Operational Excellence in Claims Management - Quality Business ServicesQuality Business Services

Operational Excellence in Claims Management: Scott’s COE Journey

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As an experienced manager of complex claims in the financial services sector, Scott was well aware of the unique challenges his team faced. Unlike typical operational teams, his group of experts dealt with high-value claims often involving litigation, each with its own complexities and nuances. Recognising the need for improvement, Scott turned to QBS’s Core Operational Excellence program, which provided him with the tools and strategies to achieve Operational Excellence in Claims Management. Through this program, he identified small, actionable changes that, when combined, delivered significant improvements to his team’s processes and outcomes.

THE ISSUES

Using a sharpened operational excellence perspective, Scott identified several key challenges that needed to be addressed:

  • Process documentation was rudimentary with limited standardisation
  • An over-reliance on individual expertise and judgement
  • A highly technical team – excellent depth but not breadth
  • Complex claims that were incorrectly sitting with normal claims teams 

ACTIONS TAKEN

Scott worked with his team on a number of targeted actions designed to address theses issues:

  • Developed guides and relevant job aides for complex claims
  • Standardised case management practices and increased use of templates, where applicable
  • Introduced fortnightly team knowledge sharing and lessons learned on large value claims using live case studies
  • Implemented a monthly learning calendar of relevant technical topics
  • Reinvigorated complex claims referral process
  • Allocated claim type based on team member skill
  • Engaged quantity surveyors and building consultants on large value claims
  • Introduced guides/checklists to identify recovery opportunities and ensure optimal case management

By standardising case management practices and implementing guides for complex claims, Scott demonstrated how Operational Excellence in Claims Management can address inefficiencies and deliver measurable improvements.

RESULTS

The results Scott achieved within six months are nothing short of amazing:

  • Productivity increased with the team servicing 15%-20% higher volume with same FTE
  • Complex claims referrals increased 50% resulting in savings of > $200k
  • Claim cycle time reduced from 250 days to 150 days 
  • Average claim cost reduced by 2% and increased claims with partial acceptance by 5%
  • Recovery rates from 3rd parties increased from 1-2% to 5-6%
  • Reduced claim cost on mid/large value claims by an average $10-15k per claim

The remarkable results achieved by Scott’s team showcase the true potential of Operational Excellence in claims management to optimise workflows, reduce costs, and enhance overall team performance.

If you would like your leaders to identify issues and quickly drive local operational improvement, click here to learn more about Core Operational Excellence and QBS’s other development programs.

Raising Business Maturity: Alex’s COE Journey - Quality Business ServicesQuality Business Services

Raising Business Maturity: Alex’s COE Journey

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Alex’s background is typical of many COE graduates as she had worked her way up from being ‘on the tools’. She had excellent instincts for operational excellence but lacked formal leadership training. Embarking on the Core Operational Excellence leadership development program taught Alex the science behind her instincts and the confidence to further develop with the 70/20/10 learning approach. When she was promoted into a large leadership role following an acquisition, she sensed many gaps in the two business areas that had come together. Over the following six months during her COE training, she progressively identified and addressed these gaps, raising business maturity and helping her team step up.

THE ISSUES

The many challenges Alex found were consistent with a low maturity business:

  • Misaligned teams 
  • Some operational processes had nil process documentation and key person risk
  • Several teams had limited or no process data
  • Limited engagement with stakeholders (siloed)
  • No business plan or monthly reviews
  • Perception of insufficient staff – in reality, too much time spent on waste activity
  • Few employees had active development plans and succession gaps existed 

ACTIONS TAKEN

This had to be a team effort so Alex engaged her leaders from the outset to gradually lift the business maturity with numerous actions:

  • Aligned roles, objectives and operating rhythms 
  • Developed a business plan with a monthly review mechanism
  • Team meetings run with agendas, minutes and follow-up actions
  • Closed gaps in process documentation
  • Implemented individual development plans to address key skill gaps and reduce succession gaps
  • Commenced manual data tracking on priority areas
  • Established regular stakeholder communications
  • Focused improvements on several inefficient processes

RESULTS

The results that Alex achieved within SIX MONTHS are incredible:

  • Cycle time on two core processes reduced 70%
  • Increased employee engagement
  • Continuous improvement driven by customer feedback and structured risk assessments
  • 100% succession coverage with no key person risks
  • Process improvements reduced waste equivalent to 1 FTE
  • Culture change with leaders working as a team, delivering on their plans
  • Interest reduction of $40k pa from reduced refund events 
  • Team are increasingly using data to separate fact from fiction

To this day, Alex still keeps her ½ day per week for working on the business – there is no going back!

