Other parts of this series:
In my previous post, I explored how employees in the post-digital world are becoming human+. This means that each individual worker is empowered by their unique set of skills and knowledge—plus a new, constantly growing set of capabilities made possible through technology.
Change the workplace or hinder the workforce
To keep up with the expectations of their evolving employees, insurance companies must adopt, within their talent and organization strategies, technologies that are similar to those that created this next-generation workforce. This will support a new way of working in a post-digital age.
In this post, I will discuss four winning talent management strategies that leading insurers have used to create the human+ worker.
1. Optimizing the workforce mix
Leading insurance firms are moving away from reactive, skills-based hiring and looking toward an optimized mix of people. They are using technology to assess candidates based on capabilities and potential in order to:
a. Identify strong candidates for open roles, and
b. Match employees with the training needed to switch roles later.
Forward-thinking insurance companies GEICO and Bajaj Allianz are using automated video interviewing solutions to screen talent and identify good potential matches. With AI, recruiters can analyze a candidate’s speech patterns, facial expressions and mannerisms to build a behavioral and cognitive profile. This allows them to spend less time on initial screening and more time with candidates, and to find the best fit for the business.
2. Training and engagement
81% of insurance executives believe that increased employee velocity—the speed at which members of the workforce move between roles and organizations—has increased the need for reskilling in their organization.
Leading insurance providers are investing in learning platforms and strategies that better prepare workers for tomorrow.
Spanish insurance company Mapfre has piloted the use of virtual reality to train loss adjusters in assessments of electric vehicles, without needing a physical car on site. VR makes it affordable to train adjusters on a wide range of vehicle models. What’s more, inexperienced adjusters can learn without exposing themselves to electrical hazards. The company is also experimenting with AR-powered video assistance, which helps technicians and supervisors to make immediate repair decisions while on a video call.
3. Enabling fluid knowledge flow
The workforce and the organization rely on quick access to information to be agile and efficient—yet this becomes more of a challenge as baby boomers retire (loss of institutional memory) and human+ workers move more rapidly through and across the organization (distributed knowledge).
North American life insurer Sun Life is an example of how leading insurance companies are embracing technology strategies that bring knowledge management into the human+ era. The company is using Facebook’s Workplace to give employees a collaborative space to share news and updates on company strategy, highlight articles of interest related to the business, reward and recognize employees, and celebrate project milestones. The goal is to create a company community spanning 26 countries.
4. Equalizing the investment
Empowering the human+ workforce will drive the organization into the post-digital era. Therefore, insurers need to invest in their workforce with the same level of commitment as they invest in technology.
Investing in training and reskilling will better prepare workers for changing roles. Innovations in AI and extended reality, coupled with integrated knowledge-sharing platforms, will empower people to participate in self-directed learning, while also giving businesses better insight into the needs and goals of their workforce.
Along with new approaches to talent finding and knowledge management, these changes will let insurers capture the full potential of their human+ workers.
Are you ready for what’s next?
To find new ways to support and benefit from an increasingly human+ workforce, insurers must address two key questions and make the following pivotal decisions:
- What areas of your business have the biggest digital divide between the company and your human+ workforce?
- Identify practices that are still optimized for pre-digital workers.
- Make a list of the areas where the divide is creating the most pain, for example attrition.
- Select one or more areas for pilot programs that explore how AI, sentiment analysis, and extended reality can help close these gaps.
- If you already have pilots underway, select a key focus area in which to industrialize successful efforts.
- With in-demand technology skills constantly changing, is your approach to talent-finding and acquisition ready for the post-digital era?
- Review your current approach to talent forecasting.
- Identify areas of the business where talent gaps have persisted or grown.
- Rethink hiring methods for areas with the largest talent gaps.
- Select one or more areas for pilot programs that focus on employees who will grow with the company.
- Look for ways to assess candidates by their capabilities and potential, rather than just their skill sets.
- Identify areas of the business where AI tools can help find talent—prioritize one of these for initial experiments and pilots.
To learn more, read the Accenture Technology Vision for Insurance 2019 or get in touch with me here.
