Interview Questions
A Complicated /Complex problem you recently been asked to solve
MT state audit. This was one of the most difficult problems I worked on, but not so much difficult as time consuming and great attention to detail was required. The audit, the findings, the resolution, the monthly auditing that we have to complete due to the findings.
People feel threatened by Change
Mark 15 yrs, They wanted ownership.
A time someone was not as cooperative as you needed him to be
Mark at the beginning not wanting to give up his duties and train others.
Customer making unreasonable demands
Maura Tuso
You didn't handle a customer complaint as well as I would like
Maura Tuso
I had to ask questions and listen carefully to clarify the exact nature of a customer's problem.
Maura Tuso. Jeff Melville file issue.
Dissatisfied with Progress
Member Move- We had no project manager. Went to David Stucky. It requires Prod dev, FTS, Actuarial, my team, FBS, IT. Project Manager left PS.
A project I had to get started and headed in the right directions-
Member move No Project Manager. It requires Prod dev, FTS, Actuarial, my team, FBS, IT. Project Manager left PS.
When I discovered that a project output did not meet the project requirements
Member move did not have logic to move the adults on peds dental no benefits per ACA requirements. We discovered this after the move and Mark L realized there was no logic to move them so they had to be moved manually by my team, about 80-100
Goal I could not achieve
New Enrollment process for direct POR
A time when you helped a new employee assimilate into your organizations work culture
New employees and working from home. Group IM. I meet with new employees every week for 4-5 weeks...... then once per month. Example would be by two new billers- they started and we were already at home, not knowing the team at all. Group IM.
Goals difficult to Achieve
Not able to make 4 months of phone Stats- Coverage Advisor Help in my queue.
How have I monitored progress toward the accomplishment of team objectives
Our team objectives are things like our phone queue stats, policy processing time, and accuracy on our transfer and write off forms, accuracy on our applications. I run monthly reports out of SSRS for our phones. I do the same for onbase reports which would have information on the volume of work that people are doing. The QC dept conducts an application audit for us monthly, 2 of them. I review those audits and if there are errors review them with the person who made them and also have them correct them. Our EBA's track any errors for our write off and transfer forms. I review these the same way, have them correct them. If there are consistent errors then retraining would be needed. We need to identify why the errors are occurring.
My preferences were not included-
POR- There are things we put on the POR every year that are not included or chosen for example the enrollment improvements for direct.
People in the organization who deserve more credit than they receive
Paige
How have I worked with a team to set specific and measurable goals and objectives
*Education* I have really worked with this team over the last three years on our phone stats. When I first started the phones were not their priority. I think that first we have to identify how to meet the goal. Why are we not already meeting these goals and being successful. What is keeping us from it? Initially we had a 45 second wrap up time which was not necessary so I changed it to 30. Are there training gaps, such as are the calls too long and why are too long, are people out on project too much and not answering the phone, why are they out on project, they didn't know that they could hit end wrap, do we have more training going on right now and more people are out of the queue. I communicated expectations, worked on training gaps, created schedules for certain duties so that more people were in the phone queue.
Collaboration- Good Partner
- Darlene in Legal Senior compliance specialist- Audits- timely- her feedback to me and my supervisor. Friends
Describe Inequities you have observed at work
- I had an employee that came to me and stated she had high blood pressure from a medical condition. She did not have this protected. She said that training people increased her stressed and she didn't want to train anyone until her situation back under control. We didn't have a trainer at the time and we had new people. Due to staffing needs, I really needed everyone to contribute to the training. While it would be equal and demonstrate equality to have my entire team share an equal number of responsibilities, it would equitable to consider this employees condition and have them perform tasks and be able to judge their performance based on their own situation eliminating disadvantages beyond their control so that this employee can perform their duties in an equitable fashion. Due to policy we were not able to accommodate this without a doctor's note or protected leave case.
Difficult decision I made what did I consider
- I had an employee that felt an Offensive comment was made to her by another member of the team on sensitive topic. Given the topic, I went to my manager for advice. I was not in agreement with the advice my manager had given because I felt it was not the way to approach such a sensitive topic. After further discussion my manager agreed and we spoke to HR together. HR suggested that I could either speak in very vague terms to the employee that made the remark or address my whole team in the same vague terms. Factors I had to consider- managers opinion, HR's advice, and the dynamic between the two employees who seemed to have a very good working relationship. I felt that it was better to address the group in this situation because the advice that HR gave me about addressing the employee in these very vague terms, would not be successful if I was not allowed to tell the person what the offensive behavior or comment was. The decision did take some time as there was multiple parties to involve in the discussion.
