As Australia opens up to a vaccinated co-existence with COVID-19 a range of evolving risks are impacting businesses, including in the insurance industry. These risks - financial, regulatory and climate issues, to name a few - are also affecting the engagement and performance of employees.
“Organisations are currently considering their preferred strategy around return to work, it might be to focus on culture by having everyone back in the office and less time at home,” said John White (pictured), Gallagher Bassett’s partnership manager.
“Other organisations are taking a view that providing ongoing flexibility is the right way to go in the current labour market, particularly if there is a focus on attracting and retaining talent,” he added.
White said individual organizations have to determine how to balance these issues.
“Insurers are all struggling with the two issues: their culture and at the same time how do you keep top talent? So I think it’s one or the other, or a combination of the two,” he said.
White sees the rise of cloud-based services facilitating working from home as a key benefit from the last couple of years.
“But I think equally it’s about making sure that staff are still engaged and performing even if they’re working away from the office,” he said.
There are also mental health issues to consider, he said.
“It’s equally important that there’s a support mechanism in place to build resilience for employees, particularly if they’re not working with other people on a regular basis,” said White.
Gallagher Bassett, said White, does this through what’s called the My Pulse program. My Pulse provides access to health and well-being services for workers and allows them to tap into a range of specialized services.
“It’s about supporting staff in a proactive way to build resilience in order to improve their overall wellbeing and mental health. It’s been adopted by a number of our clients,” he said.
White said it’s important for organisations to consider these sorts of programs, tools and services for staff, especially if they’re working remotely for long periods of time.
Mental health programs are particularly important for insurance companies operating in the personal injury and workers’ compensation space, he said.
“Insurers, brokers and underwriters across Australia in both personal injury and workers’ compensation see a higher prevalence of claims relating to mental health,” said White.
“We have a lot of experience in dealing with those types of claims and helping people guide them through the process of that particular claim,” he said.
“It might be through an early intervention program whereby we identify that there’s some support required and then passing the person through to a relevant health professional to manage that. We’re trusted by government and corporates to provide that support for people in those situations.”
Insurance companies, he said, are also grappling with customer, employee and product-specific trends.
“It’s important for insurers to be aware of the trends we’ve seen in the market over the last 12 months. For example, a decrease in motor insurance inquiries because people are not using the motor vehicle as much,” said White.
In contrast, he said, the pet insurance space has seen an increase in sales. In these situations, insurance companies need to be prepared to redeploy employees across very different industries.
“Yes, definitely, and that’s what Gallagher Bassett has been renowned for over the years. We support insurers, brokers, underwriters, governments and corporates that aren’t able or don’t have the capacity to deal with some of this change,” said White.
For example, he said GB can offer a “multidisciplinary approach to claims”.
“We can have people moving from portfolio to portfolio if required, or at least have the ability to bring on skilled people to handle the extra claims that they may not have anticipated,” said White.
Insurance companies also face a range of regulatory challenges that impact how they manage claims, the products they offer and information they need to disclose to customers.
“The key pieces of regulation for insurers right now are the deferred sales model, anti-hawking, product design and distribution obligations and breach reporting obligations,” said White.
He said GB has “good visibility on new regulations and those that are upcoming.”
That advantage, he said, comes from close relationships with the government and corporate sectors, including managing the largest general insurance portfolio in Australia, the federal government’s Comcover scheme.
“We’ve had a very strong risk management framework in place for many years, so we are comfortable with the new requirements around claims handling and settling,” said White.
He said having the right focus internally around risk management was key for a company looking to comply with any of the new regulations.
