2011 Workplace Excellence Grand Prize Winner

We're so proud that our San Diego-based term life insurance agency took home a top award from the local chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.

AIG Direct (formerly Matrix Direct), a nationwide leader in direct-to-consumer term life insurance products, was awarded a Grand Prize for workplace excellence by the San Diego chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management. The company was recognized for its innovative business solution in creating a "Sales Talent Life-Cycle Program' for employees, during ceremonies held Nov. 9, 2011.

AIG Direct President and CEO Ron Harris said the prestigious award recognizes his company's continuing efforts to attract, hire, and retain the most talented workers through innovative training programs and other employee initiatives.

"Our new recruits are becoming productive faster than ever before and our turnover is 50 percent of what it had been,' Harris said. "We are setting new sales records and all of this in an economic climate that is challenging to say the least."

Company Recognized for Innovative Training Program

AIG Direct's new training program focuses on talent acquisition, interviews, and evaluations along with career path training and development. The new interview and evaluation process incorporated a competency-based interview model based on core characteristics of top sales team members. Classroom instruction and hands-on training help bring entry-level and mid-level workers up to speed and into senior sales positions faster.

AIG Direct, founded in 1995, has 253 employees in San Diego and also maintains an office in Schaumburg, Ill. The company won the top award for mid-sized companies with between 150 and 629 employees.

The Workplace Excellence Awards were created in 2000 as an opportunity to educate business leaders on the value and contribution that exceptional human resources practices can make to the success and profitability of an organization.