The Challenge
The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) is one of the most recognized and trusted brands in British Columbia, serving 1 in 3 households across British Columbia. BCAA is a mission-driven Member services organization committed to delivering industry-leading products in Home, Auto and Travel Insurance; offering more than 100 years of service excellence. In February 2017, BCAA engaged Propel Solutions to review their current branch processes to identify opportunities for operational improvement and innovative customer experiences. This engagement required Propel to conduct a review of current processes, identify Quick Wins and longer term recommendations, and enhance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The Objectives
- Process Review: Propel completed a comprehensive review of current processes within Service Locations. Working with stakeholders, current processes for customer intake, transaction, and purchases were documented. Propel also worked with the centralized Workforce Management Team to document current resource planning processes. Functional and cross-functional process map critique sessions were held within Head Office and across 15 Service Locations to build engagement and reveal opportunities for process improvement.
- Opportunity Identification: Through process observations, process map critique sessions and stakeholder engagement, Propel identified method changes addressing opportunities in scheduling and staffing, transaction processes, staff training, staff downtime and overall customer flow. Process improvements were identified to increase quality and effectiveness of transactions, reduce wait time, reduce lost time and improve customer experience.
- Erlang C Modelling: Propel conducted a review of the current state resource forecasting. Using Erlang C, Propel proposed future state models for 29 locations to meet desired Service Levels and reduce customer wait times. Additionally, a tool using Erlang C was developed for location Managers to schedule breaks in accordance with service level, monitor actual to forecast transactions, and problem solve variances.
- Development of Key Performance Indicators: Propel worked with managers to identify opportunities to improve management control systems and developed a comprehensive management toolkit with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success on daily, weekly and monthly basis. This toolkit provided a simplified report and allowed managers to track and communicate variances in KPIs measuring productivity, staffing and service levels.
- Development of an Implementation Roadmap: Propel managed the project to improve and support employee engagement across all levels of the organization through increased visibility of the change process. This helped to raise organizational awareness and desire for change. Corrective actions and installation plans were prioritized into short-term and long-term timelines for BCAA that supported its strategic objectives with little disruption to operations.
The Results
Project “WAVE” garnered extensive contribution from employees and managers at head office, across service locations visited by Propel and via an online project portal. The project was completed on time and on budget within its 12-week timeline. Overall, the engagement provided BCAA with more than 150 opportunities and 35 recommendations aimed at improving the effectiveness of processes, offering more innovative products and services, and developing a sustainable competitive advantage moving into the future.
