Essential Employee Engagement

There aren’t many businesses these days that would not agree that investing in its people is important. Insurance is a people business. No matter what type of risk is being insured the very nature of the service is to support, fix or restore one’s person, business or property. In the claims space this is especially important; the moment of truth as it is known.

Claims, like all other areas of business and life, is becoming increasingly digital but that certainly doesn’t lessen the need for investment in people. Firstly, of course is customer service. Using an app or website for customer communication won’t entirely replace talking with a claims handler and in more complex claim situations the reassurance and understanding provided by customer service people is essential.

However, the benefits of a structured approach to engaging with employees and investing in their training and development reaps benefits beyond front line customer service.

At Coplus we have chosen the Investors In People (IIP) framework as a means of ensuring we adopt best practice and have a mechanism to measure how we are doing. There are other types of accreditation that companies can practise but whichever is chosen I believe having an external framework to provide a benchmark is very valuable. It is a way of ensuring the business ‘looks at the big picture’ rather than being too inward facing.

IIP audit every two years and having just completed our review recently, retaining our Gold standard, this is very front of mind. However it’s impossible to maintain the standard simply by being ready to audit every two years, it is about the ongoing work we do every day.

Being consistent is so important. A big party once a year is great but it doesn’t sustain. That’s not to say that parties aren’t appreciated, but doing the most important things well and continuing to do them is where the long term benefit is created. People need a clear structure, to understand how their role contributes to the business, to see where they can develop their skills and where that can take them.

Essentially the aim is for a workforce that feels supported, trusted and has confidence; this creates engagement and commitment to help the business achieve its goals.

This article first appeared in Issue 37 of Modern Insurance Magazine.