Current Situation
Since the beginning of 2020 we heard the words Pandemic, COVID-19 and Corona virus more times in one day than our own names. We are witnessing a global and unprecedented event that nobody was ready for in these modern times.
Coming closer to the end of this year, it’s clear to see it will take a few years to go back to the world as we knew it, if at all. In one way or another, the events of 2020 impacted the lives of people, economy and all the businesses across the world.
Understandably, the pandemic has provided unique challenges for the insurance industry too. Despite inevitable losses, the industry stayed relatively stable and will be able to bounce back with some adjustments to their business operation models and risk evaluation.
This pandemic has forced the Insurance industry to look at how it works and has bought to light several lingering topics around working from home and digitizing the business.
In this article we will look at the impact the pandemic has had on how companies now look at Data Analytics and working from home.
Data Is More Important Than Ever
With the disruption of businesses and financial uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Data analytics remains one of the greatest assets for the Insurance businesses.
Data Analytics has already proved to have a valuable impact across risk pricing, underwriting, claims, customer management, marketing, digital strategy, reporting and planning where data science, predictive algorithms and interactive visualizations were leveraged for process improvement.
In this environment, it is crucial for an organisation’s leadership to be supported by accurate information that enables to make business-critical decisions quickly and with minimal risk. Historical data will become less relevant in comparison with a real-time data that must be accurate, reliable, and insightful.
In correlation to the increased digital footprint, it is important to give more attention to the new data sources such as audio files from the call centre, emails, chat and mobile app interactions with insurance customers to make sure better insights and improved customer experience.
It is necessary for Insurers to develop analytics solutions for teams that were not using it earlier and create solutions that did not exist before.
New data sources
Use of real time data as historical data is less relevant. It is important to use new trusted information and refresh information quickly.
Adopting new approaches to customer segmentation
The pandemic has changed the lifestyle and financial capabilities of customers, so the pricing strategies and marketing need to be addressed accordingly.
Fraud detection
Uncertainty creates opportunities for fraud. Data analytics should be improving models to identity fraudulent claims and financial transactions.
We have seen across the market that Insurers have maintained their hiring plans within Analytics, Data Science and Data Engineering. These roles are becoming more business critical as they give the ability to assess where they can generate extra revenue, reduce costs as well as provide critical insights into the company. This has been added by a rapid uptick in remote working with employees all but able to perform their jobs as they would in an office albeit without. For many, remote working has been a change in direction from the norm, however for individuals within Analytics and Data Science it is something they likely have had experience with at some point in their career.
Remote Working
The Insurance Industry business is still heavily driven by face to face interactions. However, the majority of data professionals and developers are familiar and comfortable with WFH or remote working. This has meant that the adjustments to new work patterns has not been negative and for many even more advantageous.
According to many Data driven team leaders, while getting used to a new normal and managing their teams remotely, the productivity of their teams remains the same or in some cases even increased up to 30%. The common reasons for this are:
Better Work-Life Balance – Employees are saving time and money by not traveling to work
Flexible Working Hours – Individuals starting work when they would normally be on their commute. And many are happy to work overtime with out the need to rush home or temptation to join the colleagues at the pub.
Shorter Meetings – Online team meetings became shorter and more focused on specific topics
Clearer Communication – Instead of verbal communication at the office more emails and messages have been sent discussing the work, tasks, and timelines. Technical teams often report written information to be easier to refer to.
Less Distraction – Many employees reported to be less distracted while working from home in comparison to office environment
Head of Predictive Analytics at a leading Underwriter commented that “productivity has increased for analysis/coding heavy tasks. However, maintaining and building strong working relationships is a little more challenging without face-to-face interaction, and certainly requires more effort from all parties to ensure that the most pertinent problems are being solved and all stakeholders are adequately involved throughout the project lifecycle”.
In general, companies that adapted to remote work often report higher levels of employee retention and engagement, lowered business expenses, reduced turnover, higher employee satisfaction, increased productivity and autonomy.
Conclusion
As it seems the world has moved on from its initial reaction to the pandemic, it is clear the insurance industry understands it will need to evolve and reshape their strategy to meet client needs.
The way Insurance businesses have adapted and responded to the pandemic was driven by innovation, agility, customer service and engagement. It is easy to recognise the importance of digital, data and connectivity.
The future still might look uncertain, but the only way forward Is to adjust to a “new normal” quickly and identify new opportunities.
To get in touch with Simona give her a call on 0203 5877 445 or email sz@arthur.co.uk
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