Unlike other insurance brokers, where regional offices often operate independently of one another, and focus falls solely on profit and loss statements, Dubraski & Associates mandates and encourages cross-company collaboration. As an independent, boutique insurance brokerage, with 28 employees stationed across the country, Dubraski & Associates makes sure that employees are rewarded for the work they do as a team. “Any structure or setup that does not incentivize people to work together, we try to avoid,” says Bob Dubraski, founder and CEO of the San Diego-based brokerage.
Dubraski & Associates, which was just named to Business Insurance’s 2011 list of the Best Agencies to Work For, prioritizes flexible work environments for its employees. The company has several offices and suites across the United States, and some of the firm’s employees communicate digitally from home. In each situation, Dubraski & Associates is careful to curate the best possible team for each of its clients. Each account has a team leader, and each practice has a manager, but the goal is always to keep the structure as flat as possible, minimizing politics and increasing creative output.
Unlike other brokerages that turn themselves into one-stop shopping centers, offering noninsurance services like risk management or actuarial work, Dubraski & Associates partners with the best experts that specialize in each area, ensuring that its clients have the best experience possible. “We sell brain power,” Dubraski explains. “We put a team together based on what’s required, regardless of where our people are.”
Dubraski, who founded his firm in 2005 after breaking off from a larger corporate firm, says that he wanted to be able to bring the best minds for a particular project together, be they based in Florida, California, or New York—whereas many brokers and consultants have barriers in place that actually prevent this type of collaboration. This unique platform is paying off. Today, Dubraski & Associates, with its unique, boutique focus on the health-care industry’s insurance needs, is able to attract some of the best minds in the industry—the ones dedicated to this particular field. “If you can create an environment that’s specialty-driven and hire the best people in that space, and create an amazing environment with consistency and less politics, then you can be successful and have fun,” Dubraski says.
In addition to this specialized mentality and flat reporting structure, Dubraski & Associates also ensures that it will continue attracting the highest-quality employees with a premiere benefits package that rivals any in the industry. The brokerage offers a full array of health-care and ancillary benefit options, as well as incentives for continuing education. But the main attraction for the driven, enthusiastic employees working at Dubraski & Associates each day is the knowledge that the company’s mission is unwavering. “For people who want to serve the health-care industry, this is the place they know they can come and the mission is clear,” Dubraski says.
