Summer 2018 Issue
> Life Assurance in South Africa:
Moving with the Times and Bending with the Wind to Embrace All Clients’ Needs Years ago, insurance company Assupol made a promise to improve efficiency and turnaround and to ensure hassle-free claims payments; it has honoured that promise.
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hange, they say, is the only constant: adapt or die. South African insurance company Assupol changes and adapts, day-by-day, and has done since its inception in 1913 when it was established as a burial service for members of the country’s police force. By gearing itself to be an agent of change, and embracing the flux of life, the company has grown to become a leading provider of life insurance products to a broader market. The highly regulated South African insurance industry can be daunting, with increasingly demanding requirements, and the country’s high unemployment rate – even among university graduates – is a persistent national problem. In August last year, Assupol partnered with the female-owned organisation Omama Be Sizwe, (Mother of the Nation) whose members wanted to participate in the insurance value chain – but lacked the requisite experience and qualifications. Assupol recruited 44 female university graduates, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds, who had taken financial degrees. It trained them to be financial advisers in an initiative that has proven so successful that it is due for expansion.
Omama Be Sizwe members are now able to participate in the insurance value chain, employment opportunities have been created for the graduates, and a distribution channel for Assupol products has been created in the respective communities. Assupol sees its recent and long-standing employees as key to its success; a satisfied employee, the company wisdom goes, will walk that extra mile for clients. A bold first step was to canvass those employees: how did they view Assupol as an employer? The company participated in the Deloitte survey Best Company To Work For and was rewarded with the highest seal of achievement, platinum (70 percent score). In 2017, the company participated in the annual Careers24’s HR Future Awards. Factors
including employee engagement and wellness, skills, learning initiatives and workplace culture were considered. Assupol took top honours as Employer of Choice for Large Organisations, for advancing the impact of human capital management Assupol has performed well under South Africa’s challenging and variable economic situation. The strength of its brand – it has been servicing the market for 105 years – its understanding of the market and the knowledge of how best to serve it helped it to thrive in a market where many companies battle just to survive. Committed employees, financial advisers and other distribution partners that are dedicated to serving Assupol clients have helped to bring about strong relationships with all the stakeholders. Assupol isn’t about to rest on its laurels. It ploughs funds back into local communities through CSR (corporate and social responsibility) initiatives. The company looks forwards, and plans to broaden its presence to include other employer groups. While it has a full range of products available, most Assupol turnover is still in the funeral business; this sector also has expansion plans in place to better meet clients’ needs. This is no hit-and-hope scheme. The company has plans in place to upskill its sales force to bring broader, more effective financial solutions to a traditionally neglected segment of the population. A new distribution channel is to be established, along with a Wealth Division that will service the clients who need (for example) retirement advice. Other distribution arrangements will be established with third parties. Corporate culture is taken seriously, and Assupol is always looking for ways to improve client service, and deploy technology more effectively. While Assupol’s current, and successful, distribution channels focus on face-to-face contact, the company leaders have noted the opportunity to become more efficient and costeffective through the use of digital tools and channels. CFI.co | Capital Finance International
In a world where new ways of doing business can be disruptive, Assupol remains open to that eternal constant of change. It can now finalise funeral and investment claims within an hour of submission (if all the required documents have been submitted – the ball is sometimes in the clients’ court). Assupol pays funeral claims benefits twice a day and clears the funds to be immediately available – irrespective of the bank the clients use. And in an age of digital transfers, retina-scanning and cryptocurrency, Assupol even retains a facility to pay benefits to clients who have no bank accounts. Heraclitus of Ephesus – who first coined the “change is the only constant” phrase some 2,500 years ago – would approve. i
Assupol – with almost 700 employees – sees its recent and long-standing family of workers as key to its success. CFI.co engaged in a Q and A with Assupol’s Group Executive Director (HR) Siphiwe Ndwalaza to learn more… HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DOES ASSUPOL HAVE? We have 695 permanent staff members and 3183 tied agents. We take responsibility for the training and development of our tied agents, who are independent contractors. Our continued investment in their development constitutes the lion’s share of our training spend. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT RECRUITING THE RIGHT PEOPLE? We believe in growing our own timber, i.e. developing our own employees and giving them opportunities to realise their full potential in their roles. To ensure that we keep diversifying in our skill-set, we employ varying channels in attracting people to the company. One of the most effective is the employee referral programme, where our employees recommend suitable candidates for consideration. We also have a very active recruitment portal on our own website. As our “employer brand” grows stronger, we see more volumes of interested aspirant employees coming through this channel. The use of specialised recruitment agencies is 117