After 17 years of steady operations, Ageas Federal Life Insurance found itself facing an uncomfortable reality. The Mumbai-based insurance company’s ownership structure had shifted dramatically, with its larger shareholder increasing their stake to 74 per cent. The change created uncertainty amongst employees who wondered whether their career trajectories would survive the transition.
Kapil Udaiwal, the company’s chief human resource officer, recognised a deeper problem lurking beneath the surface anxiety. Despite years of conventional training programmes—classroom sessions, e-learning modules, executive education—employee engagement scores remained flat. Talent retention was becoming increasingly challenging in India’s competitive insurance market.
” The breakthrough came from reframing the fundamental approach to learning. Instead of treating development as a human resources function, we decided to embed it as an organisational culture.“
Kapil Udaiwal, CHRO, Ageas Federal Life Insurance
The issue wasn’t unique to Ageas Federal. Across corporate India, companies were discovering that compliance-driven learning programmes failed to address what employees actually wanted: meaningful career development and genuine growth opportunities.
The career conversation gap
Udaiwal identified the crux of the problem through a simple question: how many professionals have structured, consistent conversations about their career aspirations with their managers over two decades of work? The answer revealed a systemic failure in corporate development.
Traditional performance appraisals had become what Udaiwal describes as “mundane rituals of ratings and designations.” Managers focused on backward-looking assessments rather than forward-looking development. Employees felt trapped in functional silos with limited visibility into alternative career paths.
The tension intensified as skilled professionals increasingly moved between companies seeking better opportunities. Ageas Federal faced a classic dilemma: invest heavily in employee development with the risk that trained staff would leave for competitors, or maintain minimal investment and watch talent drain away regardless.
Meanwhile, the insurance sector’s regulatory demands required continuous education, creating additional pressure to balance compliance training with strategic skill development. The company found itself caught between competing priorities whilst employee satisfaction stagnated.
Reimagining development as culture
The ownership change became Ageas Federal’s catalyst for transformation. Rather than treating the transition as a threat, Udaiwal positioned it as an opportunity to “invite fresh eyes to reimagine the company’s future”—with employee development at its centre.
The breakthrough came from reframing the fundamental approach to learning. Instead of treating development as a human resources function, the company decided to embed it as an organisational culture. This shift required dismantling traditional hierarchical barriers between departments and reimagining the relationship between managers and their teams.
The turning point wasn’t a single programme but a philosophical shift: from asking “what training do employees need?” to “what do employees aspire to become?”
Building career lattices
Ageas Federal’s solution centred on “Talk to Grow,” a systematic approach that transformed routine appraisals into substantive career planning conversations. In the first quarter, employees answer four strategic questions about their aspirational roles, cross-functional interests, global mobility preferences, and learning styles.
These responses trigger structured discussions between employees and managers about career vision and development paths. By the second quarter, conversations incorporate feedback and gap analysis. Identified gaps are addressed through specific action plans—training, certifications, job rotations, or shadowing opportunities—distilled into three actions: “what to start, what to stop, and what to continue.”
The company complemented this with a 360-degree Leadership Scan focusing on behavioural competencies rather than technical skills. According to Udaiwal, whilst technical abilities might secure promotions, people skills determine team engagement.
Peer learning sessions created informal support networks where managers could tackle shared workplace challenges collaboratively. The approach built what Udaiwal calls “career lattices” rather than traditional vertical ladders, enabling fluid movement across departments.
Strategic skill planning involved annual sessions where HR partnered with business leaders to anticipate which capabilities would become redundant and which would prove critical. As a member of the AGES International network, the company accessed global best practices whilst developing internal talent.
The succession planning process mapped every leadership role across three readiness levels: emergency replacements, 18-24 month prospects, and 3-5 year development candidates. High-potential employees received exposure to board meetings, global workshops, and strategic projects.
Measuring the transformation
Learning programmes now require business cases from nominating managers, outlining expected outcomes and post-training coaching commitments. The company tracks progress at 30, 60, and 90-day intervals to assess behavioural changes and practical application.
Whilst learning outcomes aren’t formally linked to performance reviews, Ageas Federal monitors progress through employee engagement scores, manager effectiveness ratings, and attrition trends. The company also tracks feedback on learning opportunities to gauge programme effectiveness.
Central to the approach is individual ownership of development. “We’ll offer the platform, but you need to step up,” Udaiwal explains. The company provides structure and support whilst placing responsibility for growth on employees themselves.
The broader stakes
The transformation at Ageas Federal reflects broader tensions in corporate India’s talent management. Traditional paternalistic approaches to employee development are giving way to collaborative models that emphasise individual agency alongside organisational support.
The insurance sector faces particular pressures, with regulatory requirements demanding continuous education whilst competitive dynamics necessitate rapid adaptation to technological change. Companies must balance compliance training with strategic skill development—a challenge that extends far beyond any single organisation.
Culture over compliance
Ageas Federal’s experiment suggests that effective employee development requires more than programme design—it demands cultural transformation. The company’s shift from compliance-driven training to aspiration-focused development illustrates how organisations might resolve the tension between individual career growth and business objectives.
Whether this approach delivers measurable long-term results remains to be seen. However, the insurance company’s commitment to treating learning as culture rather than function offers a compelling model for companies struggling to engage talent in India’s evolving business landscape. The lesson may be that in the battle for employee loyalty, asking the right questions matters more than providing predetermined answers.
1 Comment
Very thought-provoking appraoch taken by Ageas Federal and very succinctly and efficiently explained by Ms. Radhika Sharma. Kudos !