Introduction

Compensation Funds are private non-profit organizations of the Chilean Social Security System, whose purpose is to provide social benefits and products that favor the welfare and individual development of their affiliates, pensioners and their families. Companies are able to join the Compensation Funds free of charge, and their collaborators become affiliates who are then able to access the benefits offered. This project was done with Chile’s most prominent company in the industry.

With over 67 years of history, this institution has over 4 million affiliates to the tune of 3,400 collaborators and a network of over 140 branches that run throughout Chile. It offers to its members a wide variety of benefits in different fields such as education, health, tourism, recreation, insurance, and also financial solutions. These benefits are mostly free, although they also provide some financial and other products that are fully or partially paid by members.

In regards to legal benefits, the Compensation Funds manages the sick leave payments of workers affiliated to the public healthcare system. They also manage the family allowance, another state benefit associated to legally dependant family members like the children and the elderly.

In 2017, the company defined Customer Experience as one of its strategic pillars. The challenge to the consulting team was to improve affiliates' experience, with a focus on omnichannel, service redesign and the resulting affiliate attention, creating value in each interaction. The project was defined with the affiliate at the center, redefining the criteria for decisions with a focus on improved well-being, valuation, and ease of access to the benefits delivered by the company.

In line with the strategic challenge, a team of multidisciplinary professionals proposed a methodological approach that combines Service Design, UX Design, Interior Design and the analysis and definition of an Experience Management Model. This was done with the purpose of delivering solutions from the user’s point of view, with robust support for the roles, processes, and organizational systems involved.

Process

We were assigned customer journeys in three categories: Financial products (savings, loans, and insurance), legal services (medical leave and family dispensations), and benefits (tourism and a network of providers) which represented about 80% of the organization’s work based.

The methodology of this process was divided in 3 stages:

(A) Experience Analysis
The techniques used for affiliate analysis were based essentially on design qualitative research methodologies. The first challenge was the generation of a significant sample for study, considering that this particular institution assists a diverse number of affiliate profiles in terms of socio-economic, social, cultural, regional, age, and educational lines. On the other hand, the analysis of the experience management was based on the observation of processes and relevant interactions, interviews with different players with roles in operations and the study of systems with impact on experience and of management metrics.

Field Work

• Interviews with internal personnel (corporate and branch) - 45 interviews
• In-depth interviews with companies, affiliates and non-affiliates - 50 interviews
• Branch observations - 7 branches
• UX analysis - 14 users
• Incognito customers - 10
• Meetings with managers -15

Desk Work

• Background study and prior references - 33 cases
• Revision of internal documents

The information was analyzed according to the following model:

1. The information collected in the field was structured around quotes, records, and relevant observations obtained in each instance of research. To this end, we used a registration system and analysis matrices organized by actor and research instance.
2. The information obtained then was processed via the criteria of triangulation and saturation (front end), and in the function of process analysis and critical points (back end). These conclusions were applied on the level of customer journeys and of transversal findings in the macro experience, and visualized via customer journey maps.
3. A total of 12 strategic insights were generated from this study (6 from the point of view of the affiliates, and 6 from the point of view of the experience management). These were the drivers that mobilized the subsequent strategic and cultural change within the organization.

(B) Experience Design

The design phase was based on participatory design techniques and joint value generation. Co-creation events were used to build bridges between users, collaborators and the whole organization. A group of 30 people were recruited (from different areas and varied roles) to participate in three design participation sessions. The first one had the objective of prioritizing the arising discoveries; the second of generating service attributes; and the third of designing the new journeys.

The proposals created by the participants were processed to become storyboards, which then allowed the socialization of the conceptual proposal from within the organization prior to the testing process. For each journey, we defined attributes, stages, touchpoints (both tangible and intangible), and channels structure.

A total of 9 critical service component prototypes were selected and then tested with users in MVP format (3 for digital platforms, 1 for screen attention, and 5 for branch). At this point, we want to highlight the testing process for the new branch service model (using both physical and digital means). After the MVPs, the new service design was set up in the so named “Garage Branch”. This prototype was executed by the Compensation Fund collaborators together with the consulting team, following the participatory design principles and focusing on the installation of the competencies. Based on the excellent results obtained, the prototype was scaled to 4 new branches (in different cities and affiliates segments). Finally, it was
scaled on a national level due to the results and impact presented later.

Through the knowledge generated by these tests, the final service blueprints were designed for the selected 7 journeys, including strategy and channels of attention. To concretize the proposal and to make implementation approachable, a total of 45 initiatives were detailed. Each of these initiatives, of different types (branch attention models, digital platforms, internal processes, and renovation of physical branch spaces, among others), were described in brief format and prioritized together with the company for progressive implementation with a focus on quick wins. The conceptual design of the management control panel to monitor project impact in the process indicators, affiliate satisfaction, and efficiency, was also
included.

(C) Implementation

The 45 initiatives designed were part of an implementation roadmap which began in 2018; 17 initiatives have been fully implemented.

There is a substantial change in the branch service model. We went from a basic service model to a flexible module format. This model allows the activation and deactivation of attention components depending on variables such as the profile of the affiliates, the type of service needed, the level of assessment and the accompanying requirement, the size of the branch, and the mix of demand for services. The conceptual design of the service was supported by the development of a mathematical model which, depending on the levels of service desired and the demand profile of each branch, determined the optimal allocation required by each of the service areas. This was accompanied by a new design of the physical spaces and the digital platforms that facilitate interactions. Another group of initiatives that have generated significant impact are related to the redesign of the interactions for monetary transactions, which before this project were done primarily in cash or check and with cashiers in each of the branches. Through user research, it was possible to overturn the myth about
lack of banking penetration and the use of technology by the segment of affiliates assisted by this organization. Today, the experience of the transaction has shifted to the use of electronic payment methods, making operations faster and more secure for affiliates as well as more efficient for the organization management.

