Insurance Management Company, a third-generation family business, will never be able to go back to the way we did things three years ago. We don't think in terms of employer and employees anymore; we're all associates. You see, the staff, through a process, have chosen to be called associates versus the traditional labels. We don't have private offices, and the best positions in our open-plan office - near the windows - are occupied by the CSRS. Everyone understands our "processes" from start to finish, for example from soliciting the account to final sale and service. Continuous quality improvement has become a way of life for us.

The Search for Quality

Communication is important to us. Each work day, we meet at 8:15 a.m. to recap events of the previous day, what we expect to happen today, and what we think will occur in the near future. We call our AM meeting.

Three years ago when our community in Erie, Pennsylvania established an Excellence Council, several of our associates chose to attend some council meetings. When our participants brought the ideas of the Excellence Council back to IMC, we found that our AM meetings were centering more and more on issues of quality.

Having determined that we wanted to introduce a quality program at IMC, we selected a consultant, Joe Colletti of The Woodledge Group, who is associated with Goal QPC, a national association to support Quality organizations. Over the past two years we've had four sessions with Joe. It has made all the difference.

 
We Chart Our Processes

At the first session Joe asked each of us to pick something we do in our work, then write every step in the process. Each of us began to record the steps we took in the order performed. The exercise provided a visual picture of what was being done. After about 15 minutes, the grumbling began. As we were forced to write our exact tasks, it became clear that we were doing a lot of "dumb" things, and each person was doing the same dumb thing differently. This simple exercise taught us a lot.

Most of our key processes are now flowcharted. Associates periodically discuss the process at the AM meeting and modify the flowchart. Testing the process often results in further changes. The outcome is a process that all associates can buy into. As each process is made part of our procedures manual, it is posted so that, as it is used, suggestions can be incorporated for continuous improvement. When we discover a better idea, we capture it on a Post-It note and place the information where it applies on the flowchart for consideration. This works!

We flowcharted what happened with incoming phone calls, and redesigned the process to be more responsive to customer needs. Here's what the process looks like today:

• The receptionist, or a CSR, answers all incoming calls, ideally by the second ring, and no later than the third ring.

• If the associate coed is out of the office, the caller is asked if another person can be of help.

• If the caller doesn't want to speak to another person, the caller is asked if they prefer to leave a voicemail message or to have a message taken.

• If the associate is participating in an office meeting, the caller is asked if the associate should be paged. If the answer is no, the above noted process is followed.

People and Change

Our guides have been Drs. Deming, Juran, Trybus, and Covey, among others. The principles they espouse have become a part of our corporate culture, helping to develop a work environment that lets all associates be their best. At IMC today:

• We are a team that works together; we can't reach our goals of excellence if we act in isolation from one another.

• Every associate feels free to suggest change, without fear.

• When something goes wrong, we look at the process, not the individual.

• We recognize that we have 'internal customer" relationships within the agency - between account executive and CSR, for example.

Our intermediary relationship makes our agency a customer of insurance companies at one time and a supplier at another. As a customer, we expect quality service and we chart performance.

• We want to know how our external customers judge our service. Based on an idea we received from Barney and Barney of San Diego, CA, we survey our external customers annually. See the report card on page 4.

• We continually recognize accomplishments and celebrate our successes.

• We all spend time on personal and professional development. We have all read The Deming Dimension by Henry Neave, and The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey.

At IMC, associates don't check their brains at home; they bring them to work. As a team, we have developed our:

• IMC philosophy: To assist the commercial, industrial, and institutional customer in implementing techniques of avoidance, assumption, and transfer (risk management) to manage the personal and monetary possibilities of loss caused by injury or death and physical loss to physical property.

• IMC mission: Service beyond expectations.

• IMC principles:

• Trust: the foundation of relationships

• Win/win: that all parties benefit

• Empowerment: educated, committed associates working together to exceed customer expectations

• Involvement: team commitment creating synergy

• Expertise: extensive command of risk management/insurance knowledge and experience.

Change, continual improvement, and quality have become our way of life. It's a given that top management must take the lead with continuous quality improvement.

• John C. Bloomstine is president of Insurance Management Company in Erie, PA. I 1993, IMC earned the Erie Quality Award - Highest Achievement, and plans to be a candidate for the 1994 Pennsylvania Quality Award. The purpose of the Erie Quality Award is to promote, encourage, and recognize quality improvement efforts among area companies and organizations by providing a meaningful platform for applicants to evaluate themselves through the award application process.