In the first two installments of this series on life modeling and reporting in life insurance, we have explored the challenges facing insurers and the impact of these challenges, as well as outlining an holistic and impactful approach to reviewing your technology and model development, which will ultimately drive reporting process improvements you need. In this article, we’ll discuss why life insurers need to shift their focus from pure automation to business process excellence (BPE), where the focus is on streamlining rather than encapsulating the work.
Regardless of the size of the model, your organization, or the reporting regimes you face, the reporting cycle will be demanding and stressful. For many years, companies have used automation and end user computing to shore up their processes.
Rather than streamlining the process, these were typically technology solutions — often Excel and macro tools – which were employed to achieve quick wins, such as replicating human tasks. However, such end user computing is a double-edged sword. Actuaries can become attached to their tooling and the processes evolve to fit the capabilities of the tools. And if the developer leaves, these tools become a cryptic black box that everyone is too scared to touch.
While bigger and better tools now exist, such as PowerBI and PowerAutomate, the question remains: do the tools complement the process and add value, or do they simply entrench existing working practices?
Focusing on business process excellence (BPE) is about moving beyond merely automating tasks to streamlining entire business processes so they’re more efficient, effective, delivering consistent, positive outcomes with minimal variation. An emphasis on BPE can help you optimize workflows, and the goal should be to enhance the process itself, not only the tools you use.
So where should you be investing your time and resources to refocus on business process excellence?
So what next?
End user computing and automation have made enormous contributions to actuarial reporting and processes. However, the challenges facing Life companies now mean you need to seek solutions that go beyond pure automation and that are flexible enough to adapt to changing business needs. Embracing stop-gap measures for the short term will be at the cost of effectively addressing longer-term needs. Now is the time to actively investigate the business benefits to be gained by refocusing pure automation on BPE. So your next steps should be:
- Evaluate and select advanced, flexible tools
- Integrate automation with flexibility
- Implement robust governance
- Ensure seamless integration
- Design to adapt to change
- Continuously monitor and audit
Further information on driving life financial transformation
To find out how we can support your actuarial team drive financial transformation, including modeling, automation and process improvements, please contact your WTW consultant, email Insurance Consulting and Technology or visit RiskAgility Financial Modeler (FM). You can also find out more about WTW’s Unify — our enterprise-wide-systems integration, automation and governance platform designed specifically for the insurance industry — at Unify.
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