Describe a time I wished I had been more collaborative
- Project I was on where some tempers were high and project manager was frustrated and not able to regain control. I felt helpless, it was uncomfortable and I wasn't sure how to positively contribute in a way that was going to quell the tensions. I was able to discuss this scenario in LEAD and expressed my frustration for my own presence as a bystander. My team made suggestions and empowered me to speak up in a way that will not cause damage but maybe be able to take a break. I was able to utilize this technique in my own stand up when a couple members of my team started arguing.
Tell me about a time you weren't sure what a customer wanted
- This was a supervisor call. The customer was upset about their premium and APTC. She kept saying she didn't understand how it came to be. When a customer keeps saying I don't understand, I am thinking I need to do some educating. I reviewed everything with her. Then she finally said, I mean I understand I just don't like it. Ok now shift my gears to can we make this better, apologize or empathize but that is really different from not understanding.
How have you faced challenges when working with a diverse organization or culture
- diversity comes in a lot of different forms, it can be surface level something visible such as gender, race or age, but it can also be something that is deep and not visible such as educational background ,personality, ability. I think in my role as TL and TC I have seen challenges in regards to age. There can be differing views on work ethic or technology. Often times when training multiple people I have one person who is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest because they are more technologically savvy and they are faster to advance with technology. Some may need more training on the soft skills in customer service. Its' a balancing act between the two during training. Courtney and I would balance this out.
A time I had to consider another person's ideas even when they conflicted with my own- Courtney and I had to work together to determine our roles and responsibilities
. I don't always have all the answers and although I may have ideas, the ideas of others may be better. **Courtney** There were times when we didn't agree. I really listened to her reasoning as to why maybe she wanted it a certain way and sometimes that was the better way and often times what would happen is by combining our ideas we came up with an even better idea together. I really enjoyed that. Example would be when we both worked on the training materials and we both had ideas as to the formatting, content, the order or sequence it was in.
A time a team member had difficulty adapting to differences of others on the team
. I had a team member that was very loud. Excellent CS and a joy to be around and a positive influence on the team however I had to talk to him several times about his volume. I had one person in particular that complained to me about his volume. She asked me if she could move to be a little further away from him just due to volume. I agreed and I ended up putting her next to a newer very quiet person, and she was actually able to draw her our and assist her with questions that think she didn't comfortable answering.
I had to involve team members in decisions affecting their work. What kinds of decisions did you involve them in?
. Symbeo, bill redesign, testing, materials review. Duty roster.
Change they resisted
45 Second Wrap was changed. Signature on Outgoing email. Phone number for members so we can call back.
What is the most difficult task I have had
? Subscriber Swap- Exchange sent us files for renewal that had the subscriber and the dependent swapped which we had to do in Facets. Which means they were given new ID numbers. A few months later they contacted carriers and said we had to change them back and it was there error. It was a very difficult process and took a great deal of coordination from other teams, EBA's, BA's, my team. This required us to put them all on new ID numbers and reinstate them back to the 2018 plan, and term the 2019 plan NUC. After a lot of discussion it was decided this was the best option. We had to do outreach to the members to explain what was going to happen, that they were going to get new ID cards. We had to compare the reoccurring payment from the old ID numbers, and set those back up, and do a rebill. The EBA's had to transfer any funds. Direct Enrollment process. Lends itself to many mistakes, I have to hire 5—6 temps to process these enrollments so that the rest of my team can answer the phones. I am satisfied because I am determined to make improvements in this area. It will enable us to gain more business.
A time you helped people think about problem/opportunities in unconventional way
A new ways of thinking about problems or opportunities Beyond Conventional thinking- Direct Enrollment process is not efficient, it's slow and lends itself to errors. The third party platform iStore that we use is inadequate and they are difficult to work with when things are not working correctly. I had met with another team leader and I was expressing my concern and frustration about the direct individual enrollment process. He had been working on OES for Oregon State University. He showed it to me and we played with it. I scheduled meeting with a couple of the software developers that I knew and we brainstormed about other methods that we could use rather than istore for direct enrollment. They really gave me hope that creating our own platform would solve all of our issues. Then I invited Kay and Mary and presented this ides. POR below the line but still talking about it.
