Adjuster: Tell me how the accident happened?

Claimant: I was making a left onto 190th Street. I was finishing up a call for my 1 p.m. appointment to let them know that I was running late. I saw cars coming, but thought I had enough time to make it across the lanes of oncoming traffic.

The adjuster proceeded to ask questions about the weather conditions, emergency response, and damage to the car, but never once followed up on a variety of possibilities that could have placed negligence on the claimant.

While I'd like to say that this was an atypical example of a poor investigation, it was not. Poor investigative skills often hamper the claims investigation process, which belies the challenges facing claims organizations seeking to improve.

Read More of Chris Tidball's Blog Posts at Blocking & Tackling

There are often several reasons underlying poor investigations, including poor training, improper hiring, or the unintended consequences of a push to achieve other metrics. Having managed a variety of claims organizations, I can state with a fair degree of certainty that it is a combination of all of the above.

When it comes to training, it is imperative that carriers have managers, mentors, and executives who have walked the walked. It is very tough to develop an adjusting staff if the fundamental blocking and tackling of insurance claims isn't understood.

While training departments and procedure manuals play a valuable role in the process, there is no substitute for a line manager who can turn a novice into a pro.

But beyond training comes the need to hire the right people. Insurance claims careers are not for everyone, yet often anyone is hired. While it can be a very rewarding career, it can also be wrought with challenges and demands not for the faint at heart.

Like a coach on draft day looking for the best player on the board, my philosophy has always been to hire the best available candidate. More often than not, best doesn't equate with experience. In fact, many of my best hires have had no insurance experience whatsoever!

Rather, my focus has been on personality, vision, and demeanor. Technical details can be taught, and often the best students are those without preconceived notions or bad habits. At the end of the day, an organization will be driven by not only the quality of the people who they hire, but the positive influences within the organization as negativity begets negativity. As discussed in my book, Kicked to the Curb, negative influences are the single biggest contributor to organizational dysfunction.

Complicating matters can be the unintended consequences of putting too much emphasis on certain metrics. There is no end to the various metrics measured by organizations, many of which play a critical role in productivity and profitability. From contacts and inspections to liability decisions and closing ratios, adjusters are faced with a myriad of competing priorities.

At the end of the day, what truly matters is quality, which is an all-encompassing measure that takes every aspect of the claims process into account. What is the point of a 24-hour contact if nothing more than a message was left on a machine? What about an inspection where the adjuster snapped a photo over the tow yard fence? How about the 100 percent closing ratio with a 50 percent supplement rate? These are all situations that can be addressed with an improved quality assurance process that measures every aspect of the end-to-end claims process.

By focusing on hiring the best and the brightest, teaching basic blocking and tackling skills, and developing key quality assurance metrics, claims organizations can assure themselves of a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Like a coach drafting for the future, hiring for quality creates a foundation upon which a dynasty can be built.