While watching Roger Federer play in the U.S. Open a few months ago, the commentators reminded viewers what a big deal it was that he had switched to a new tennis racket last year. To the casual fan, changing rackets would seem like a very nonchalant activity. For Roger Federer, who has won more Grand Slam tournaments than any other men’s tennis player in history, change is not something that equates to success. So as you can imagine, when his coach approached him with the idea of changing to a new racket for the first time in his career, he wasn’t very receptive. But once he learned how racket technology has changed and the potential benefits it could bring to his game, he cautiously agreed. After he chose the racket that fit his game best, his team employed a comprehensive change process over a year-long period that involved hundreds of hours of practice to ensure he was confident in the racket. Since that change, he’s won 10 tournaments compared to just one in 2013.
So what does Roger Federer switching rackets have to do with insurance software? Change management! In many ways, changing to a new racket is much like implementing a new system for an insurance company. It’s a difficult decision. It’s a big change. And assuming you build a strong business case, choose the correct partner, and successfully implement your new system, you’ve won only half the battle. Adopting the new system and utilizing it correctly is the other half.
At Guidewire, our Value Consulting practice works with insurers all over the world to identify strategic and operational benefits of moving from legacy systems to a modern core system. Identifying these benefits and quantifying their value in the evaluation process helps organizations justify the project and plan for a successful implementation. But identifying benefits and implementing successfully to value is not enough. Most organizations are so focused on completing their project on budget, on time, and with the right functionality that they neglect the organizational change component. Proper change management enables greater realization of system benefits. If an organization successfully socializes the need for change and trains users correctly on system capabilities, the transition to the new system will be seamless―resulting in a higher rate of success.
Now let’s circle back to Roger. Even the best tennis racket in the world would have been meaningless if he had not taken the time and effort to practice with it to get accustomed to the differences, understand its strengths/weaknesses, and actually put it into play against the toughest competition. Only after reaching this level of comfort was he able to allow the racket to help improve his game and in turn see results in the form of wins. The same can be said of any new system that an insurer implements. Regardless of whether the goal is shortening claim cycle time or improving premium leakage, those goals will be realized only after proper change management.