RAISING BUSINESS MATURITY IN YOUR ORGANISATION

If you need your leaders to step up, raising business maturity and overall performance while reducing risks, click here to learn more about Core Operational Excellence and QBS’s other development programs.

Transforming Dispute Resolution: Tim’s COE Journey - Quality Business ServicesQuality Business Services

Transforming Dispute Resolution: Tim’s COE Journey

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As the manager of an internal dispute resolution team in the financial services sector, Tim was a passionate advocate for his organisation’s customers. Any complaints that weren’t resolved within the various business lines became the responsibility of his team.  If his team are unable to resolve the dispute within prescribed timeframes it is escalated to AFCA at significant financial and reputational cost.  Furthermore, a recent acquisition had added further complexity to an already complex business, selling various products through multiple channels.

Tim needed to sustainably improve the dispute resolution process for the benefit of all parties and when QBS’s Core Operational Excellence leadership training program came along, it was the perfect vehicle to achieve this.  He took responsibility to analyse, optimise and improve his own function using proven operational excellence concepts.  

THE ISSUES

Through the lens of operational excellence, Tim was able to identify the priority issues that needed to be addressed:

  • Varied, undocumented complaint processes across the business
  • Insufficient dispute resolution (DR) process documentation – in addition to causing variation, this also placed a reliance on the experienced team members to support the less experienced
  • Highly variable DR team capability
  • Skill gaps within DR team 

ACTIONS TAKEN

With the above issues in mind, Tim was able to drive specific actions to sustainably shift the needle for his business and team:

  • Documented current business complaint processes
  • Dispute resolution processes agreed and documented (by the team, for the team)
  • Skills matrix created to prioritise skill gaps to be closed with team members achieving Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals accreditation
  • Changed the process to ensure team member speak with the customer at the outset and used open ended questions
  • Developed templates and increased standardisation for common complaint types
  • Increased collaboration within the business 

THE RESULTS

The results that Tim achieved within just seven months are astounding:

  • Time to resolve complaints decreased from a median of 22 days down to 17 days 
  • Reduction in complaints escalated to AFCA from 72% to 34% (similar total number of complaints).   Each complaint that escalates to AFCA costs ~$3,150.  This saved the company around $130k in one month alone!
  • Productivity gains from less effort expended on each complaint resulted in 1 FTE headcount reduction
  • Happier customers, happy regulator, happy business!

Next frontier? Work with the business to reduce the number of complaints!

This is a fabulous example of how leaders can improve their operational performance without engaging external consultants – it is usually achieved through a handful of relatively small actions to address the specific challenges in that area. In addition, the skills Tim learnt will be with him throughout his career.

If you would like your leaders to turn their function around without engaging expensive consultants, click here to learn more about Core Operational Excellence and QBS’s other development programs.

COE: A Win/Win/Win

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We are often asked about the myriad of benefits our Core Operational Excellence (COE) program brings to individuals, leaders, and organisations. However, the specific advantages to be gained depends on who is asking the question! 

In this comprehensive guide, we explore the numerous ways COE offers a “win/win/win”. Read on to discover how COE can transform your strategic thinking, enhance team dynamics, and drive continuous improvement, resulting in a triple whammy for all stakeholders.

Participant Wins:

  • Grow your strategic critical thinking skills while you develop and start delivering on your own operational improvement plan 
  • Learn and apply a much better way of managing your team – more time working on the business with less stress and improved KPI performance
  • Develop a more robust team where risk is proactively managed
  • Create a culture of collaboration, empowerment and continuous improvement in your team
  • Sharpened customer focus
  • Remove waste and optimise using collaborative systems thinking
  • Use the data from your own area to shift from anecdotes to analytics
  • Active team capability and succession plans 
  • Earn a full university qualification and pathway credits to further education

Leader Wins:

  • Less time working in the business to drive performance improvement – your participant is delivering on a strategic improvement plan aligned with yours
  • Less escalations and complaints, improved productivity and engagement 
  • Increased confidence in participant’s business acumen, decision making and problem-solving skills
  • Greater collaboration across teams
  • Operational risks are understood and being managed – less worry for you
  • Stronger capability development and succession plans
  • Shift from anecdotes and gut feel to analytical thinking with a laser sharp focus on the root causes
  • Streamlining and automation opportunities are being identified
  • Learn with your participant and guide them to solve the problems that need solving
  • Get feedback on your participant’s operational excellence skills and mindset
  • Share the best practices across the rest of your leadership team – a multiplier effect

Organisation Wins:

