On Wednesday, our Customer Innovation Group colleagues who are participating in ELI got brave and jumped into the shark tank! The almost 90 participants were broken up into 13 groups focusing on the following important topics to CIG, each a part of the business that CIG is looking to improve upon:
- Customer Feedback Loop
- Customer Service Family Tree
- CIG Orientation Day
- Building Business Acumen
- Contact Center Demand Management
- Customer Contact Info
- 60% Risk Appetite
- 60% People, Process, Tech
- Driving Customer Self Service
- ePolicy Scope
- FDP Process Changes
- Application Rationalization
- Annuity Timelines
The main goal was to identify a unique need of the business that could be addressed in a practical, scalable, and cost-conscious way, and our teammates in Texas and Vermont did just that.
Each group was given a strict timeline of 5 minutes to make their pitch to the “The Sharks”, or judges, who included Vesta Bovair, Robin Cannon, Darlene Flagg, Nimesh Mehta, Tim Ryder, and Sarah VanBeck.
Pitches were followed by a 5 minute Q&A session with The Sharks where they asked for clarification and justification and evaluated the soundness of each pitch. In addition, the pitch was judged overall on whether it was concise, consistent, compelling, confident, and clear.
Though each topic is very serious and crucial to the future of CIG, the presentations included a lot of humor too – from videos to skits to matching tee shirts to ball games…and even pizza!
After the presentations, a few contestants engaged in a shock and awe exercise, sharing with the audience how they have been living the learning through ELI.
“ELI helped me to stop asking permission and to just do it!”
– Gabriela Balboa Smith
“We really came together and became a close-knit family. We are all stronger because of ELI.”
– Dan Haycook
“I can’t think of many companies who do this for their employees. National Life cares. I’m on my own learning journey inside and outside of work. ELI makes me a better person.”
– Jodi Lajeunesse
In the end, everyone won! CIG is saying yes to each idea and will work to find ways to implement each solution over time. All groups will receive detailed feedback on the ELI Confluence site.
Live feedback from The Sharks was overwhelmingly positive. Vesta noted that, “The people who are closest to the work are the true teachers,” and Nimesh said that “When you have teammates like this, no problem is unsolvable.”
In his closing remarks, Mehran Assadi shared that, “The power of what was happening here – the learning, listening to our teammates talk proudly about our business – was the most gratifying feeling in the world.”
Great job, CIG ELI participants! You truly lived the learning on Wednesday.
(P.S. Did you miss the presentations? Stay tuned! We’ll be posting the video on National Life Today soon.)