Author: Peter van Aartrijk
For nearly 20 years, Cindy Hurless held the senior operations roles at a Fortune 500 automotive parts manufacturer, most recently serving as director of global inventory. In 2002, she got a call from Central Insurance Companies’ human resources vice president asking if she’d consider a career change. Cindy, who in 2000 earned recognition as one of the Top 100 Women in the Automotive Industry, not only considered the offer, she took it—and didn’t look back.
“I’ve had a blast transferring the lean operational thinking that’s so prevalent in the manufacturing arena to the insurance business,” explains Cindy, who is now Central’s vice president of customer services. Not long after her move to Central, she was recruited to a high-level corporate-vision task force. “I had an opportunity to help build out the vision our president, Bill Purmort, had to transform the service side of Central’s insurance operation,” she recalls. Key to that vision is a laser-like focus on delivering value using the firm’s most valuable asset: its people.
Cindy points out that technology and efficiency are critical to her company’s—and the industry’s—collective distribution model. “So is having a deep understanding of what constitutes value and who determines it,” she adds.
Over the years, she has contributed to her organization’s technology development using value-stream mapping, which creates a visual representation of the inputs, outputs, queue times and touches involved in various processes. “We look at the existing process and then build what’s called a ‘future-state map,’ which provides the basis for technological and workflow enhancements,” she explains.
Much of the work addresses objectives like speed to market and expense management. “One thing we’re working on right now focuses on how we settle claims,” Cindy explains. “We’re zeroing in on outputs and how they can be delivered more efficiently. Most important, we’re looking at what brings greater value to the consumer. Using value-stream mapping, the creativity abounds.”
Central’s quest for increased efficiencies and value creation aligns with the Agents Council for Technology and its work. “Things like real-time interface, e-signatures, and speed to market are important elements in improving the effectiveness of our distribution channel,” Cindy explains. “But I’m most passionate, perhaps, about making sure the human component remains a big part of the equation.”
She points out that technology and efficiency don’t have to come at the expense of human relationships. “Protecting the human element is, in large part, our collective value proposition,” she notes. “That’s the reason consumers want to deal with local independent agents, and it’s the reason we and others continue to invest in the independent agency channel.”
It’s also what led her to ACT. “The Central Insurance Companies have always been a big advocate of the Big ‘I,’ Best Practices, and Trusted Choice,” she explains. “John White, our IT senior vice president, felt we could further support the industry by becoming active in ACT. We’re passionate about advancing technology to benefit the industry, and we believe that giving back helps us and other carriers ‘raise all boats,’ if you will.”
Since joining ACT, Cindy has taken part in the e-signature and customer journey workgroups and has served on a carrier technology panel. “I’ve met some great agents, business partners and fellow carrier employees, and I’m excited about the key issues we’re addressing,” she explains. “I’m amazed at the body of work that we can access to help us align and refine our strategies to make sure we remain viable over the long haul.”
When she’s not applying cutting-edge thinking and processes to insurance, Cindy—who together with hubby, Mark, are proud parents of six adult children—enjoys golf, tennis, family events and gardening. She recently applied technology to a project where she was planting 1,000 tulip bulbs. “I had this fantastic idea to put an auger on the end of a drill to make the task super, super easy,” she recalls. The results? “Let’s just say it wasn’t terribly efficient. To be honest, it was a classic fail.”
Just like in business, missteps are learning opportunities. In Cindy’s case, she learned that good old-fashioned digging in the dirt still works best. And that’s good, because dirt-digging and the results it delivers are probably what bring gardeners the greatest satisfaction anyway.
Peter van Aartrijk is CEO of Aartrijk, a specialist in insurance industry brand strategy and content marketing. peter@Aartrijk.com