Approach

Objectives

As the sole researcher on the project, I worked closely with GEICO Claims senior leadership and regional claims management teams to design a mixed-method research study to address the following goals:

• Understand pain points and dissatisfiers in the ICS adjuster experience

• Analyze opportunities for improvement in training and change management to improve in future rollouts

Process

Overview

As training began for the new role, I strategized with stakeholders to create a multi-phased approach uncovering feedback in multiple locations. Before research began, I drafted a research charter including a timeline, research questions, and anticipated business impact to ensure stakeholders were in alignment with the research strategy.

Phase One: June - November 2020

1. Focus Groups - 3 weeks

   Participants: Adjusters and supervisors trained within the last 4 weeks

   Goal: Form foundational understanding of associate sentiment and confidence in their new role

2. Survey - 3 weeks

   Participants: All associates trained in ICS role to date

   Goal: Define quantifiable satisfaction results and identify areas of top priority

Conducted two cycles to capture feedback from two rolled locations to identify themes and eliminate variance in change management

Phase Two: January - April 2021

1. Survey - 3 weeks

   Participants: All associates trained in ICS role to date not surveyed previously

   Goal: Identify themes not yet been addressed, compare quantifiable satisfaction results to Phase One survey

2. Diary Study - 3 months

   Participants: Adjusters across 3 locations trained within last 2 weeks

   Goal: Measure satisfaction and confidence with the ICS role over time

PHASE ONE

FOCUS GROUPS

To kick off the research, I coordinated with regional management teams to schedule and facilitate a series of four remote focus groups with 4-6 participants each. I chose focus groups as my methodology in an effort to quickly assess attitudes of both adjusters and supervisors who recently completed their training.

Initial feedback was shockingly negative, which increased the urgency of rapid insights to help stakeholders enact change in current and future training classes

SURVEY

Once focus groups concluded, I fielded a Qualtrics survey to the trained ICS associates so far. The survey included Likert scale questions centered around associate satisfaction with the overall transition to ICS, communication, training, and post-training support. Based on the responses, respondents were also prompted with open-ended questions to provide more context about their experiences.

Over 200 associates responded, and results substantiated the negative attitudes observed in focus group sessions. When the survey closed, I analyzed the results by location and role in Excel and distributed a written report with results and recommendations to stakeholders.

PHASE TWO

SURVEY

Phase two commenced after rollouts had commenced in more locations, so I started by fielding another survey to participants in the recently rolled locations. To properly compare to the phase one rollout locations, I kept all questions the same and once again sent a report with recommendations addressing feedback that still needed attention, as well as new feedback.

DIARY STUDY

By this point, stakeholders had a good grasp of the areas that needed improvement within the ICS training but still hadn’t taken action on many of the recommendations. Additionally, although satisfaction survey results improved significantly between the first and second phases, the feedback so far only captured sentiment immediately following training. To build out empathy for the full role transition and encourage buy-in on insights, I planned a 90-day diary study to evaluate associate sentiment throughout training, transition, and into their new permanent role.

I chose to incorporate focus groups, weekly questionnaires, and moderated interviews in the diary study:

• One-hour focus groups: I held two focus groups within the study. The first kicked off the study and set a baseline for adjuster experiences and attitudes, and the last concluded the study and provided an opportunity for adjusters to compare their experiences and share any final thoughts.

• Weekly questionnaires: I sent brief weekly surveys to measure changes in sentiment over time and gauge opinions about experiences that occur at varying points in the role transition. I also collaborated with stakeholders to include any outstanding questions they held within the surveys.

• Moderated interviews: I met with each participant individually for 10-minute semi-structured interviews at the midpoint of the study. These were intended to provide participants with an opportunity to share experiences and opinions that they may not feel comfortable sharing in questionnaires or focus group settings

After each week, I sent updates to stakeholders about new insights and changes in satisfaction levels.

Outcome

Findings

Due to the length of the project, findings were shared iteratively with project stakeholders to allow for rapid changes to the training and support structure.

To generate the greatest impact, I shared findings using the following format:

Insight > Recommendation > Impact

Examples of the most prevalent findings:

Impact

One of my proudest professional accomplishments is the 102.5% improvement in top box employee satisfaction when comparing survey results from first and last rollout locations due to the recommendations I sent to stakeholders throughout the project.

Changes to the rollout included lengthened training times, increased time for hands-on practice and system drills, expanded coaching support, tailored regional training material, heightened emphasis on empathy and gratitude in management communications, and more.

To conclude the project and summarize insights, I created and distributed a series of visual aids to support management teams in future process rollouts.