  • A well-executed program can deliver a 20-fold annual return on investment (in addition to outstanding graduate feedback)
  • Program graduates and their team members lift performance in their area
  • Continuous improvement culture spreads out from the graduates and their team
  • Siloes are being replaced by collaborative systems thinking
  • Customer experience is improving
  • Graduates are critical thinkers who are asking better questions
  • Process efficiencies and automation opportunities are being driven by graduates instead of central improvement teams or consultants
  • Data is used to inform decision making and improvement
  • Graduates are retained and ready for their next stretch opportunity

In a nutshell, participants elevate their skills, becoming strategic thinkers and operational improvement champions.  Through this process, leaders experience incredible transformations in their teams and themselves, leading to improved productivity and collaboration. Simultaneously, organisations experience a profound cultural shift towards continuous improvement, with a substantial return on investment and a newfound focus on data-driven decision-making.

QBS is committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, empowerment, and excellence. Therefore, COE is not just a program; it’s a journey that reshapes leadership, enhances team dynamics, and propels organisations toward a brighter, more efficient future. 

If your team is ready to create a future filled with strategic thinking, operational excellence, and continuous improvement, check out our Programs page now.

Transforming Global Service Delivery: Anila’s Journey with QBS

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Anila managed an international telecommunications service centre and her team faced numerous challenges. Their responsibilities included providing global customer support in multiple languages, all while working under the continual expectation to enhance service standards and reduce costs. The team faced a challenging environment with numerous new products, staff cuts, and unexpected turnover particularly detrimental due to the time required to train new hires to competency.

Anila sought to find a more intelligent approach to meet their customers’ service expectations while simultaneously addressing budget constraints.

Ineffective methodology for improvements

Traditional coaching and performance management methods, based primarily on phone statistics per agent, had been applied within the contact centre.  However, these methods were ineffective as the team was already making substantial efforts.    The problem was not the people, it was the business and management processes that needed to improve which required a lift in operational intelligence (OQ).

Anila’s introduction to senior leader training at QBS motivated her to introduce Operational Excellence leadership programs to her team. Here’s how they benefited from the programs:

  • Key managers were selected to participate in the COE program, which provided them with a structured approach to analyse their respective business areas and develop strategies to address issues. Regular engagement and challenging discussions with Anila encouraged these leaders to think at the right level. Their teams also got involved, contributing diverse perspectives to the discussions.
  • High-potential team members underwent the Introductory OE program, complementing COE activities. This approach promoted a common language, engaged teams, and facilitated more improvements. QBS also added a half day on difficult conversations – demonstrating their flexibility to meet client needs.

Not all easy

Anila’s team faced a few tough discussions when some participants didn’t complete the program. These discussions, though challenging, were necessary to ensure the right individuals progressed. Some individuals struggled to apply what they had learned—showing the importance of aligning words with actions, and the effectiveness of in-person collaborative training over online formats.

“This is a fabulous way to develop leaders and improve your business at the same time.  Future leaders can also do the program and achieve great things.  We got honest and direct feedback on how the people were going.” Anila 

If you and your team have tried traditional coaching and performance management methods, and things are still not clicking, then there might be some leadership skills gaps in your team. Check out our audit where you can quickly identify what it is here.

Soft Skills Need Hard Skills Too: Lynley Corcoran’s QBS Journey at Coles

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Prior to engaging QBS, Lynley Corcoran and her team at Coles had done extensive work on soft skill development programs. These programs were highly beneficial, but they lacked the operational management skills that their operational leaders required.

Lynley aimed to address specific challenges within the organisation, including:

  1. Supporting leaders in transitioning to a new operational management model that placed people management responsibilities back with the leaders themselves.
  2. Providing recognition and qualifications for employees, many of whom lacked formal qualifications, to prepare them for future roles.

While Coles had implemented programs related to soft skills, financial management and job readiness, they had a gap in critical thinking and operational improvement skill development.

How QBS Solved the Challenge:

Engaging with QBS, specifically through the COE program, provided a structured and effective solution. Here’s how it benefited Coles:

  • COE’s 70/20/10 design initially challenged leaders, especially those without tertiary education, and some who had not finished high school. However, QBS provided exceptional support, instilling confidence in participants to complete the program.
  • Leaders emerged from the program with the ability to proactively manage both their business operations and their teams for all-round KPI improvement.
  • Several COE graduates were promoted to more significant roles.
  • The program’s extensive engagement requirements, including interaction with managers, teams, and stakeholders, had a cascading effect on the organisation. This butterfly effect contributed to tangible improvements in engagement scores, with program participants positively influencing their teams.

