Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468736
11 INTERVIEW 26.5.2022 near future of work. Employees in this model may work from home for two or three days a week, provided their role and tasks allow it. In this way, employees can alternate be- tween various locations, as allowed by law. Both company and union represent- atives from both countries acknowl- edged the benefits of remote work and agree that its future institutionalisation – especially in regulatory terms – will be crucial for improving its adaptation and reducing legal grey areas. Some EU Member States such as Bel- gium and France have already intro- duced national approaches addressing remote work, giving workers the right to work remotely once a week. Both Germany and Malta have statutory defi- nitions and specific legislative frame- works on the use of telework set up in their labour code and other related leg- islation. However, Germany is already in ad- vanced discussions about institution- alising remote work as a labour right, whereasin Malta these discussions do not exist. One of the most important factors that will determine the form and insti- tutionalisation of remote work is the new EU 'right to disconnect and tele- work' directive, which aims to reduce the negative effects of remote work by safeguarding employees' time-off, thus ensuring enough rest periods and a bet- ter work-life balance. Once this is made a directive, all EU Member States will need to apply it to their legislations. What can managers do in the short term to address remote work? e net effect of remote work on com- panies in Germany and Malta going forward largely hinges on the ability of managers to effectively coach and mo- tivate workers. For this to be successful, my research data suggests that a shift in organisational culture is necessary: one that moves away from micromanaging attendance and input and towards man- agement by objectives and the estab- lishment of trust-based relationships, which can at times be challenging in companies with deeply embedded 'tra- ditional' workplace practices. Second, the drafting of a remote work- ing policy is crucial to clear up grey ar- eas and offer management and workers alike clear guidance on their obligations towards each other. ird, learning and development should be at the forefront of organi- sations' institutionalisation of remote work: not only for the purposes of helping them grow and innovate in this new environment, but also to help workers by providing advice on dealing with stress and establishing boundaries around work and family life. This research was conducted in partial fulfilment of a Master's Degree in International Business Consulting and Human Resource Management at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, an eighteen-month intensive program (conducted in English) that deals with the central questions of Strategic Human Resource Management. Finance by the ENDEAVOUR Scholarships Scheme for making this training and the resulting research on the future of remote work, possible. https://www. linkedin.com/in/borgmatthew/ Technology for real impact in insurance sector For a major international insurance company like RCI Insurance that provides insurance solutions to over 2.5 million customers across seven European countries, delivering a claims management solution that truly delivers efficiency was a must. "What we developed was a platform that resulted in over 30% increase in productivity and a significant reduction in time to handle claims," says CHRISTINE FALZON, Chief Sales Officer at ICON. Do companies still struggle to embrance technology and its advantages? We continue to live a digital trans- formation that is reshaping the cur- rent and future state of many indus- tries and the insurance industry is no exception. is should be the main reason companies must embrace change and rethink their business model to move towards more com- pliant and secure digital operations. Companies are starting embrace more the fact that technology can help them streamline the development of new products, digital experiences as well as enhance customer and employee satisfaction. What triggered this project for RCI Insurance? RCI were very clear with their brief. ey wanted a solution that reflected their mission to always achieve the best possible outcomes for their cli- ents. In ICON, they found a digital solutions partner with relevant expe- rience and expertise in the insurance industry to develop a highly custo- misable and future-proof insurance software solution for their company. rough this project RCI Insurance wanted to achieve more efficient numbers, more cost-effectiveness, in- novation, and flexibility in the applica- tion of the new solution. Were specific targets set? RCI Insurance's target was to achieve efficiency through a reduction of 20% in the length of their claims handling process but I am proud to say that we managed to help them achieve over 30% reduction! We also managed to achieve cost-effectiveness through a reduction in the overall running costs of the insurance claims management software by applying a highly innova- tive and customisable solution. ey are also enjoying the flexibility they needed by being able to manage and support the system internally. Can you specify a bit more the work you did for RCI? RCI opted for a custom-built claims management system which was to be supported by pre-built software com- ponents. is involved splitting the solution into minimal viable products to ensure business users are frequent- ly reviewing, testing, and familiaris- ing themselves with the solution, the identification of a pilot market with whom to test the solution and the cre- ation of a communication strategy to keep all stakeholders informed and updated. What do you think attracts companies like RCI to you? Output is the most important thing when measuring success of any pro- ject. We take time to ensure that we work very closely with our clients to whom we dedicate multidisciplinary teams of experts who understand their pain points from the very begin- ning and who work hand in hand with their technical teams to execute the brief in line with their vision. What would you identify as being one of ICON's best strengths? I feel that one of the strengths of our service lies in the fact that we allocate a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team to every project. We sit with the client to understand what their expectations are, and we deliver solutions that are tailor-made to their requirements. More importantly, we work with the client's team because we would want to ensure that knowledge is developed and retained throughout the process, giving the client ownership and the ability to run the solution. So you give your clients autonomy... Yes. In fact, the software we pro- vided includes key capabilities that empower RCI with the ability to rap- idly launch new products, improve its claims handling process and increase its operational efficiency. Today RCI's claim handlers are enjoying a modern and user-friendly dashboard to handle day-to-day tasks and to process claims efficiently with a limited amount of clicks and page refreshes. e system also allows controlled access to claim handlers and employees directly from the administrator dashboard while au- thorised users access the system from any device, any time without having to install the software. Is the system applicable only to the Maltese market? No. In fact, a key feature of ICON's platform is its flexibility as it allows its users to quickly adapt to market changes. e system is also multilin- gual, supports multi-currency and can be configured to support various in- surance products, workflows, and re- porting metrics. e platform is also interconnectable with both internal and external software systems to en- sure data consistency and a real-time view of a customer's claims process. And given the highly regulated indus- try RCI operates in, key importance was placed to ensure the system meets the regulatory requirements across the different target countries. This project must have been a learning opportunity.... is collaboration with RCI Insur- ance turned out to be a great learn- ing curve for ICON where our tech team unlocked the potential of the latest available technologies and de- livered a solution that achieves mod- ularity, scalability, and performance efficiency. Working with RCI not only improved our understanding of the insurance industry, but also gave us the ability to cater for multinational business needs. RCI Insurance has definitely made ICON a more dynam- ic, versatile, and fast paced company." Was this project with RCI a one-off job or do you foresee a continuous collaboration? RCI Insurance's commissioning of a claims management platform was a one-off project but when the com- pany recognized the value of its re- lationship with ICON, the agility in execution and the flexibility we offer, they switched to ICON's framework agreement. is means that at the beginning of the year, RCI Insurance provides us with their high-level vi- sion which we then transform into tangible MVPs which we release every 6 weeks with the ability to change their requirements or re-prioritise the MVPs based on their business needs. A final comment? Today, the very smooth synergy that has been created by our team and RCI's developers and business analysts led to the creation of a 'hy- brid team' that brings all the needed flexibility especially when RCI's new Claims Management System is being deployed across new markets and during the launch of new insurance products. Most importantly, RCI's employees' feedback has been most positive and are now enjoying a great- er user experience.