Top business insurer boosts profitability with enhanced employee engagement and retention

In 2020, this global business insurance provider embarked on a multiyear transformation journey to regain market leadership in the corporate insurance sector and return to profitability after four years of losses. To achieve these goals, the company launched a major globalization effort. Employees’ roles and responsibilities shifted from a siloed regional structure to a global team approach. 

The company invested heavily in cultural transformation to recover these losses, return to profitability, and regain market share. They invested in building a strong international portfolio to rightsize the company’s risk exposure, avoid unexpected losses, and engineer a return to profitability. This globalization effort required a cultural transformation, as employees were dealing with peers, managers, and clients from different geographies and cultures. As part of this strategy, they focused on driving collaboration, building psychological safety, and improving employee health and well-being. Leveraging BetterUp® was integral to supporting employees through career transitions and global change as they faced new challenges. 

Today, employee engagement, productivity, and innovation have all improved, which has also led to greater retention. Ultimately, this cultural transformation was the primary driver for the company’s return to profitability.

• 85% of leaders who leveraged BetterUp reported they were more effective at work as a result
• 78% of who leveraged BetterUp reported they made meaningful progress toward their goals
• 23% improvement on index measuring employee engagement (2021 vs. 2023)
• 17% improvement on index measuring work-related stressors (2021 vs. 2023)
• ~25% decrease in attrition (2021 vs. 2023)
  

In the fall of 2020, this global business insurance provider embarked on a multiyear transformation journey. The company had been losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year for four consecutive years due to market conditions and a fragmented global approach, and it needed to turn the tide to survive. 

“We hired a new CEO, a new board of management, a lot of new leaders, and we started going through a large globalization effort,” says the Head of Global Learning & Development.

The goal of this strategic shift was to establish a strong international portfolio and rightsize the level of risk that the company was underwriting. This would enable the company to better avoid incurring unexpected losses. These major changes meant that employees were suddenly managing functions at a global level, while taking on new responsibilities and challenges.

“Many people who were previously in regional roles were now reporting to someone in another country and time zone. They were no longer managing a US-only team. Instead, they were managing one part of a function, but globally, which brought on new challenges,” says the Head of Global Learning & Development.

The company wanted to invest in its people and give them the support they needed to be successful in their roles.

Shortly after the Head of Global Learning & Development joined in 2020, the company made a multi-million-euro investment in cultural transformation. BetterUp was a key component of that investment. Since April 2021, they have leveraged BetterUp Lead to accelerate speed to readiness for newly hired or promoted leaders. 

Providing employees with this kind of support is important for several reasons. The company understands that leaders have a major impact on creating an environment supportive of psychological safety, which is associated with inclusion, team effectiveness, and innovation. This is why the company has leveraged BetterUp to help nearly 300 leaders develop deeper self-awareness and enhance their perspectives on areas of strength and opportunities for growth.

The resilience of leaders also has a ripple effect on entire teams, boosting both agility and performance. For this reason, the company has leveraged BetterUp to help its leaders strengthen their mental fitness by building mindsets, skills, and behaviors to effectively navigate their new roles. 

“When we look at the dashboards and data BetterUp provides, we’re able to see some leaders are focused on their sleep and nutrition, others on managing stress, giving feedback, and improving communication. Everyone is able to focus on the topics that matter most to them, making this an individualized experience for our leaders. It's great that we can offer well-rounded support for the whole person, which BetterUp strongly believes in, ” the Head of Global Learning & Development says.

Today, the company has leveraged BetterUp to develop the necessary mindsets and behaviors of leaders to drive cultural transformation, take on new challenges, and operate as part of a global organization with a “one team” mindset. As a result of this cultural transformation, this global business insurance provider has successfully returned to profitability.

Leadership effectiveness, executive readiness, and personal thriving have all increased among the company’s executive leaders, thanks to the company leveraging BetterUp. Leaders have grown in their ability to empower others to make decisions and align around a shared goal. Their strategic planning skills have also improved, which will pave the way for them to set the direction for their teams to deliver on the company’s new global vision. 

In addition, following their engagement with BetterUp, the company’s leaders outperformed industry benchmarks in the areas of leader readiness, including their growth mindset and ability to pivot with their environment. They’ve built resilience to bounce back from challenges and can navigate their new roles with agility. 

They’ve also reported improvements in their self-compassion, ability to regulate their emotions, and sense of purpose and meaning at work. 

“BetterUp was a key driver in our cultural transformation, supporting leaders going through career transitions, taking on increasing levels of responsibility, and facing new challenges in light of our move toward a global setup,” the Head of Global Learning & Development says. “And our cultural transformation was the primary driver for our return to profitability.”