A good decision
Adding Policies to Prism- Erick's email, I reached out to him, pulled the reports and reviewed all data from past year. Worked with Patrick Hansen for slides.
How have I demonstrated commitment to the team
An example of one of the ways that I show commitment to my team is by jumping in and helping them with some of their work. I often will jump in and work on policies, applications, I have jumped in on phones when it has been so overwhelming for them.. In addition I think there is some value for me in doing this, I can stay current on some of these things and see if there are any issues arising. It also gives me an idea of how long a certain task should take. Supervisor calls I live the values
What have I done to educate the customer or to better understand the customer needs
Assess every call in first 5 seconds. Every callers needs are different. Identify Patterns.
What strategies do you use to encourage others to challenge business assumptions? Challenge procedures
Assumptions are made when we think we know people's motives, skills or abilities, what information people have been given. We often say but we have always done it this way. Ask rather than assume, assume positive intent. Have new people challenge our P & P's
How do I ensure that external customers keep me informed of issues, concerns
Audrey and I working on agent training, sales debrief. CS relationship. They want to loop me in or they have a question. In turn I communicate with those teams as well when things change.
What sources of information have you used to monitor/uncover problems in your work area. Tell me about a situation in which you used one of those sources
Complaint Data, I review this each month. Payments by phone for direct, the bill design complaints, minors not being able to set up autopay.
Identified a small problem and corrected it before it becomes a major problem.
Bills did not go out for April in March due to file being received on a Sunday. We started to receive calls.
Shared Responsibilities- Another Dept Committed Time for My Benefits
CS Data Matching- Did they have the capacity. CS has the skill set and the bandwidth.
Procedure I have to monitor/evaluate Customer Service/Focus
Call Audits, (empathy-interruptions) Telephone Courtesy Class- Created an outline of phone/call expectations and criteria? Call documentation
A time when you modified your goal for another depts. benefit- a time when you stuck with your goal and asked another dept to modify its goals
Cooperation for short term long term. We modified our work or goals regarding newborns for Claims- They were emailing us, it wasn't working. They asked if we could use Newborn spreadsheet shared and only be in it after 1:00. Fraud- Met with Erick to discuss a plan to try to identify some of these fraudulent cases. HS just wanted to email me every time they thought someone was fraudulent. But there are rules we have to follow for each state and exchange. He suggested I reach out to HS to see if they can provide us with a list each month of inpatient stays that were outside of our service area. Worked with Justin Montoya developed a monthly list of inpatient stay non par providers.
A time when I received recognition or reward for my expertise or efforts
Darlene, my manager was in Boise, she stopped her and wanted to tell her how much she enjoyed working with me, my excellent customer service and how much she valued me as a coworker. I feel the same way about her. I live the values
Tell me about a recent project you worked on where you were confronted with many distractions
Dedicate or block out time in my calendar. Example would be when I have to do 45-90 day reviews or performance reviews. Also any testing or review that I may need to assist with that requires small attention to detail such as the individual sales brochures and materials, the application review.
There has got to be a better way- or Inefficiency
Direct enrollment process. Application in iStore then downloads to Onbase and then PSE. During this process I noticed that the only thing that carried over from onbase to PSE from the application was the members name, address and dob. But the rep had to go through and fill out the phone number, SS#, agent name, marital status, middle initial, Plan selection. There were multiple opportunities for reps to make errors because it was so manual. I went to Mary and I explained this process to her. This is why it takes so long for us to process an application and why we have so many errors. We entered a help desk and met with the PSE team on this. PSE not updated in 10 years.
What does leveraging diversity mean to you, how have you applied the concept in the workplace
Diversity means differences. I think creating a work environment that respects and includes differences, recognizing the unique contributions, strengths, or gifts that individuals with many types of differences can make and in turn that equals someone reaching their potential, engagement, productivity. I need to know my team, and to do that I conduct one on ones, taking the time to get to know your staff. Increasing those conversation occurring between the team leader and direct reports to learn their Interests, strengths, weaknesses. Create an inclusive environment by encouraging the team to share their thoughts, perspectives and ideas. Example- my team naturally takes on different roles, some people take on the teaching role, and others take on a more analytical role. I have utilized this with new employees and seating arrangements for training purposes.