The third group of already implemented initiatives, aims to improve back office operational processes to ensure and reduce time for the internal processes triggered by affiliate interactions. These initiatives have helped to create more efficient document management and an improvement in the use of the resources involved.

Outputs

The following are detailed outputs for each stage:

(A) Experience Analysis

• User study and definition of affiliate persona
• Study of physical spaces and digital platforms
• Background study and reference
• 7 customer journey maps diagnostics, in extendedand synthesized version
• List of transversal issues in terms of experience
• Strategic insights

(B) Experience Design:

• 3 co-creation workshops
• Storyboards of the 7 services studied along with their attributes, stages and touchpoints (physical and digital)
• MVP of digital platforms in web and mobile format, and branch attention totems required by each of the 7 journeys
• MVP for screen attention
• MVP for 5 branch processes
• Assembly of pilot branch functioning as a 30-day “garage”
• Assembly of 4 additional pilot branches to validate the model

(C) Implementation

Strategic definitions of service

• Definition of strategic attributes of service by the company
• 7 service omnichannel blueprints (front and back)
• Omnichannel strategy
• KPI’s panel
• 45 initiatives described in brief format
• Roadmap of initiatives implementation prioritized

Main implemented output

• New model of affiliates attention in branches (including role definition, scripts, derivations,mathematical model of
  allocations, new line management, etc.)
• Virtual payment methods
• Redesign of middle office processes
• New physical branch space design

Impact

Considering the focus of the aforementioned 17 implemented initiatives, the concrete impact of this project (based on the information the company has authorized for public knowledge) can be structured into 4 main areas:

1. Improvement of service level
2. Improvement of affiliates’ satisfaction
3. Efficiency in process management
4. Impact on organizational transformation

It was found during research stage that one of the primary affiliate pains had to do with the waiting time in the branch networks in order to perform services, which required in-person attention. For the 52 branches that have been implemented, the average network waiting time was 22 minutes, with a peak of 35 minutes at the most critical branches. After the implementation of successive initiative rollouts that changed the affiliate attention model, a decrease of 77% has been achieved, bringing wait times down to 5 minutes. If we consider that these branches receive 4,200,000 visits annually, with 17 minutes less of wait time per visit, this means a decrease of 1,190,000 hours in affiliates waiting time. These changes have also affected abandonment rates, dropping from 14% to 5.7%. These results have been achieved with the same allocations as the previous model, but are based on a redistribution and reorganization of the available resources.

Affiliate satisfaction measurements have also shown outstanding changes in respect to the situation prior to implementation. The net satisfaction score prior to change were 73%, and post successive implementation of the different initiatives they gradually increased to today’s rate of 96%.

Before this project, over 90% of the time the products which implied monetary disbursements ended in a cash or check transaction at the register. After the redesign of related operational processes for these types of services, that number inverted.

Today, over 95% of monetary disbursements are done by digital channels. This has contributed positively to the high levels of satisfaction mentioned previously, which implies a faster and more secure operational experience for the affiliates. At the same time, the use ofoperational cash in branch offices has been reduced to almost 10%compared to prior to initiative implementation (a 90% reduction). This change had a significant impact on the costs for security, remittance management,
and transportation.

This project has contributed substantially to the process of organizational transformation that this institution finds itself in. In the context of this implementation, it generated diverse changes to organizational structure, such as the creation of work cells taking charge of specific areas and the specific drivers for affiliate experience management. As part of the measurements for organizational impact, a mobile app system wasimplemented (called ‘Emotional Check In’) in order to measure the feelings of the collaborators affected by these process changes

During 2018, positive emotions reached a rate of 86%. A significant demonstration of the organizational transcendence of this project was the way in which the collaborators throughout Chile received the implementers of the new attention model. The results in the initial branches were quickly known generating a high expectation in the rest of them. The collaborators prepared welcome parties in which they received with great happiness and affection the team that came to implement in their branch.

The new levels of efficiency reached with these new processes of attention was also key, coupled with other initiatives, in positively affecting the staff’s extra work hours, which were reduced by 40% from the previous year. More than just the associated costs, the most significant consequence was the change in quality of life for collaborators as a result of the effective reduction of their workdays.

Lastly, thanks to the use of participatory methodologies at the different stages of this project, we were able to visualize the great quantity of talent that different roles within the company have. The escalation of the model of attention was carried out by a team of 70 collaborators from different network branches, who were in charge of training, implementing, and accompanying each branch in the adoption of this new model. This approach, coupled with other working methods of this nature have contributed to the promotions of 323 collaborators nationally throughout 2018, representing a total of 9.6% of collaborators from the institution.

Conclusions

After a year from the start of the implementation of this project, the results obtained have transcended the organization and have contributed positively to the institution’s position as a reference in the experience based transformational processes in Chile.

The user-centered approach had a significant impact on the service level delivered to affiliates, reducing waiting times and rates of abandonment for in-person attention, achieving more efficient and secure processes, and also becoming a determining factor in the cultural transformation that the organization is going through.

Beyond quantitative results, the greatest satisfaction for the team is that we believe we have significantly impacted the quality of life of both, affiliates and collaborators. We have initiate a permanent connection and a sense of empathy between users needs and the whole organization thanks to design, participation and co-creation.