Continuous Improvement Culture
UK insurance company
What was the problem?
Growth followed by downturn followed by new growth had left this top insurer with administrative processes that were “creaking” and a cost base that was higher than the competition. Service was perceived as indistinguishable, investment performance was average and there was little sense of innovation or urgency. Whole-company change was needed.
What did you do?
We designed a programme that would focus on customer service but which would go deep into the delivery of service i.e. value-adding at each process step, innovative concepts in product design and a step jump in investment performance. The premise was to be able to offer a much stronger proposition to customers confident that the organisation had the capability to deliver it.
What happened?
The service programme embraced everyone in the organisation, reaching out to include the independent financial advisors through which the products were sold. A clear communication of the need and the ambition was spread through the company with training workshops in how to make service improvements. The approach was focused on what people could do in their local areas supported by management and by large scale cross-business process improvements. Management had to adapt to a different style of leadership to support this change of activity.
What was the outcome?
Measured customer service, product innovation and investment performance were driven to substantially new highs. The visible success of this allowed the company to present a ‘customer service commitment’ with published turn-round times for customer transactions. Internally the rate of change was high with 900 registered improvement projects in one year and 2000 suggested ‘opportunities for improvement’, the majority of which were subsequently implemented. Management style was demonstrably different with regular feedback, recognition, competitions and celebrations to keep the enthusiasm high. The independent financial advisors were impressed and responded warmly, contributing to joint panels to continue to provide outstanding service. The company shot up the league table of service comparisons and has won top service awards for many years now.