Approximately 150 managers from the entire UNIQA
family participated in the ManagerCircle in 2010 in
Vienna. At this event, they were brought up-to-date
on the current Group strategy and corporate plans
by the Group Management Board.
TalentManagement for high-potential personnel
One key focus of personnel development in 2010 was the Talent-Management programme started in the previous year since UNIQA is striving to fill the majority of the many management positions of the rapidly growing Group from within its own ranks. The DevelopmentCenter is available for domestic and foreign talent who undergo a qualified observation process in which they can demonstrate their leadership potential. Individual development plans are created for the identified talent to convert their potential into genuine expertise and skills over the short and medium-term. In Austria, 23 employees took part in a DevelopmentCenter in 2010, 16 of whom qualified for their next management levels.
Parallel to the development of managerial talent, UNIQA also seeks to promote its specialists. This satisfies the requirements for focused knowledge management in order to maintain qualified employees for UNIQA over the long term.
UNIQA’s performance-based reimbursement system – looking for entrepreneurial thinking
With UNIQA’s performance-based reimbursement system, employees are given the opportunity to participate in the economic success of the company. Since it was introduced in 2002, the programme has been consistently expanded, and nearly 12% of Austrian managerial employees and in-house staff participated in it in 2010. On the basis of strategic corporate goals, departmental and special goals are identified, the target values are developed for the business plan, and these form the basis of the performance-based reimbursement system. As an international group, UNIQA quickly expanded this model to countries outside of the home market after it was introduced in Austria. Today, the UNIQA performance-based reimbursement system is used in nearly every country in which UNIQA is represented.
Special features for in-house and field sales staff
In 2010, employee discussions were again held for all in-house staff throughout the entire Group. This instrument was implemented for salaried field sales staff last year for the fourth time and for the BrokerService for the second time with great success. The focus of the manager training for the salaried field sales staff in 2010 was placed on strengthening the function of the sales managers and their duties. The individual development plans introduced in 2007 for managers in new positions were continued in 2010.
With a new electronic document management system (DMS), UNIQA made it easier to process customer questions for employees and partners in 2010. For the field staff, many tasks were made substantially easier using point-of-sale systems that automatically relay requests at the press of a button. Partners such as automotive repair shops can now communicate quickly with UNIQA without red tape using their own online platforms. In 2010, approximately 100,000 questions between workshops, UNIQA and experts were efficiently processed online in this manner. With this electronic system, Group companies abroad and their service providers can be easily included and put to use such as the cross-border service (CBS) of the Slovakian service company in Nitra that helps Austrian UNIQA employees with specific services. This includes preparing electronic mail for the regional and central headquarters.
Extensive continuing education opportunities for all UNIQA employees in Austria have been offered since 2010 on a new e-learning platform. The service includes 40 learning modules on courses such as liability and vehicles, legal guidelines, the UNIQA VitalClub or the Customer Management System U.KMS. Access to this tool is available to all employees of the Group both online and offline, that is, also outside of the UNIQA network.
UNIQA ExclusiveSales – in tune with the times
ExclusiveSales traditionally plays a very important role in the support of UNIQA customers. This is enabled by on-going, flexible adaptation to the changing requirements of customers and markets. The continual improvement of service quality offered by the total customer strategy has increased the number of employees and partners in 2010 to over 3,000. The aim is to build up decentralised service locations that offer comprehensive expertise locally to further reinforce the exclusivity of UNIQA agency partners and the presence of the UNIQA brand. With its needs-oriented comprehensive support of customers, UNIQA employees are increasing their presence as customer and relationship managers.
A series of informational and educational options ensure that managers and employees in field service and at the UNIQA GeneralAgencies are always kept up-to-date about the most recent developments, are supplied with professional expertise and maintain a high level of motivation. In implementing the main strategic goals of the Group, the focus in the year 2010 lay on the area of “high-yield growth”. A particular emphasis was placed on the issues of “productivity”, “sales expansion” and “total customers”.
In ManagementDevelopmentForums, seminars were again offered in 2010 on a wide range of themes. The emphasis was on continued improvement of managerial skills in the areas of control and effectiveness.
