The document discusses how technology is disrupting the insurance industry and changing the nature of work. As an analyst in the insurance industry, the author has witnessed processes shift from manual to electronic over the years, with paper applications now online and automated underwriting. Further changes are coming as robots take over repetitive tasks, eliminating some entry-level jobs but creating new roles in quality assurance and data analysis to oversee automated systems. The organization must prepare its workforce for these changes through retraining and developing new skills to remain competitive.

1. THE FUTURE OF WORK –
PREPARING FOR DISRUPTION

2. HUMAN CAPITALAND ITS IMPACT ON THE INSURANCE
INDUSTRY

3. THE REALITY IS THAT WE ARE ALL AFFECTED BY CHANGES IN
TECHNOLOGY.
AS A BUSINESS ANALYST IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY, I HAVE
SEEN THE IMPACT OVER THE YEARS.
WHEN I JUST STARTED THE JOB, WE HAD VERY MANUAL
PROCESSES. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TRANSFORMED THE WAY
WE COLLECTED INFORMATION FROM CLIENTS. PAPER INSURANCE
APPLICATION FORMS WAS REPLACED WITH AN ELECTRONIC
APPLICATION. OTHER CHANGES IMPLEMENTED TO SUPPORT THIS
DEVELOPMENT WAS ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AND
AUTOMATED UNDERWRITING.

4. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, CASH PAYMENTS FOR FIRST
PREMIUMS HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH MOBILE PAYMENTS. THE
ORGANISATION IS EXPLORING PICTURE SCANNING SO THAT SALES
AGENTS NO LONGER NEED TO SUBMIT HARD COPY SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTS FOR BACK OFFICE SCANNING. ADDITIONALLY, THE
BUSINESS IS WELL ON ITS WAY TO UTILIZING OPTICAL CHARACTER
RECOGNITION (OCR), INTELLIGENT CHARACTER RECOGNITION
(ICR), AN AUTOMATED WORKFLOW SYSTEM AND AUTOMATIC
SETTLEMENT OF NEW BUSINESS APPLICATIONS.

5. TECHNOLOGY & INSURANCE
YEARS AGO, THE FOCUS WAS MAINLY ON PROCESS
IMPROVEMENT. TODAY, THE THRUST IS NOT ONLY TOWARDS
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT BUT ACHIEVING SIGNIFICANT COST
SAVINGS IN THE LONG RUN. TO ACHIEVE THIS THE
ORGANISATION IS LOWERING OPERATING EXPENSES. ONE WAY
THE ORGANIZATION PLANS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS IS THROUGH
THE USE OF ROBOTICS. ROBOTS WILL BE USED TO DO SIMPLE,
REPETITIVE, CLERICAL TASKS WHICH MEANS THAT A LOT OF LOW
INCOME, ENTRY LEVEL JOBS WILL BECOME REDUNDANT.

6. However, as we have seen from the World Bank’s Report,
although some traditional type jobs will be lost, new jobs will be
created. This holds true for the organization for which I am
employed. While data entry jobs may be eliminated, jobs in
quality assurance and data stewardship may be introduced to
ensure that the data being submitted meets the standard. More
analytical type jobs such as system analysts may be created to
assess systems and make system improvements.

7. Through change management, the organisation can prepare the
workforce for the changes ahead by providing information on
what type of skills are required and possibly in house training in
the type of skills needed for the changing job market.
In response, the workforce needs to be flexible, anticipate the
changes that are coming, retool and reskill in order to remain
relevant in these fast changing times. EdX is a great place to
start!