they meet.
How an insurance agency is usually structured
An agency sells policies and then services them for years, and the two halves are staffed by different people. Producers sell: they prospect, quote, close and renew, and they are paid on commission, sometimes as employees and sometimes not. Account managers and customer service representatives service: renewals, endorsements, certificates, claims, the phone. Draw producers under a sales director as one team whatever they sell, and draw service under managers by line of business, because a producer who manages the people servicing his book will always put his renewal ahead of everyone else's.
Lines of business are departments because the work is different. Commercial lines is renewals marketed to carriers, certificates by the hundred and mid-term changes, with a marketing and placement specialist who takes the complicated accounts to market and, in many agencies, certificate processing sent to an outside vendor, drawn here as a contractor. Personal lines is volume and the phone: home, auto and umbrella, serviced by customer service representatives. Benefits is annual enrollment and compliance. Each has a manager who owns retention and the service standard, with the account managers stacked beneath.
The dotted lines are where sales and service meet. A producer who writes only personal lines or only benefits sits with the other producers under the sales director and is dotted to the manager whose accounts he writes; the senior account manager who services the top producer's book alone is dotted to that producer, because that is who she spends the day with. Operations is the back office: accounting and commissions, licensing and compliance, reception, an outside IT firm as a contractor. The claims advocate reports to the principal rather than to any line, because a claim is where the agency's promise is tested, and the person keeping it should not answer to the producer whose client is claiming.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Leadership | Agency Principal, President, Agency Owner, Partner; Sales Director, VP of Sales; Operations Manager, Agency Manager |
| Managers | Commercial Lines Manager, Personal Lines Manager, Employee Benefits Manager, Marketing & Placement Manager, Claims Manager |
| Producers and service | Senior Producer, Producer, Account Executive, Benefits Consultant; Senior Account Manager, Account Manager, Customer Service Representative, Assistant Account Manager, Benefits Account Manager, Claims Advocate, Certificate Specialist |
| Support | Accounting & Commissions Specialist, Licensing & Compliance Coordinator, Receptionist, Executive Assistant; certificate processing, IT and bookkeeping vendors (as contractors) |
Where these charts go wrong
Agency charts go wrong by drawing producers as managers of the account managers who service their books; by burying personal lines under commercial, where it loses every priority argument; by putting the claims advocate under a producer or a line, so the client's advocate answers to the person who sold the policy; by leaving off the certificate vendor and the IT firm, so three account managers appear to issue every certificate; by making licensing and compliance nobody's job; and by giving the principal every producer as a direct report with no sales leader between them.
Questions people ask
- How is an independent insurance agency structured?
- A principal over two lines: sales, meaning producers under a sales director, and service, meaning account managers and customer service representatives under managers for commercial lines, personal lines and benefits. Operations holds accounting and commissions, licensing and compliance and the front desk, and a claims advocate reports to the principal. Below about ten people the principal is the sales director and one manager holds every line; draw the lines anyway.
- Should producers report to the lines managers?
- No. Producers report to a sales leader and are dotted to the manager whose accounts they write. A producer under the commercial lines manager is measured on retention when his job is new business; account managers under a producer service his renewals first and everyone else's second. Separate lines, with dotted lines where they meet, keep both jobs honest.
- Where does the claims advocate sit on the org chart?
- Under the principal, beside the lines rather than inside one. The advocate works a claim on the client's behalf with the carrier, and should not report to the producer who sold the policy or the manager whose retention the claim threatens. In a small agency the role is a senior account manager's second hat; draw it as a role anyway, so the client knows who to call.
- Do outsourced certificate processing and IT go on the chart?
- Yes, as contractors under the manager who directs their work. A certificate vendor issuing hundreds of certificates a month is a third of the commercial lines team's output; an outside IT firm is the agency's IT department. A chart without them shows an agency that could not get through a renewal season with the people on it.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programs beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control center, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defense, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
- Finance departmentAccounting closes the books; FP&A says what they mean.
- Marketing departmentDemand, product, brand, and the operations under all three.
- Customer service departmentTeams on the floor; quality, training and scheduling beside them.
- Engineering departmentProduct teams under a VP of engineering; platform, data and security under the CTO.
- Operations departmentSupply chain, fulfillment and the functions that keep both honest.
- Product departmentProduct, design, research and the operations that measure them.
- Consulting firmThree practices, one firm behind them, and no engagement on the chart.
- Real estate brokerageAgents who are not employees, on the chart anyway.
- Dental practiceA clinical line the law draws, and a business line the office manager runs.
- UniversityAn academic line and an administrative line, and governance kept off the chart.
- E-commerce companyThe site is the store, the warehouse is a contractor, and the lines between them are drawn.
- Veterinary clinicThe doctors own the medicine, the manager owns the day, and the technicians answer to both.
- Auto dealershipThe front end sells the cars; the back end pays the bills; the chart shows where they meet.
- School districtSchools on one line, the money on another, and a board that governs from a second chart.
- Police departmentPatrol takes the calls, investigations takes the cases, and professional standards answers to the chief alone.
- Nursing homeThe administrator holds the license, the director of nursing holds the building, and the survey reads both lines.
- Property management companyThe owners and the boards are clients, the site staff are employees, and the chart is where the two facts meet.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.