Culture Beats Strategy Everyday

There is some grim reading in a recent report by Which? magazine, considering the experiences of policy holder claimants from the motor, household, travel, and pet insurance sectors.

Almost half (yep, nearly 50%) of claimants reported at least one problem with how their claim was handled. 26% said that they did not feel clearer about their situation after they had contacted their insurer, 21% said they had to repeat information or repeatedly share documentation, and 25% of those whose claim was rejected said they didn’t know or understand why this outcome had occurred.

I know that many of my colleagues in the claims and supply chain sectors will take this opportunity to leap on the report and condemn the statistical methods used, or perhaps attack Which? magazine as a source of left-wing revolutionary ideology. You might even conclude that claimants simply
don’t understand how difficult it is to manage a claim. and it’s not the same as buying a burger at McDonalds. Wrong!

Whilst a house burning down might indeed be complex, the simple fact is that we have been managing claims for hundreds of years, and many of the core problems behind poor service delivery have still not been resolved. Nor does the promise of new technology and Al driven
solutions deliver the nirvana that we are all seeking. These applications merely reflect the underlying culture of the business and the sector that we work within, so don’t be fooled into thinking that technology is where the answers lie either.

With 3,000+ claimants included in the Which? survey, there must be at least one grain of truth in the assertions being made here, and we have a real responsibility to provide meaningful answers.

Living the Dream

I recently attended a client meeting where a staff presentation was made concerning future plans, growth ambitions, and some structural changes. Quite rightly, the CEO made a point that the slides should at least mention and be based around the stated and published values of the business.

Rather foolishly, I asked what those values were. Oops! None of the Senior Management team seemed to know. but a quick reference to the Employee Handbook saved the day. What I couldn’t discern was how the decisions being made, the presentation being shown or the answers being given to legitimate questions from employees reflected any of those values. Simply mentioning them ‘in passing’ is hardly a culture driven
environment…

Embedding New Behaviours

Maybe this singular experience is not representative of our beloved claims sector, but I suspect that it might be. The research from Which? suggests that our efforts to date are not hitting the mark, and I suspect that this is because we are too focused on ‘strategy’, ‘technology’, ‘claims inflation’ and ‘cost management’. All of these are merely symptoms and a means to an end; it is the cultural basis of the business that should be the core driver of actions being taken, decisions being made, and investments being approved.

If we genuinely want the next Which? report to read differently, then we simply cannot continue to do what we have always done.

The solution lies in embedding the right culture across our thoughts, words and deeds. Then, and only then, will we see fundamental and lasting change


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