Situation
Mountain West Farm Bureau Insurance (MWFBI) upgraded its primary software structure to the latest Guidewire application, including the PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, ClaimCenter, and Digital modules. Along with Guidewire, they also implemented the OneInc and Smart Communications applications to support the Guidewire imp
Challenge
MWFBI went live on Guidewire on March 30, 2022, one year after they had their first project-kick off meeting. Due to the rapid project schedule, MWFBI needed to quickly develop training content and support materials and connect that content to the Guidewire application for in-application performance support rather than relying on the long lead times required for eLearning and instructor-led training. MWFBI chose the uPerform just-in-time training and support platform based on its ability to quickly create application simulations and work instructions simultaneously and then rapidly deliver that content to end users. In just a few short months, training leads created eight training courses, including assessments, and over 150 integrated support resources to support their Guidewire rollout with uPerform.
- uPerform was utilized for business line training and agent training
- Existing uPerform content was provided by Guidewire and leveraged for customization to MWFBI roles
- uPerform content was connected to Guidewire Cloud to deliver in-application context-sensitive help
- Training administrators tracked content creation and course assessment completion with uPerform
MWFBI has a significant home office support staff and a broadly spread workforce of agents in the individual offices. They needed to train the staff to use the new software application and how to access ongoing support as they continue to interface with the software and onboard new agents. The training was required for all current personal lines processes and system tasks, as well as for future commercial sector end users across all three states.
In addition to the substantial change in their operating software, MWFBI had an accelerated timeline to accomplish the implementation and the training. They had to complete End User Training within the final few weeks of the project as updates to the system were being implemented continuously.
MWFBI also needed a training partner to add resources to their internal training team. GP Strategies was the right fit because of their experience working on Guidewire training projects and their implementation expertise with the uPerform digital adoption platform. Although GP has experience with many digital adoption development tools, their in-depth knowledge of the uPerform platform and the tool’s robust features/functions allowed the training analysis, design, and development phases to be cut down from the traditional 5-6 months to 3-4 months.
uPerform is the ultimate force multiplier for developing, delivering, and maintaining educational content for today’s remote workforce and GP Strategies was the perfect partner to define, document, and deliver training content using uPerform to meet our aggressive project timeline.
Tim Hays, CIO – Mountain West Farm Bureau and 360 Insurance Companies
Solution
GP Strategies added a Training Lead and Training Developer to the MWFBI team to collaborate on a role-based training strategy and detailed training plan. The training plan included Instructor-led Training (ILT) courses, simulations, job aids, and selfpaced eLearning courses. It also included content that would be accessible to support users from inside the Guidewire application. Just-in-time training was an integral part of the training plan due to the number of Guidewire system modules being rolled out under an accelerated timeline. uPerform was used to deliver context-sensitive help inside the application based on thoughtfully selected scenarios determined by the business.
ILT courses were developed for each Guidewire system (Producer Engage, PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, and ClaimCenter). Those courses contained embedded links that allowed learners to navigate to recorded job aids and simulations within uPerform easily.
MWFBI’s LMS was used to deliver training and provide a one-stop-shop where links to simulations and job aids in uPerform could be found.
Solution Highlights
- Training Needs Analysis and Plan
- 21 Instructor-led Courses
- 80 Simulations
- 141 Job Aids
- 8 eLearning Courses
Results
The new Guidewire systems implementation affected all Personal Lines and Commercial Lines employees at MWFBI with a high degree of change in business processes and system tasks, making it the most comprehensive and content diverse program ever delivered at MWFBI. Critical success criteria happened prior to training, where MWFBI implemented increased collaboration and extremely efficient change communications between the business and training team, which ultimately led to more exposure to the system and new business processes.
- Over 570 agent and home employees are currently using the new system
- 16 daily functions and multiple manual processes running on one central automated Guidewire system and one system of record
- Over 250 pieces of learning content are accessible within Guidewire for training in the flow of work
