Digital transformation

No gain without pain

Ronny Reppe, CEO of Noria, the Norwegian specialist software and consulting provider to the marine insurance sector, advises to tackle the most challenging tasks first to truly bring the insurance sector into the full automated future and deliver significant efficiencies for all

What is the most painful task on your current to-do list? Perhaps it’s a challenging piece of writing, a difficult conversation with a stakeholder, or a project that you know will take weeks to complete. If you’re like most people, you will procrastinate by tackling the easiest jobs first; answering emails, organising your calendar and other small tasks that will provide a false sense of progress. Meanwhile, the bigger project remains unstarted.

The same situation applies on an enterprise-level scale in terms of driving efficiencies through automation. The areas where it hurts most – the most inefficient in-house processes – are often the areas which would take the biggest effort to automate, but also will provide the greatest return on investment. My advice is to start where it hurts most. Find the biggest inefficiencies, find a way to automate or otherwise make them more efficient, then move onto the next-most inefficient process.

INEFFICIENCIES IN INSURANCE

I would love to report that the insurance industry is leading the way in process automation, but unfortunately, this is far from the case. We are not even close to where we should be in terms of work process efficiencies, which has led to a decade of stagnating productivity. A 2019 report from consulting firm McKinsey report titled The Productivity Imperative in Insurance commented: “Unlike other industries, which have been able to capitalise on their investments in digital technologies,

insurance hasn’t increased its overall productivity in the past ten years.” “One of the main arguments people McKinsey offers four categories of productivity levers: 1) deepened make against automation is that a process functional excellence, 2) structural simplification, 3) business requires a human touch. I would point to transformation, and 4) enterprise agility. the booming field of #HRtechnology to

Much of the lowest-hanging fruit lies in the area of functional demonstrate that even the most “human” excellence. This means corporate functional improvements (making function is leaping ahead through the finance, HR, procurement more efficient), and insurance excellence such as getting better at process power of automation.’’ BUILDING THE BUSINESS standardisation, claims efficiency and Ronny Reppe, CASE underwriting. Noria Software When you have identified the first In many organisations, the pain-point, it is time to build a problem lies in a hesitancy to tackle business case for solving it. the major pain-points. Instead, The business case should define exactly what needs to be insurers are automating around the edges; making invested in the project, and show the organisation what it incremental improvements while shying away from the will get in return for this investment. high-value opportunities. Be sure to link your recommendations to overall

Experience shows that the biggest pain-points are those business objectives, quantify the key benefits of making a that no one wants to talk about, and exist in the areas of process more efficient and put forward your proposed structural simplification and business transformation. solution(s) for doing so. Look beyond the tangible benefits

None of these projects will provide quick wins and often to include factors such as increased employee satisfaction. involve a significant change of direction for the leadership One of the most powerful arguments to include in a team. Examples include: business case is to highlight the opportunities that will be missed if your recommendation is not adopted. > Moving from manual to digital operations; > Rethinking the product offering; > Upgrading complex, legacy IT systems; > Creating a single, unified view of customers; > Building an advanced analytics capability; > Optimising the digital customer journey; > Simplifying the organisational structure; > Automating via robotic process automation (RPA); > Establishing single data entry; > Investing in artificial intelligence (AI); and, > Tapping into the power of connected insurance (IoT sensors).

INEFFICIENT PROCESSES IDENTIFICATION

Where to start? Don’t assume that everyone shares your opinion of where the biggest inefficiencies exist in your business.

Although the list above includes many endemic challenges in insurance, every organisation is unique in terms of pain-points and inefficiencies. Identify the biggest pain-points by: > Launching a company-wide survey; > Running a brainstorming session with your team;

> Reviewing customer satisfaction scores, feedback and complaints; > Review IT expenses to find where your IT team is spending most of its time; > Track meeting lengths. What issues require the most hours of discussion?; and, > Ask outside partners and vendors what they find most difficult about working with you.

AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE

“We’ll never be able to automate this”. My final piece of advice is to never accept that something cannot be automated. The people who tell you so are also likely to be the people who are the most resistant to change. The inefficient process that you decide to keep manual today will be the process that continues to hold your organisation back two, five, or ten years in the future.

One of the main arguments people make against automation is that a process requires a human touch. I would point to the booming field of #HRtechnology to demonstrate that even the most “human” function is leaping ahead through the power of automation. It’s also worth keeping in mind the possibility of partial automation that combines the best of robotic process automation (RPA) and human skill-sets.

The NORIA team leverages decades of software experience, in-depth knowledge and project management expertise to help clients identify and solve inefficient process with smart solutions. Get in touch to learn more.