Key Takeaways 

Lynley highlighted the brilliance of COE’s extensive engagement requirements, noting that participants couldn’t avoid engaging with various stakeholders. This engagement had a pronounced and positive effect on engagement scores across teams. Lynley strongly recommends QBS programs, highlighting their elegant design, significant impact, and positive feedback. She suggests starting with key leverage points and influencers within the organisation, particularly those with a growth mindset.

If you like what you read here, and feel you could benefit from a chat to scope your unique situation, book a call here to chat with Anita or one of the team.

From Firefighting to Strategic Planning: Rich James’ COE Journey at Coles

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Rich and his team were eager to explore new approaches and make changes, particularly in harnessing the potential of their data. He and his team at Coles were grappling with several challenges:

  • They frequently found themselves dealing with emergencies, constantly putting out fires without a clear understanding of what they were accomplishing.
  • There was a lack of measurement and no focused improvement initiatives in place.
  • They had a vast amount of data but lacked the insights needed to make informed decisions.

They hadn’t taken significant steps to address their issues. In some ways, they had begun to accept their chaotic situation as the norm.

“ I was busting for a new way of doing things.  This was it!” Rich James.

An end to the chaos

COE provided structured methodologies that Rich and his team could apply, lifting the operational intelligence (OQ) across the board. Here’s how they found solutions to their problems:

  • By fostering better understanding and communication between teams, they realigned with key internal customers, strengthening their relationships.
  • They worked together to create a simple, comprehensive 12-month plan that everyone could support.
  • COE introduced a structured approach to measuring demand, a practice they hadn’t engaged in before. This helped them grasp the extent of their ad hoc activities and time investments, enabling discussions that led to different, more informed decisions. 
  • They used the skills matrix to prioritise skill development and succession planning, feeding into Individual Development Plans (IDPs) in a structured manner.
  • The team learned to extract and analyse data using novel techniques, shifting from their usual focus on short-term data to a more comprehensive, long-term view. This approach discouraged overreacting to minor data fluctuations and, instead, honed in on the outliers, saving valuable time.
  • Regular Continuous Improvement (CI) sessions became a norm for Rich’s team, a practice he initially wouldn’t have believed possible. This evolution stemmed from the work they did during COE.
  • Tangible impacts followed, including improved KPIs in forecasting, stock availability, and engagement. They also achieved significant time savings by streamlining their processes.

Key Learnings

Rich recognised that he had been a key person dependency, hesitant to let go. Through COE, he learned to empower his team to grow, ensuring they could function independently. If you are ready to empower your team, a call with Anita and the QBS team is the right place to start!  Rich strongly recommends the COE program to any leader. He highlights its broad yet deep approach, enabling participants to apply learning directly to their roles. COE – an unforgettable experience that transforms leadership practices.

Leading from Analytics to Leadership: Matt’s COE Journey at Coles

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Matt and his team operated within the workforce planning function of Coles, planning for a workforce of tens of thousands of team members. Their analytics-focused team was immersed in intricate details and grappled with an intense workload, especially given the specialised nature of their roles.

Matt was looking to transition from being primarily an analytics expert to a leader: He wanted to shift his focus from delving into the data (which was in his comfort zone) to taking on a more proactive leadership role. Additionally, he sought solutions for the team’s workload challenges, although he was unsure whether COE could provide the necessary help.

An unsustainable situation

Matt’s team had not explored alternative approaches to their workload challenges but recognised that their current unsustainable situation required a change.

Through their experience with the COE program, they found:

  • A substantial portion of their time was being consumed by ad hoc, non-core activities and they learned to say no to these distractions.
  • Recognising that rework resulted from the absence of process documentation, they committed to documenting half of their processes.
  • COE compelled Matt to step back from day-to-day tasks, allowing his team to take on greater responsibilities.
  • The skills matrix helped identify skill gaps within the team that were affecting Matt’s ability to step back, prompting targeted skill development.

The challenge (and rewards) of more work (temporarily)!

Managing time was a substantial challenge due to the team’s heavy workload—a classic catch-22 situation. Matt’s coach supported him in devising strategies to carve out the necessary time and space for the changes they needed to implement.

It became clear for Matt that, even though he held an MBA, he could learn and benefit from COE. While the individual concepts weren’t entirely new, the program provided practical, real-time application that reinforced their significance.

Ironically, for a team of data analysts, they lacked metrics for their own performance. COE enabled them to deploy their first quantifiable team performance metrics.

