Managing a workforce in the middle of a crisis isn’t just about reacting – it’s about having a plan that’s built to withstand the worst. Kelly Stevens (pictured), senior vice president of loss adjusting at Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc., isn’t dealing with theory. She’s on the ground, ensuring their team can scale when disaster strikes without burning out the workforce in the process.
“What we're doing at Crawford is our best to create a dynamic workforce model that can flex up during peak periods, but with the ebbs and flows of weather that are pretty predictable in Canada, our challenge is: how do we keep our core adjusting team nationally active and engaged with work in between catastrophic events?” Stevens said. “We rely on customers who support us every day and every week to give us the business-as-usual claims so that we can employ the staff that can flex up during busier times.”
Crawford has a large national team of highly skilled adjusters. Additionally, the company has a catastrophe roster comprising a team of adjusters with lighter workloads during calm periods, so they are ready to go when disaster strikes.
“We have a cat roster of technically sound Canadian Adjusters, who carry smaller pendings. This team is ready to be deployed within Canada or internationally to different engagements with hours or days” Stevens said. “We currently have 12 adjusters on standby to potentially be deployed to assist our colleagues in Australia with Cyclone Alfred if the need arises. They have visas and administrative preparation complete for travel with hours of getting the green light. This team is part of our dynamic workforce and are well prepared to leave their desks and work 10 hours per day, six days a week for as long as needed on CAT duty.”
Beyond their full-time adjusting and CAT teams, there’s another critical lever Crawford pulls: a contracted workforce called the Workforce Advantage Team.
“This is a roster of contracted employees,” Stevens said. “They could be retired adjusters or adjusters who are not seeking full-time employment but are looking for short-term engagements. We keep that roster fresh and ready to go for greater capacity during surge events. So that's a third workforce lever we can pull during a spike in claims and bring them short-term engagements either to desk adjust at Crawford, in a customer's office or go into the field on CAT deployments.”
Technology isn’t just part of the conversation – it’s central to how Crawford maximizes their workforce. Remote adjusting has been a game-changer, cutting costs while expanding capacity when catastrophes strike.
“We have desk adjusted the majority of claims where appropriate, during the cats of 2024. This serves to both control costs for our customers and create additional capacity in our workforce by reducing travel time on smaller losses” Stevens said. “Other than for large, complex or commercial losses, as a rule, we would not attend the site of a loss or event unless otherwise requested. They would be remotely managed with technology.”
There’s a disconnect in the industry between underwriting and claims, but that’s a gap Crawford is working to close. They aren’t waiting for a disaster to happen before assessing a property’s value; they’re stepping in before losses occur, working with underwriting teams to complete pre-loss inspections, ensuring accurate insurance to value and eliminating fraud.
Automation isn’t about cutting people – it’s about reducing or eliminating wasted time. Many claims processes have historically been clogged with bottlenecks, but Crawford is removing these by automating intake and communication, thereby freeing up adjusters to handle urgent cases.
“We are working to automate many of our claims processes that are routine and repetitive, better replicated by automation, including automated setup of claims with assignment to adjusters and automated first contact to policyholders where possible,” Stevens said.
But even the best processes can be slowed down by outdated regulations. The current system forces independent adjusters to be licensed in multiple jurisdictions, creating delays and administrative burdens that slow down response times. According to Stevens, licensing reform with a national harmonized licensing plan for all independent adjusters in Canada would alleviate much of that burden.
“The industry needs a complete overhaul in how it prepares for catastrophes, responds to disasters, and protects its workforce from burnout” Stevens said.
Ultimately, Crawford is building dynamic staffing models, leveraging technology and automation where it counts, and pushing for broader licensing reforms that will make the entire industry stronger and better equipped to manage future catastrophes.