What did you do to get them back on track
Document 95% of our calls or better. First I need to make sure that I communicated the goal, I wasn't sure if they knew that we were striving to meet this and then communicate why this is so important. Also identify why we have not been meeting the goal. Competition/Pizza Party. But now they see the value in documenting all of their calls and also because there is this expectation. I also created casual coupon competition for most apps processed and most phone calls taken during open enrollment, this also brings the temps in as well which is fun and makes them feel part of our team.
When you helped a group understand a change was necessary
Documenting Eligibility-Taking payments on termed accounts. Call Audits I implemented Call Handling- Courtesy Class. Documentation.
Describe a time you used different approaches to gain cooperation of many diverse people in order to succeed
During OE Kyla and Keely seating arrangement due to 27 temps. Keeley was not pleased at first they became friends.
Someone that was a low performer but is now a high performer
Erin as the trainer. Started as a temp- Hired as a biller. She wasn't necessarily low performer but I would say she was just under the radar a bit. She is quiet and somewhat shy and not always the one that wants to speak up but she has a lot of knowledge.
A time when I had to inspire or motivate others to take action and reach goals
Erin asking for interview feedback. Took this as an opportunity to motivate her and inspire her for maybe the next time she applied for a position. First I looked at the things she did well to instill confidence that she could be a successful interviewee. It was clear that she had prepared and I commended her for that as she was prepared with her examples about her skill set. Then in the most positive way, I wanted to give her the feedback that she could work on. I reviewed eye contact, professionalism, and personability. She really came prepared with the skills of the job but that if she could come across with more of her character and values I think that would be successful. The purpose of motivation is to give someone hope that they are so close that they only have a small increment left to go to win the day. A few months later, the trainer position came open, she applied and nailed the interview with confidence, great examples and letting her personality come across in the interview. She seemed very comfortable and confident.
A time I was Under Pressure-to Take Actions
Good hiring decision- Typically for whatever reason it seems like we interview approx. three people. Pressured to hire out of that pool and I was sorry I did. Sarah good hire. Contrast Bad Decision- hiring decision due to pressure Catherine.
When I cooperated with someone outside of my team that benefited both teams
Health Services Fraud. Aubree during maternity leave. She came to my stand up every day and relayed info to CA.
Asked a lot of questions from others
Hedis-Healthcare Effectiveness data and Information Set. I have been involved the last few years and tasked with filling out our section for E & B for group and individual. Steps I took. Interview session.
A performance review that I conducted- Overcome Obstacles
I had a new employee that seemed to struggle a bit in the beginning with the training, but her CS was excellent. Prior to her performance review she had some errors and we met to discuss and she also met with her trainer. What I found in talking to her and observing her as she was being trained is that her learning style was really hands on learning and repetition. I figured out she just needed repetition. When we did her performance review she had made great improvements really in all areas and she was extremely pleased I think as well. After, I really saw her confidence increase and her engagement in the team and her work. And she is amazing.
Opportunities for Reps Development/ How have I identified the behaviors, knowledge and skills a rep need to achieve their goals
I had a new employee that seemed to struggle a bit in the beginning with the training, but her CS was excellent. Prior to her performance review she had some errors and we met to discuss and she also met with her trainer. What I found in talking to her and observing her as she was being trained is that her learning style was really hands on learning and repetition. I figured out she just needed repetition. When we did her performance review she had made great improvements really in all areas and she was extremely pleased I think as well. After, I really saw her confidence increase and her engagement in the team and her work. And she is amazing.
What types of info have you used for your career search and how have you used the info
I have looked for feedback from my coworkers as to what they feel my strengths are as well as what I feel my strengths are and used that in matching these strengths and skill set to other job opportunities within this company that I have interest in. An Example of this feedback was the form with all of the words. I had many repeat words from several people, Listener, approachable, knowledgeable, communicator, problem solver, good judgement, and committed. I try to look for opportunities where my strengths would be highlighted and appreciated.