“It is a lot of work but it was worth it.  Any leader who needs to step back from the day to day to improve will benefit significantly.” Matt Rodgers

 If you feel like you might be ready to explore an alternative approach, book a call here to chat with Anita or one of the team.

Reviving Engagement and Leadership: Graeme Lee’s COE Experience at Coles

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Graeme faced the formidable challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted his facility’s operations due to lockdowns, and isolation periods. 

Graeme’s primary objectives were to engage his team in a growth and improvement mindset and to enhance his own leadership skills, as he had not previously undergone formal training. 

Graeme faced several challenges for himself, and within his team as the Distribution Centre Manager at Coles:

  • As someone not accustomed to formal study, Graeme initially found the COE program daunting.
  • He had a fairly disengaged team that was aware of the pending closure of the warehouse.
  • There was a reactive and undisciplined approach to Continuous Improvement (CI), with top-down efforts proving ineffective.

Previous attempts to address the disengagement issue included incentives and campaigns. It was no surprise that these measures were short-lived and failed to produce lasting results.

Structured Frameworks

Participating in COE provided Graeme with a structured framework and challenged him to think differently, identifying areas where improvements were needed. He personally successfully navigated the program with the support of the business language and COE coaches. On top of that, the team and company benefitted through; 

  • The development of a business plan with clear deliverables and timelines, guided by SMART objectives.
  • Engagement of his team to provide input, leading to the formulation of new strategies for capacity improvement.
  • Utilisation of demand forecasts to drive decision-making.
  • Effective coaching using the GROW method to achieve desired outcomes.
  • Involving his team in the Continuous Improvement journey.
  • The establishment of development and succession plans driven by a skills matrix.
  • Implementation of a structured approach to meetings for improved effectiveness.

Powerful Conversations

Graeme intends to continue his learning by further developing his coaching skills, having recognised the profound impact that powerful conversations can have on desired outcomes. He is now driving individual development plans for his team to optimise skills coverage and succession planning.

He also emphasises the importance of involving the team as much as possible and as early as possible in improvement initiatives. Additionally, Graeme acknowledges that even simple changes, such as a consistent approach to meetings, can significantly enhance their effectiveness.

Graeme highly recommends COE to leaders seeking improvement. He underscores that while the concepts covered may not be groundbreaking individually, they form a cohesive framework that serves as an excellent reminder of the fundamentals often overlooked in the busyness of leadership. He believes that any leader, irrespective of their experience level, can benefit from COE if they are committed to improvement. If you feel like you might be a leader ready for the COE program, book a call here to chat with Anita or one of the team.

A New Approach: Neil Devlin’s COE Journey through Coles

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Prior to Neil’s engagement with COE, he grappled with an array of challenges within his newly inherited Coles team and region. These issues encompassed a team that lacked cohesion and experience, an ‘average’ people plan, and a region ranking in the middle of the pack. Missed People & Culture (P&C) targets further compounded the difficulties, exacerbated by the absence of a clear strategy and strategic plans. Neil was tasked with navigating the complexities of a post-COVID environment, adding an additional layer of complexity to an already intricate landscape.

A New Way of Thinking

Neil’s goals were to align his team and instil a new way of thinking, particularly in light of the need for a turnaround. He aimed to transition towards a proactive approach and focus more on the business.

Before COE, Neil had inherited a relatively new team that had been adversely affected by the challenges stemming from the COVID pandemic. Existing efforts to address the situation had not yielded significant improvements.

How COE Solved the Challenge:

Participating in COE challenged Neil in various ways, prompting self-reflection, strategic thinking, forward planning, enhanced communication, and a deeper understanding of demand and capacity principles. He also gained valuable insights into succession planning and the application of the “Plan, Do, Study, Adjust” model to team management. The outcomes of this transformation included:

  • Full alignment within the leadership team and the establishment of mentoring relationships.
  • Improved regional performance, ranking near the top in delivering metrics.
  • Exceeding P&C targets with a 5 point increase in engagement.
  • Development of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for the entire team.

“Every leader should do COE – it will transform how you and your team operate.  You won’t be able to imagine your life without it” Neil Devlin

Team resistance

Neil faced team resistance, which was rooted in both the difficult situation the team had experienced and a reluctance to embrace change.

But Neil’s COE journey equipped him with an array of useful tools and insights, such as the PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Adjust) cycle, multivote for quick consensus building, ecosystem analysis, EQ (Emotional Intelligence) self-assessment, skills matrix for identifying skill gaps, driver trees, value stream analysis, and the GROW model for coaching and mentoring.

The shift in how Neil’s team operates and the direct applicability of COE principles to his day-to-day responsibilities have been profound.