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Tag Archives: Strategic Planning

  1. 15 Excuses For Not Changing And 5 Reasons To Change The Way We Make Change April 1, 2014

    Posted in Strategic Planning.

    Change is hard for everyone and how and when to change has been debated and discussed in companies since the first company was formed. What is never debated are some of the excuses used for not changing. People are generally resistant to change and despite the need to move forward people generally prefer to live with what they have. Taking a strategic approach to the issues around change itself shuold help to alleviate some of the resistence. In this post we look at changing the way we change.

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  2. Part 3 on Leadership: Challenges and Assistance in Leading Change March 25, 2014

    Posted in Strategic Planning.

    In Leadership: The Change Process In Claims Requires A Different Approach, I put forth the position that changing a claims organization needs a new brand of leadership skill that does not usually exist in the traditional claims organization. In Part 2 on Leadership: Developing a Strategic Transformation Team, I addressed how to break from existing management process to achieve effective strategic results. In the final installment, I discuss how challenges around leading change make it beneficial to bring in strategic support to help achieve the desired success.

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  3. Leadership: The Change Process In Claims Requires A Different Approach March 10, 2014

    Posted in Strategic Planning.

    Successful organizations are always changing and adopting to improve their operations, lower costs and increase efficiencies. Claims departments are no different and have been under pressure to transform their operations and live by the mantra of doing more with less. Good claims organizations continuously evolve and adapt to ensure they add value to the overall business. Regardless, changing to meet the challenges of the marketplace is often fraught with problems and difficulties. Many initiatives fail to get off the ground or fail in the implementation process. Change can be very successful and if managed and led correctly. To change effectively there must be a strategic approach and a change in how these initiatives are led.

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  4. Claim Files Are Evaluated Using A Form Of Root Cause Analysis So Why Not Do The Same When Evaluating The Department? March 5, 2013

    Posted in SPOT on Ops.

    Similar to a claim file analysis, operational problems require an assessment as to what happened, how it happened, how could it have been prevented, who was at fault, what’s it going to cost to fix the claim and are there any lessons learned. For example, let’s say payments are being delayed resulting in fines being assessed against the department. If one looks at the fines as a claim one would want to determine what caused the fine? how did it happen? and how can it be corrected? An analysis of the “claim” needs to take place prior to making any decisions. Why not use these smae claim evaluation techniques to understand the operation? In our latest post we give a suggestion for doing just that.

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  5. 4 Areas Of Concern From The Latest Insurance Executive Conference December 12, 2012

    Posted in Commentary, Strategic Planning.

    Recently insurance leaders came together at the 23rd Executive Conference looking at “Driving Growth in the Life and Property-Casualty Insurance Markets.” Throughout the conference 4 themes seemed to permeate: Data and technology, regulatory environment, climate change and social media. It would seem these issues will with the market for a while. Take a look at our brief overview of the conference.

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  6. Insanity: Claim’s Departments Can’t Expect Different Results Without Changing Their Organizations May 9, 2012

    Posted in Commentary, My SPOT.

    Maybe I care too much about our industry or am just frustrated by the lack of attention to quality claims handling, but this is annoying. Why should claims make up half of the most frequent market conduct issues for the Property & Casualty industry as listed by Wolters Kluwer for the 5th straight year? As part of their review they track and analyze the results from state market conduct examinations. As with their prior studies, claims issues continue to dominate the list of state concerns. In my latest post I analyze the last 5 years of the Wolters study and find an upsetting trend – nothing is changing. This is a challenge to claims organizations to improve! Check it out.

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  7. What Would Steve Jobs Do In A Claims Organization? March 15, 2012

    Posted in Best Practices, Claims Technology, SPOT on Ops.

    So what would Steve Jobs say about our claims industry? Well, having heard about his reputation I think I will leave what he would say out of this post. Regardless, I think Mr. Jobs would see an industry with tremendous opportunities to innovate and improve the way they deliver and manage claims services. In our most recent post, we explore a claims world in as it may be in the world of a master of product design and marketing.

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  8. You Can’t Wait Till The Last Minute To Improve You Operation – Planning Starts Now! June 22, 2010

    Posted in SPOT on Ops.

    In a a great analogy about the rapid growth of lily pads in a pond, we discuss the need to start strategic planning to solve problems before they become to hard to deal with. Like most industries, adopting and changing with the times can be a difficult proposition. It takes time to think of issues, come up with solutions and implement the changes. Insurance companies have added legal, compliance and regulatory concerns to say nothing of complex (sometimes outdated) information technology systems. Regardless, it’s not too late to address issues such as a social media or mobile strategy. We give two suggestions of recent trends that should be explored by claims organizations over then next few years.

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  9. Does Hiring More Staff Improve Claims? How To Know When The Time Is Right May 3, 2010

    Posted in SPOT on Ops.

    Deciding when to hire new staff is always a difficult question to answer. It’s even harder in a tough economy. In this week’s post I explore what to consider before hiring. Developing a staffing model and exploring internal metrics should be done before making a decision. But how do you create a staffing model? I suggest a few methods for developing a staffing model that makes sense. Before you bring on more staff review your staffing model, see if there any trends affecting file loads and take a quick look inward at your operation. Once these assessments are completed, you will be in a better position to know if hiring is the right decision.

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  10. 5 expense reduction opportunities insurance CEOs should not overlook January 27, 2010

    Posted in SPOT on Costs.

    Increased profits come from efficient claims operations: Take a look at that annual reports of the top performing insurance companies and you will see a similar message from their CEO’s. Expense management and efficiency is a principal driver of profitability.In a tight market do less with more without sacrificing quality and significantly customer service is the edge needed to be a top performer. The claims department is the perfect place to lower costs and improve the customer experience at the same time. Here are 5 key areas that should be looked at for cost savings.

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  11. With old claims systems come old claims processes – You can’t change one without the other! January 21, 2010

    Posted in Claims Technology, SPOT on Costs.

    So you need a new claims system You know the darn thing doesn’t work or do what you want it to do so what’s next? You can’t just go out and buy a new system without understanding what your current process looks like. Over the years you have adopted your operation to your existing technology.  […]

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