To motivate his team to meet an important deadline midway through a three-year initiative to implement common processes and technology throughout Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, Scott Senden took a bold step. The senior vice president of IT services put his hair on the line.
During an August 2006 meeting with the project team–which included representatives from IT, marketing, and operations–Senden and John Miller, Allianz Life's senior vice president of enterprise operations and the project's executive sponsor, promised to shave their heads if the group met a critical November implementation date.
“If we missed that November date, I knew it would add four or five months to the schedule,” Senden recalls. “So John and I said we'd shave our heads if the team got it done.”
By mid-December, Senden and Miller were sporting a new look. Rather than simply shaving their heads in privacy, however, the duo turned the challenge into a fund-raising event for charity. They held an auction in the Minneapolis-based company's auditorium, and employees bid on the first cut, last cut, and final brush-off. The auction raised more than $6,000 for several charities. “This is what it's all about,” Senden contends. “Doing something big for the company, engaging people, and having fun all at the same time.”
The IT project for which Senden sacrificed his wavy blond hair is called Operation Impact. It coincides with Allianz Life's business strategy to reorganize five discrete operating entities into one cohesive organization that can collaborate and share best practices more easily. A primary company of global financial services conglomerate Allianz SE, Allianz Life offers fixed and variable annuities, life insurance policies, and long-term care insurance products throughout the United States. In 2005, Allianz Life recorded gross premiums of more than $13.8 billion.
On the technology side, Senden and his team were tasked with selecting and deploying applications and systems to consolidate business capabilities across the organization. The project was divided into three areas: the front office, the middle office, and the back office. In 2006, the company installed NaviSys Front Office to create a single imaging and workflow solution for its fixed annuity business. NaviSys offers straight-through processing of applications, regardless of product line, distribution channel, or location.
“We're not done with this project, but we're beginning to see some significant results as these tools come together,” Senden affirms. “I think the biggest value is we didn't go at this from a tool-by-tool standpoint. Instead, we figured out what we needed to do to deliver value to the business and then implemented capabilities that supported that vision.”
Senden expects to complete Operation Impact by the end of this year. In addition to extending NaviSys Front Office into Allianz Life's variable line of business, he and his team plan to fine-tune middle- and back-office functions and implement e-applications to make it easier for agents and policyholders to interact with the company.
“We will continue to implement capabilities to help the company operate more efficiently and effectively and meet the needs of our customers,” he says.
In addition to improving operational efficiencies, lowering costs through scalability, and simplifying business functions, the project is transforming the role of Senden's employees. He oversees approximately 400 IT staff in Minneapolis and Berwyn, Pa.
“Taking on such a large initiative gives us the opportunity to extend the skills and capabilities of our team,” he explains. “My team is learning new competencies that will allow [the IT staff] to contribute to the business in ways we haven't even thought of yet.”
With Operation Impact well under way, Senden says he looks forward to tackling new projects and continuing to add value to Allianz Life's business operations through IT. “The next few years will continue to be years of transformation, but we've got a lot of success behind us that says we can do it,” he asserts, bald head notwithstanding.
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