|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
BUILDING A STRONGER BUSINESS
People
Our strategic ambition is to be the ‘place to work’ in the industry,
such that Amlin will continue to be able to recruit and retain an
excellent workforce. This in turn will enhance our ability to
service our brokers and insureds and generate income and
shareholder value. In 2003 we have taken many steps to help
maximise the potential of our people, to motivate staff in ways
that are more closely aligned with shareholder interests and to
promote continuity and succession.
Now in its third year, Amlin Academy provides employees with
relevant and high quality training to help enhance their potential
and provide greater opportunities for career progression. In 2003
we launched a management development programme, developed
in conjunction with the Roffey Park Institute. The course had two
intakes during the year, with a total of 24 middle managers from
across the Group participating. Other initiatives included senior
executive coaching, a bespoke leadership course for senior
managers, the introduction of an on-line 360° feedback tool
and on-line anti money-laundering training.
We are committed to developing market leading employment
policies and practices and 2003 initiative included the
introduction of a new flexible benefits and loyalty scheme,
provision of work/life balance options and increased levels
of employee communication.
Ensuring we develop a successful and sustainable business
requires planning to help ensure that we maintain the quality of
our intellectual capital in the long term. In 2003 we reviewed the
internal succession potential of our senior people, identifying
career development needs of future top team players. In 2004 we
intend to build on this work so that we maximise the prospects of
seamless succession as and when key people leave or retire.
In 2003 we continued to experience decreasing staff turnover
across the Group (down 6% points on 2002). Continuity among
underwriters is vital to building and maintaining long term client
relationships and here again, turnover was less than 1%.
Notable appointments were made this year in our aviation, auto
and bloodstock classes as well as in investment management,
claims, operations and communications.
Back to top
Risk analysis
Risk management is a key ingredient of our appeal to insureds and
shareholders in sustaining continuity. Successful risk management
combines sound systems of control, quality management
information and an organisational culture that embraces the need
for risk management and a thirst for understanding the risks.
In each of these we have made significant progress so that our
risk management framework can properly encourage positive
entrepreneurial behaviour within clearly defined boundaries.
We are now in a position to take our risk management framework
to the next level in two areas. First, our Dynamic Financial Analysis
tool, which we have built and refined over the past three years,
will enable us to stress test business planning assumptions and
correlations of risk in a manner that has not previously been possible.
Second, in 2004 we are rolling out our data warehouse
development that will provide underwriters and management with
faster and more in-depth analysis of risk and underwriting accounts.
Process improvement
Our strategic ambition to be the ‘place to go’ as the first choice
for leading risks requires high standards of dependability in
the delivery of best practice service to brokers and insureds.
In addition to our people, we require robust and efficient
systems that are capable of accommodating the scale growth
we anticipate from one peak of the cycle to the next.
Amlin is at the forefront of driving change in the London
insurance market and has continued to invest in a number of
areas aimed at increasing the Company’s leadership potential
in client service as well as operating in a more cost effective and
efficient manner. The nature of the subscription market in which
Amlin operates for over 80% of its business, means that to
extract the most benefit from some of this investment, Amlin
is dependent on others also raising their standards.
In addition to our work with Kinnect, Amlin is engaged with some
of its key brokers on process improvement initiatives in the policy
production and claims areas. We are committed to providing contract
certainty for insureds at the earliest opportunity and have set
ourselves stretching internal targets against which we will benchmark
our performance. In other areas, from credit control to claims
settlement, we aim to ensure that our operational performance
matches our strong technical capability. We are at an advanced stage
of developing balanced scorecards for each part of our operations
that enable us to more productively drive operational improvement.
Our data warehouse development, referred to above, will also vastly
improve Group-wide reporting and allow the removal of process
components that add no value but have to date been necessary.
Business continuity
With the heightened risk of terrorist activity in the UK, Amlin
has reassessed and strengthened its business continuity plans.
Our revised plans are consistent with the Business Continuity
Initiatives Standard (PAS 56).
|
|
|
|
|
|