Analyze numbers
I have to review projections for our growth. From this determine what growth positons will be needed. Review current data for applications, phone calls, payments. Metrics- Percentage of calls logged. Monthly stats, year over year phone stats, policy stats. Tableau. Rescissions- We have to provide reporting for OR. Track all states. Marshall's cash deposit, balance the till, know the overhead costs, labor costs, all suppliers.
Tell me about a situation when you had the opportunity it increase or expand your company's business through initiating or developing new ventures.
I love being the driving force or having an influence on our increased membership and the success of this dept. Building those relationships in the community with our outside agents and making sure we are known for being easy to work with will increase our enrollment. Our improved CS will and has increased our enrollment. Call audits, courtesy class, documenting calls, educating my team on the importance of the phone queue, has all contributed to this team's success and increased enrollment and retaining the customers we have.
Techniques I have used to reduce effect of change
I really learned this technique from being the training coordinator in CS and I have carried this through to my current role. When a change is on the horizon whether it be state or federally mandated or a PS change, I communicate in a very positive way, using up beat positive tone, and then I explain the positive impact the change is going to have on our team. Example- WA dependents 26 end of the year. Positive spin trying to do this for all states.
At time when you obtained input from a customer or supplier in order to determine if a partnership was viable. What information did I seek?
I review the Complaint Data each month. I look for trends in that Data and based on that I may have to reach out to another Dept to see if they are able to assist. Bills did not go out as an example.
How do you leverage diversity
I think that first you need to know you team, and to do that I conduct one on ones, taking the time to get to know your staff. Increasing those conversation occurring between the team leader and direct reports to learn their Interests, strengths, weaknesses. Create an inclusive environment by encouraging the team to share their thoughts, perspectives and ideas. This is going to contribute to the team goal and employee satisfaction and engagement. Example- my team naturally takes on different roles, some people take on the teaching role, and others take on a more analytical role. I have utilized this with new employees and seating arrangements for training purposes.
What have I done to make this team successful
I think the main thing that I have done was make them aware of the goal and how important it was. I explained how the work that they do can have a direct positive impact on our line of business. From their excellent customer service and going above and beyond to assist members, we are working at retaining our customers. I think just making them aware of the fact that we want to give the member ever reason to stay with us and we do not want to give them a reason to leave. I think once they realized the importance of their work and how it contributed to the company, they wanted to succeed, they wanted to contribute and they were more engaged in their work and eager to see those outcomes. Documenting in Facets, educating, customer service teaching, call escalation handling. This has increased our business.
What info should I share with the team? What have I done to ensure the team clearly understood the goal?
I think they need to know the purpose of the goal and how it connects to the big picture. I also want to get their feedback and ideas. They might have some insightful information regarding the specific goal or project from past experience. It should be a shared vision, not my vision. Example would be the engagement survey. We share those results with them and then meet with them to hear their ideas of how to identify solutions that work for both the team and the company.
Describe a time I wished I had been more collaborative-
I think when we collaborate on projects there is always an opportunity afterward to look back on what went well and the pain points. Many times these points that we identify during this process could have improved with better collaboration. NOCs lots of testing, sometimes I didn't have time, strict deadline. I was new and thinking back I could have reached out for assistance on this.
What is the most effective way to evaluate your internal/external customer service
Listening to calls. Implemented Call Audits, what the calls were like, Courtesy Class, Call Audit Criteria. Our CS increased.
How do I decide Objectives/ performance goals
Involve direct reports- Development plan, ask what interest them, By doing one on ones, what are their strengths or gifts, what do they feel their weakness are, What would they like to gain and how does it affect their work. Example- Lock box process of reviewing the check images, which account it should get posted to, totaling everything- We had a desk top procedure that was so lacking. There are many steps. One of the things I noticed about this employee is that she was very detailed oriented, she loved math problems and puzzles and she loved everything to do with lock box. After discussion it was decided to have her create a detailed desktop procedure on lock box. If I can help them to grow in whatever aspect of work life they are interested in, then I contribute to higher job satisfaction and employee engagement.
A time I over promised
Jeff Melville- he had a member that cancelled just the subscriber from policy but wanted to leave the spouse. Exchange only sent us a hics case not a term file for the sub and a new file and APTC for the spouse. We were not able to resolve it without the file.
