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Regence - Agent Recognition Best Practice

SQM Group Helped Regence Achieve:

87%
of Employes are Satisified with their Job at Regence.
1st
Consistent first quartile FCR and employee satisfaction performance.

 

$4k
Bonus Awarded For The Annual Service Hero Of The Year Award

 

FCR and Employee Satisfaction Results

The Service Hero program keeps the focus on our customers, and it shows in our results. Our internal employee satisfaction is consistently strong, and 87% of our employees stated they are satisfied with their job. Our call center’s FCR performance has consistently been in the first quartile level when compared to SQM’s FCR benchmarking of 500 leading North American call centers. We have several call centers that have been certified by SQM as a world-class FCR performing call center. The criteria to be certified as a world-class FCR performing call center is your FCR rate must be 80% or greater. Of the 500 call centers SQM measures, only 5% of their clients perform at the world-class FCR standard of 80%.

Agent Recognition - Employee Satisfaction

Company Description

Regence serves more than two million members through Regence BlueShield of Idaho, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah, and Regence BlueShield (select counties in Washington). Each health plan is a non-profit, independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers nationwide experience health care.

Regence

Opportunity Statement

We needed a recognition program to motivate frontline specialists (e.g., agents) to deliver exemplary service. Our Service Hero program is the most successful and longest-running recognition program. It not only recognizes the specialists that provide exemplary service, but it also provides a way to highlight the barriers our members face every day for our most senior executives. We identify calls that exemplify our team members’ high-quality service by removing barriers and helping members navigate health care complexity. The winning calls are heard across the company and are used to make changes that enhance our members’ experience. Our sales executives also leverage them during presentations for new or renewing groups to demonstrate the level of service their employees will receive as a Regence member.

Agent Recognition Best Practice

How our Service Heroes Works

Any call can be nominated to be a winning Service Hero interaction. Often calls are nominated by a leader as they listen to calls and identify a situation where the specialist is truly going above and beyond their job responsibilities. Still, at times peers nominate each other, and a specialist could even nominate themselves. In some cases, the issue is complex and can involve multiple conversations, so the calls are edited to remove PHI and no more than 15 minutes in total length.

The leadership team first reviews the calls in their respective locations to determine which calls will be passed on to the next level review. After vetting within each location, the best nominations are sent to the next level review every quarter.

The second level of review is held face-to-face in one of the service locations. A day is set aside for the session attended by the VP, Director, Managers, a selection of local supervisors, and other guest leaders within the company. This group will listen to as many as 20 calls, discuss and rank each one, and select the top 5-7 calls, which are sent to the next level.

Agent Reconition Nominations

Our four Plan Presidents and other senior executives make the final selection. The calls are distributed in advance of the selection meeting. The senior executives listen to the calls and rank them based on the specialists’ ability to create a truly outstanding experience for our members. They consider tenacity in resolving issues, compassion in difficult situations, and successfully helping members understand complex information, often when members are faced with challenging costs they need to manage. During these calls, the Plan Presidents often debate their logic in who they recommend as winners, which leads to great conversations around what types of experiences our members receive and what is at the root cause of customer challenges. In some situations, that results in executives taking responsibility for driving change. By the end of the session, three quarterly winners are selected.

How We Recognize Our Service Heroes

Each service location celebrates the quarterly winners during an all-employee meeting, and one of the winning calls is played to allow the entire customer service team to hear an example of excellent service to inspire them to be a Service Hero. The winners are recognized in front of peers with an enlarged check personally signed by our CEO for five hundred dollars and a personally engraved gold star statue. All runners-up who make it to the executive level receive a gold star and one hundred dollars. All quarterly winners are highlighted on our intranet site with their inspiring stories. The article includes the recorded call, and every employee in the company is able to hear the call and read the article highlighting the specialist. This engages all departments to work towards enhancing the member experience by resolving the behind-the-scenes issues.

At the year’s end, the twelve quarterly Service Hero winners are flown to Portland for a two-day trip. The first day shows appreciation with a fun activity day, gifts, and dinner. The winners can share their successes and build a stronger comradery with different locations. On the second day, the executive leadership team hosts a luncheon in the executive boardroom, where the winners hear admiration directly from the CEO, VPs, and Plan Presidents. Prior to the annual event, the executive team listens to the twelve quarterly calls again to select the annual Service Hero winner, and it is announced during the luncheon. The annual winner is awarded a prize of four thousand dollars, and their story is showcased on our company intranet site.

SQM Group Call Center Best Practice Awards

SQM Awards Won

World-Class Employee Satisfaction Experience: 2020
Call Center World Class FCR Certification (BlueShield of Washington): 2019
Best Practice - CSR Recognition Program: 2019
Highest Employee Satisfaction Experience for the Call Center Industry: 2019
World-Class Employee Satisfaction Experience: 2019
Call Center World Class FCR Certification (BlueShield of Oregon): 2018
Call Center World Class FCR Certification (BlueShield of Idaho): 2018
World-Class Employee Satisfaction Experience: 2018