Each year, the number of consumers who want to conduct business online increases. It’s no longer just the tech savvy millennial with the latest iPhone who chooses digital channels as their preferred way of engaging with insurers. People from all walks of life now
expect to be able to contact their insurance company effectively via digital channels. For insurance companies, embracing digital innovation to engage with existing clients and attract new customers is now a necessity.
In a recent speech at the Insurance-Canada Executive Forum 2016 (ICEF 2016), Ben Isotta-Riches, CIO at
Aviva Canada, outlined that in order to become truly digital, insurance companies need to shift their entire organizational culture. “Becoming a digital business goes far beyond digital propositions and the technology that underpins it,” Isotta-Riches said. “Transforming into a digital organization requires a significant cultural shift inside 'legacy' insurance organizations to enable them to compete like 'born digital' companies.”
The word ‘culture’ was prominent throughout Isotta-Riches’ presentation. It’s clearly an organizational philosophy that he strongly believes in and he made many compelling points about why culture and commitment to digital innovation are so closely linked.
“The products a company builds and the way it engages its customers and leverages technology stems from its culture,” he said. “Affecting scale digital transformation of traditional insurance companies to retain relevance in the digital age is a key challenge facing our industry. This ‘cultural disruption’ is a necessary condition for driving digital transformation.”
During his presentation at the ICEF 2016, Isotta-Riches also highlighted some practical cultural strategies for transforming into a digital organization including:
- Shifting the technology focus from a drive for efficiency to leading the evolution of the business model.
- Moving from a Product/Underwriting centric approach to a strategy where customer experience is of paramount importance.
- Increasing responsiveness to meet rising customer expectations.
- Hiring and managing true talent, putting talent to work in small teams, and increasing creativity by promoting cognitive diversity.
Isotta-Riches concluded his eye-opening presentation by illustrating on how cultural changes must begin at the top: for industry leaders, modelling the behaviour they want to see is crucial. “
You are the culture,” he said. “Although there are many differences, the key enabling advantage born digital companies have is their culture… the capabilities that enable them to win flows primarily from this.”
