When we published our research paper two months ago on the “future” of the industry, we pointed to the need for Advisers to be thinking about the cloud from an operational readiness perspective. Little did we know that the future was coming a lot sooner than anyone predicted, although for other reasons.

Now that business everywhere are grappling with how to run ‘business as usual’ when it’s anything but usual, we’ve got some lessons from having ‘been there done that’ that may prioritise your efforts.

Working from anywhere, on any device.

From the beginning, our guiding principle was to ensure that all of our people, from claims assessors to underwriters, to customer care, to our finance and back-office teams were able to access anything (and everything) from the cloud. This means all of our files, templates, business applications are accessible from any secure location. We use a tool called Okta which means that employees don’t have to sign into multiple accounts with multiple usernames and passwords which can be a drawback with a cloud-based approach. So whether our people are in the office or working from home – our service and delivery is unchanged.

The customer interface.  

It’s not just our back-end technology that supports remote working. Our award-winning Adviser portal is available 24/7 and works on just about any device. Originally, this was built to provide Advisers with the convenience to be able to do pre-assessments and applications with a client in their own home, or out and about on the road, but now it’s obviously incredible useful for Advisers who find themselves working from home.

Beyond this though, every employee has a Zoom account and access to Microsoft teams. This means that all employees are able to use video conferencing to connect to clients, customer, partners, suppliers, Advisers and each other. It’s made our operations during COVID-19 all the more seamless.

People, get ready.

All the technology in the world doesn’t come to much if people aren’t comfortable, capable, and confident to use it. Ahead of the pandemic, we supported a wide range of flexible work arrangements so when we were asked to socially isolate, employees could literally pick up their laptops within minutes and be out the door, knowing everything was going to work.

As life continues like this, we’re continuing to educate our people with tips to make life a little easier. For example how to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad using the Notes app, or how to use your TV as a computer monitor screen. The importance of on-going training and education to embed new ways of working is critical.

The other benefit of getting your team to flourish in a cloud-based environment is that it just gives you more options to connect.

We’ve set up a virtual lunchroom where daily from 12-1 you can logon and enjoy a break with your colleagues to keep connections going and instill a sense of routine.

Whether it’s COVID-19, or the (no doubt) increase in remote working we will see in the coming year, or just customer expectations that they should be able to connect to your business and your services from anywhere on any device – it’s high time to examine your operations and maybe get your head in the clouds.

As always, if you have any questions on any of this, we’re here to help.

Fancy a free massage at work? That’s what Google offers staff who nail a successful project. In California, Patagonia posts daily surf reports (and the odd company wide broadcast when it’s particularly gnarly) to encourage staff to run out and catch a wave in the middle of the working day. A London based ad agency offers “Botox Leave” (self explanatory).

Perks make a huge difference to a business’ ability to recruit and retain good talent. HR consultants Robert Half found six in 10 Australians prioritise perks over pay – so much so that that eight in 10 would happily accept benefits instead of money if employers can’t meet their salary expectations.

But staff don’t necessarily want the weird and wonderful benefits. They often want more sensible, potentially life changing perks, such as health and life insurance. UK research shows 37% of employees see life insurance as one of the top three employee benefits they value.^[1]

It’s easy to see why given the high cost, high reward nature of life insurance. Many of us are eager to financially protect ourselves and our family should the worst happen. The “worst” includes death, a total permanent disability or a loss of precious income in a country where the cost of living is a constant pressure.

An employer who can cover life insurance premiums, therefore, offers a perk of tremendous, potentially life changing value to current or potential staff.

Yet only 4% of SME employers offer life insurance as a benefit. Legacy infrastructure, systems and technology have made it difficult for bigger, older insurance providers to develop simple products for new markets like SMEs.

Not being able to offer perks to recruit top talent, then, can be another reason small business owners can’t compete against big companies for quality employees. 80 per cent of SME bosses aren’t satisfied with their recruitment pool or process, according to the SME Hiring Challenges Survey commissioned by Cameron Research Group for Michael Page.

We’re changing that. Integrity has developed a unique product in the Australian market called Five+, which offers a combined income and life insurance product for small to medium businesses – available to owners with as few as five employees.

It’s the first group product that combines both income and life insurance, and that can be purchased online. Five+ is also the only product that offers an income benefit to the employer as well as the employee.

Luring away or protecting top talent from big business will always be a challenge, and not every small business can offer free breakfast and a company car. Now you can offer at least one powerful, useful perk – the same protection for your employees (and their families) as the big end of town. And you look great without Botox anyway.

^{[1] Employee Benefits Magazine,  2017 UK}