Case Studies

Hartford, Connecticut

Covr

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Hiring the right talent is one of the most difficult challenges a company will face. Recruiting takes time and skill, and competition for top-tier employees remains intense. To support the needs of its portfolio companies, CI stands ready to lend a hand with recruitment, retention, compliance, compensation and more. Here’s how one insurtech leveraged the support.

Enhancing Startup Success with HR Expertise: The Connecticut Innovations and Covr Collaboration

The Challenge

Covr is transforming the way we purchase insurance by replacing slow, paper-based transactions with fast, digital-first experiences. Founded in 2016, the Hartford-based company partners with financial brands and enables them to offer coverage from top carriers via Covr’s digital, white-labeled platform. With two locations and an ever-expanding list of customers and partners, the company had open roles in multiple areas, including marketing, human resources, compliance, finance, project management, sales, and technology and engineering—some of which were highly niche and difficult to fill. The company turned to Connecticut Innovations for help.

the solution

After learning about Covr’s challenges, CI’s Talent Acquisition Director, Bo Bradstreet, met with the insurtech’s leadership team, including CEO Michael Kalen, at Covr’s Hartford headquarters. There, the group discussed the company’s go-to-market strategy, strategic priorities and investment plan, as well as its culture and people needs. After understanding where the company was headed, Bradstreet worked with Covr’s executive team on a hiring plan that focused on multiple roles, including several priority hires.

The first order of business was onboarding a new HR leader who would be well positioned to support the company’s growth ambitions. Bradstreet had the perfect person in mind: Elvella Lozado, an experienced human resources professional whose background included experience with hiring, talent development, employee engagement and payroll. Bradstreet introduced Lozado to Kalen, who immediately brought her on board.

Bradstreet and the Covr leadership team then focused on improving the candidate experience by enhancing the company’s branding assets and job descriptions, and by using compensation surveys to help with the creation of competitive packages. From there, Bradstreet went to work scouting, vetting and introducing qualified candidates to the Covr HR team. To help with a niche engineering role that was proving tricky to fill, he identified, selected and managed a recruiting firm for Covr that focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning—skills the Covr team required.

the outcome

Bradstreet filled several key positions for Covr very quickly, including roles in marketing, engineering and project management. He also worked with the team to create a candidate universe of more than 10 potential regional insurance consultants to fill critical sales leadership roles tied to top-line revenue growth objectives. To fill a critical C-suite role, Bradstreet created a slate of highly qualified candidates in just three weeks.

The Covr team called CI’s HR support a “tremendous resource.”

what they said...

“Without Bo’s help we might have needed to contact an external recruiting firm, which would have cost thousands of dollars in fees, or we might still be scouting for some of our open roles,” Elvella Lozada, Human Resources Director, said. “Bo has many years of recruiting experience and listened attentively to our needs, asking all the right questions to ensure he scouted the right people for our company. With CI as a resource, we have been able to hire the right fit for those hard-to-fill roles.”

Need help with hiring, retention, compensation analysis or HR strategy? CI can help you:

save time and resources

Recommend efficiency improvements to your recruiting process and reducing the time it takes to fill critical roles.

save money

Leverage CI’s expertise, vast network and talent infrastructure before considering the use of external recruiting firms, or leverage CI’s preferred recruiting firms at reduced fees.

find quality hires

Work with a partner who understands your needs and can conduct targeted searches for your business.

enhance efficiency

Fill hard-to-find roles more quickly.