Carriers Accrue Benefits With Web-based Training
Insurance Networking News, January 1, 2010
Approximately three years ago, The Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. began implementing an aggressive online training strategy. The fruits of this approach have been pronounced, as it now employs a variety of methods - from virtual classrooms to Webcasts and wikis - that have transformed how it educates employees and agents and the services they provide. Online training "is creating a smoother insurance transaction with less error, and it is also speeding the insurance process," says Alexander Mirabella, assistant VP, manager of field technology staff, information technology, at Chubb. "If we can teach our agents, and have them in a position to access information faster, then I think that helps the insurance transaction."
Carriers like Warren, N.J.-based Chubb, which also offers expansive onsite trainings for employees and trains its agents in "older technologies," such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, are finding that online training, or e-learning, is becoming one of the sharper arrows in their quiver of training tools.
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A chief advantage of online learning is its ability to ensure that workers in both near and far-flung offices are trained consistently and efficiently. The Travelers Cos., St. Paul, Minn., for instance, can quickly connect employees from all over the country online so they can engage in facilitator-led, interactive discussions on a variety of topics that last from one to two hours. It also offers self-directed trainings online that let employees access online training 24/7.
"People can log on from their desk, learn the material, and then move back to their workflow and their work product by applying the training and knowledge immediately," explains Tara Kennedy, assistant VP of knowledge and learning technologies at Travelers. Further, remote staffers can quickly get refresher courses via e-learning.
Aviva Canada Inc., a Scarborough, Ontario-based P&C firm with more than 3,300 employees in 40 locations, and more than 3,000 independent broker partners in Canada, is taking aggressive measures to ensure that its employees benefit from e-learning. A part of London, England-based Aviva plc, it has been using off-the-shelf online products from the Nashua, N.H.-based e-learning provider SkillSoft to train its employees, while modifying other products from the vendor to offer courses on negotiating skills, commercial lines underwriting and other disciplines.
Online courses have enabled underwriters "to test for understanding and really work through some specific scenarios," says Lynn Ardizzi, assistant VP of learning and development at Aviva Canada.
Insurers have found that online learning also enables them to more easily gauge employee development. For instance, Travelers, which has largely created its own learning tools, implemented a learning management system that tracks student enrollment and course progress. The firm provides assessments to employees, and monitors their progress as they develop in their roles. "We are creating learning paths for each of our roles within the claim organization," says Kennedy.
Travelers is creating a certification program that could be provided to a variety of claims professionals seeking different levels of achievement. About 80% of the training that Travelers offers annually is now through e-learning.
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Of course, one of the ultimate goals for insurers that provide online learning is to enhance the customer's interaction with its insurance representative. Travelers has found that employees who have been through blended learning methods - combining live classrooms, virtual classrooms and self-directed and reference learning - are more knowledgeable and are able to resolve claims more quickly and effectively.
"Most of our training is designed and developed around practical scenarios so employees can role-play real-life scenarios in a safe environment so that they have the confidence and the knowledge to be able to provide responsive service to our customers," Kennedy says.
The uniformity of online training also can be a boon for insurers, since it enables employees and agents to learn to give a consistent response to customers. While professors' methods and information may vary greatly in on-site trainings, Web-based trainings ensure that a more predictable set of lessons is imparted to insurance workers. "Once someone tries e-learning (or online training), his level of assurance increases, and he wants more," Kennedy says. "So he understands the need to be able to get consistent, quick information easily. Our organization, and Travelers overall, is in need of more learning online because we can really deliver consistency in our results, and drive those results based on knowing that everybody is learning using the same knowledge and information."
The economic crisis might further spur insurers to consider online training methods. "If we can do it remotely, I think we can not only save dollars, but can also save time not traveling. And some of our agents are remote, and it might be difficult to get to that agent or costly to do so," says Mirabella. "I imagine that moving forward, companies will need to be more efficient from a cost standpoint with the economy the way it is." At the same time, Chubb's agents are looking for ways to survive at a time when they feel financial pressures to be more productive.
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