CSIO’s New Strategic Plan

We live in a world in which technology changes rapidly and it’s essential to keep up. Thus, in an effort to stay current and deliver results to members and consumers, the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) revealed a new strategic plan at its annual general meeting on May 29 in Toronto. The plan will establish the course for the organization during 2012-14, announced Steve Whitelaw, senior vice president of business solutions for The Dominion and chairman of the CSIO Board of Directors.

“The new strategic plan means a firm commitment from CSIO to enhancing the value it provides to its members,” said Whitelaw. “The plan places a greater emphasis on delivering improved services, solutions and collaborative opportunities that will help members leverage CSIO standards to improve not only their own competitive position, but the competitiveness of the entire broker channel.”

The new strategic plan is intended to allow CSIO to deliver leading-edge standards, provide exceptional membership support and enable CSIO to innovate and create solutions. As part of this new plan, CSIO has reshaped its mission statement, vision and values to better reflect its commitment to members to be a proactive and responsive organization.

Currently, CSIO provides an open forum in which members can work together to develop and enhance existing standards, in addition to seeking ways to improve the competitiveness of the P&C insurance industry. Membership benefits include access to exclusive online CSIO standards and forms; maintenance of CSIOnet, a secure network allowing EDI communications between insurance companies and brokers; access to a comprehensive set of tools, training and expertise designed to help members with standards implementation; participation in the standards development process; and networking opportunities with professionals who are experienced using the latest technological tools.

The new strategic plan was developed following a highly participatory planning process that featured input from numerous stakeholders through focus groups, surveys and industry meetings. The process included a comprehensive assessment of CSIO’s organizational strengths and weaknesses, including where the organization needs to be in the future and how it intends to get there.

Building on discussions with key stakeholders, CSIO’s new plan incorporates the following four strategic pillars:

Strategic Pillar 1:

Improve the efficiencies of the broker channel: Over the next few months, CSIO will survey its members to determine the Top 10 operational efficiency metrics for the delivery of products and services. CSIO plans to align its initiatives around these efficiency metrics, which will help determine which initiatives will make a significant impact on improving the competitiveness of the broker distribution channel.

Strategic Pillar 2:

Deliver leading-edge technology standards and solutions: CSIO was originally created to develop and maintain standard forms for the broker channel. But as the industry evolves, CSIO must look beyond standards to delivering leading-edge technology solutions that will push the industry forward. This is especially true in light of emerging trends such as the use of mobile applications and social networking tools. 

Strategic Pillar 3:

Advance a culture of high performance delivery: CSIO is committed to re-engineering the standards development and change process; in doing so, it will significantly increase the frequency of release dates for its standard updates. This will benefit CSIO members because the need to build workarounds will be reduced and more efficient solutions can be developed directly. This, in turn, will lead to increased productivity for its members.

Strategic Pillar 4:

Strengthen the organizational framework: As an organization focused on finding efficiencies, CSIO understands the importance of reviewing and streamlining its own internal processes in order to bring its standards to the industry effectively. Recently CSIO welcomed a new manager of standards and business process improvements, who will be responsible for analyzing the organization’s processes and workflows and recommend operational improvements so that CSIO can better serve its members.

In addition, CSIO will increase the frequency of communication with its members. New standard releases will encourage members to support the updates and to implement them within their own organizations.

Key Values

Underlying the four strategic goals listed above are key values that motivate everything CSIO does. These values include being collaborative, proactive, responsive and disciplined. With the introduction of this new strategic plan and our key values, CSIO can help focus the actions of the organization as it delivers on its business objectives.

CSIO’s new mission statement is as follows: “We serve brokers and insurers. We deliver leading-edge technology standards and solutions in order to improve the competitiveness of the broker channel for the benefit of all CSIO members.”

CSIO’s new vision statement is as follows: “CSIO is a highly respected organization that delivers leading-edge technology standards and solutions enabling excellent customer experience through the broker channel.”

In the upcoming months, CSIO will be introducing a number of new measures that move beyond the maintenance of standards and forms. CSIO will proactively recognize industry challenges and trends. Members can expect more communication by way of surveys and focus groups; increased support with standards implementation and training; more collaboration to determine best practices; and new initiatives that deliver innovative technologies.

The new strategic plan will roll out over a two-year period. It will take time for the strategic goals to come to life, but CSIO has taken the first step to ensure that the industry is headed in the right direction.

As a member-driven organization, CSIO takes its commitment to developing and improving the services it provides to its members very seriously. By investing in this strategic process, CSIO is building a strong, responsive and collaborative organization committed to improving the competitiveness of the broker distribution channel for the benefit of all CSIO members.