An example of when you fostered a positive work relationship
Kyla and Keely
Stayed with a plan until achieved Goal- Worked hard to complete a project
Redesign of our Bills
Mistake I made
Reinstated someone I shouldn't have. EMS each file that comes in has a policy ID. We should be looking at that. The subsequent file may have that policy ID or it may be a policy ID that came before. We received a term on that policy ID and then I reinstated it which I shouldn't have. The exchange turned around and sent us another term. We had to call the member
What have I done to promote collaboration and cooperation that supported the overall objectives of a partnership
Sales Debrief- meeting prior to OE- I wanted to make sure the sales team knew they can reach out to me and that we can have a partnership and open dialog in order to resolve issues. The objective is - increase business and retain the business we have through our partnerships either in OE or SEP. We meet each year before OE and talk about a plan of action. Then we meet after OE to debrief about what went well and what didn't. Working within our policies for exceptions and downstream impacts when we do make exceptions like claims. Retro Term. We had some exchange agents that did not get added to the EMS file so no commission.
Substandard performance
Sally app errors. I met with her, reviewed them together. Trainer and I looked to identify patters so that we can restructure the training to meet the gaps. I had the trainer sit down with her and watch her process to identify gaps which we did. She was rushing through some. Looking at small details. Had her go through the app from top to bottom rather than jump around.
Employees needing direction- how have I encouraged them to act without my direction.
Some employees need more direction than others, I try to set an example. my actions will set the standard. Involve them in goal setting. Share the vision with them. Let them also research and and supply feedback on important decisions. Encourage them to take ownership. example would be updating exchange mailing addresses.
How have I removed obstacles for my team
Sometimes I will work individually with people to identify less essential tasks that can be re-delegated. Erin in charge of P&P's which she excels at. She loves to help and will get distracted from the project. Erin P & P project- removing meetings, giving her project time, advising the team to come to me or others with questions while Erin is working on this. Meet with her weekly and stay in communication with her to make sure if she is having issues, we can tackle them early.
How did I involve other team members in decisions and actions
Symbeo- automates and digitizes our checks. We get an image of each check and coupon if it is submitted. We then have a spreadsheet we compare these against to make sure all payments are applied to the correct account. I had two new billers that had just started the week before and we were supposed to be training them on phones. Team Leads opened, counted, grouped thousands of checks in stacks of 50. We then had team members from Enrollment, Group, and Individual- manually scanning these. Then a group of people to review all of the images. Then all of this info up to finance for two weeks.
What customer focused actions have I done to produce positive results
Telephone Courtesy Class. Employees that I have trained in CS have gone on to other careers in the company. I know it is difficult to be short staffed but also a compliment that other depts. want to hire for CS because the training is so good, excellent CS and they are very knowledgeable. Call Audits.
What is the most effective techniques you've used to encourage the team to contribute their talents to the teams' functional goal
The success of any project or goal depends on the contributions of every team member. Encourage ownership- communicate openly so that the team understands as much about the project as I do. Identify preferences. Collaborate, assign personal responsibility for some aspect of the project based on their talents and strengths. Look to the team for suggestions on how to accomplish it. Some team members are naturally assertive while others may be quiet or shy, encourage input from all. Sharing praise for success.
A Job I have had that required high attention to small details
The training coordinator role required high attention to small detail. I really needed to know that CS training manual backwards and forwards so that I made sure I was providing adequate training so that our reps can provide accurate information to our members. If I didn't then that was on me. This is really the same with the job I have now and I enjoy the detail.
A time when you address a problem that would normally be addressed by people at higher levels in the organization or by someone in another area of responsibility
There are complexities and moving parts when it comes to making these decision. Opinions can differ when it comes to who is managing the situation. Sara- example I felt the comment was towing the line between self-expression in the work place and professionalism in the work place due to this I felt that it should have been handled by HR or a discussion that HR took a more active role in. It was left up to me to decide how I was to go about addressing this. I think that is one of my strong suits because I was able to analyze the situation.
How did I improve workflow or process on a task-
This was a POR Reinstatement forms and exchange 30 day complaints.
When I was not effective or did not complete a goal
Touch Points with my team, LEAD, Fit Bit, transition with work from home
A time I was Effective at achieving end results-
Training Boise Coverage Advisors in preparation for OE
What is the best evidence that people trust you?
