1. PEOPLE IN PROGRESS: Increased Complexity Calls For Collaboration
Swiss Re
Increased Complexity Calls For
Collaboration
With the increasing business complexity of the reinsurance industry, Swiss Re knew it had to
channel the collective intelligence of its employees. “We are dealing with complex global
risks — climate change, natural catastrophes, pandemics, longevity — to name a few. This
forces us to combine knowledge and information from very different areas,” says Swiss Re
Communications Consultant, Anu Elmer.
In 2008, during a three-day JAM session (a group brainstorming
event), Swiss Re discovered more internal demand for
collaboration than its current infrastructure could support. The
purpose of the JAM session was to discuss the new corporate
strategy with its entire employee base, giving every worker a chance to participate. What
Swiss Re didn’t expect was the entire employee base’s engagement in return. “In those 72
hours we realized that there was more collaboration demand than we had available to offer.
So we started to think about what we were missing and how collaboration technology could
be used for the sake of business.”
Planning And Implementation
The core team of five — from Communications, IT and Knowledge Management — started
its planning by getting the buy-in of senior leadership. The team’s case focused on the call
for collaboration in an increasingly complex environment and the need to replace some of
the company’s outdated knowledge management solutions. “We were in a good position
because we had legacy platforms that were costly. We could show our executives a
business case which had a positive financial impact. But the benefits of increased
collaboration and engaging company culture were equally important,” says Christoph
Isenschmid, the Ourspace project lead. The team also reassured executives that employee
time wouldn’t be wasted; use of any new tools would center around employees’ professional
roles, and that the communities would be self-policing.
Anu Elmer, Senior Communications Consultant
Christoph Isenschmid, Project Director, Communications
Wolfgang Jastrowski, Head of United Communications & Collaboration
“We could show our executives
a business case which had a
positive financial impact.”