Novarica’s Insurer Client and Council Member Weekly Town Hall has been an excellent way to connect with the community and update insurer peers on the immediate trends Novarica sees in the market. Novarica’s ability to hold these meetings virtually has improved our ability to get timely and actionable information to Research Council members.
Novarica will continue to deliver an all-virtual 2020 events calendar. Sessions will happen every Tuesday from 1-2 PM ET through year-end, with a one-week break for the Independence Day holiday. Each week will focus on new and emerging issues, including updates on topics like analytics during a pandemic and revisiting disaster recovery and business continuity plans.
Last week’s discussion centered on managing remote workforces. A panel of two senior insurance carrier executives, one a CIO and the other a business unit leader with P&L responsibilities, joined Novarica VPs to share some of the ways their companies are managing from afar. The overarching theme of the conversation was how to support mental health and wellness while working from home and maintaining organization effectiveness. Both leaders remarked on the increased productivity of their employees. However, they noted that the trend was not sustainable if it is solely based on key staff members working more hours while being quarantined.
Finding a new work-life balance has been a top priority for insurers in the months since the pandemic began. Employees cannot replace commutes with more work forever. Insurers are using creative tactics to avoid burnout, including:
- Shortening typical 30-to-60-minute meetings to allow for natural breaks to occur between them
- Encouraging employees to take vacation (PTO) days through meme campaigns
- Company-wide days off and special holidays (e.g., COVID-19 days)
- Blocking off a “lunch hour” and other “no meeting zones” on calendars enterprise wide
- Converting unused PTO days into cash that can be contributed to the charity of an employee’s choice
These approaches have succeeded on some level but require leadership to model the correct behavior. Upper level management needs to take time off before employees will follow, was a theme mentioned by all participants in the panel discussion.
The conversation went on to touch on the unlikely positives that have surfaced during the pandemic. Mental health discussions, for instance, have become less taboo and more of a priority for leaders. One of the panelists talked about how their company invested in “remote leadership” training, which involved executives speaking with mental health professionals regarding the psychology of working from home.
Overall, the most powerful lesson was to give associates the benefit of the doubt and not “sweating the small stuff.” It is all right if someone has to leave a call to deal with a crying child. People are processing these unique circumstances in many different ways. “There is a willingness to be vulnerable” was the closing remark of a panelist.
This week, Novarica VP Kevin Rall and Senior Associate Emerson Davis will discuss how the pandemic is changing insurer and agent relationships and the ways that it is forcing distribution to evolve. We look forward to sharing these and other new insights this summer.
Add new comment