Trust is something that I have had to earn. I really had to work at earning trust with this team when I first started in individual. They did not know me and I think they were not excited that their previous team lead moved on to a different role, so I really had my work cut out for me. I have to keep depositing the trust into the trust bank. Being open and truthful with them. I did it by listening to them, supporting them, and looking into their question until I had the answer and using my resources to find it. Being human and authentic, and going the extra mile for them. Going to bat for them when necessary. For example when I went to Mary about the enrollment process for direct.
Obstacles
Washington- OR ERIN P & P's redeligate meetings I was not in meetings, there wasn't really a team rep individual in regards to WA to make sure Bills were created, parents inactive on dependent only plan, WA group number. Darci. Reasonable Assurance.
Dissatisfied with my team's level of performance
When I first came down to individual what I was seeing and listening to in the way of customer communication it was a bit disappointing. They had not had any training on CS, or dealing with difficult customers.Telephone Courtesy Class, documentation, 45 second wrap up.
How did I generate a solution with the group
When I go about generating a solution, I consider who the relevant parties are I need to involve, the time sensitivity and who would have the availability to assist with the solution process and the customer experience. The OE Year that all the agents were calling about app status and we couldn't process apps, (Lane County) We conducted a debrief with sales. Their pain point was that agent were calling them complaining that apps were not processed timely. I shared that we couldn't process them because they wouldn't stop calling. We decided after discussion that the sales execs were take on this task for checking on apps for the agents, and also educated the agents, not to call us.
Remove obstacles to a process how did I identify the obstacles
When I identified the obstacle I did this through previous experience. Our training program we had No training program in individual. My Trainer had no experience, created the Facets manual. Had her join me in the Columbia. Tag teamed.
Align Activities/Procedures with organizations change
Working from home- We had to completely revamp our training program and we had 5 new hires right when we started working from home. Also Washington- so many differences.
Cooperate with Other Depts- Partnerships
Working with Audrey on the Annual Agent Trainings.. How would we prefer enrollments, payments, applications where to send, using the istore vs calling to check on status, payment due dates, open enrollment rules and deadlines. I can initiate or schedule meetings with Sales to discuss issues and they have been able to do the same.
A time I took a Risk
assessing our projected growth and deciding whether or not to request an increase for our staff when we don't know yet if we will obtain the growth projections. Temps
A time when you were responsible for improving your work unit's quality of outputs
call audits and CS. Telephone Courtesy Class.
What is the most you've done to obtain information to better understand a customer's needs in order to improve your service- did the information make a difference
call audits help me obtain information to better understand their needs or improve our service. Our customers have grown accustom to our CS and they can rethink their purchase decisions if they choose. It's important for my team to know this and ask ourselves, what sets us apart from other carriers and why do they want to buy from us. I want the individual dept to grow and stay viable and to do that we need to know what our customers care about and of that what can we control. Discussing this with my team so that everyone is working toward the goal of increasing our business by meeting our customer needs.
How do I take advantage of differences of the members of your dept
first I need to know my team, and to do that I conduct one on ones, taking the time to get to know your staff. Increasing those conversation occurring between the team leader and direct reports to learn their Interests, strengths, weaknesses. Create an inclusive environment by encouraging the team to share their thoughts, perspectives and ideas. This is going to contribute to the team goal and employee satisfaction and engagement. Example- my team naturally takes on different roles, some people take on the teaching role, and others take on a more analytical role. I have utilized this with new employees and seating arrangements for training purposes.
You initiated a change to improve but it didn't have intended impact. I tried to improve but wasn't successful
istore has so many issues, I met with PSE team to see if there was another way- they said we could put them in EMS- I met with Mary and Kay to present and then put in on the POR, still not chosen-new enrollment platform. In order for us to grow we have to have a different enrollment process.
How do I clarify duties or roles-Team clearly understood Charter/Goal
l- Visual Board- I created a duty roster- By having them documented and posted it really eliminates any ambiguity? I created a visual duty roster that we rotate each month. The expectations are there for them each day which we also talk about each morning at our stand up as sometimes we may have one area that needs more concentration. (Just in Case) Kyla was stepping outside of the role and also misusing a privilege they have been given, phone queue.
Commitment from internal to support external
partnership- Jeff Melville-Agent Bend-Lost file-went to Jennifer. His feedback to all at PS.