As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations are facing new challenges that demand strategic positioning to gain competitive edge.
This has become necessary because for organizations to be more resilient and successful in the post-covid era, they would be required to adopt and implement game-changing initiatives, using the right tools and information, and setting strategic priorities for improved output and sustainable market dominance.
As governments ease restrictions, business leaders around the world are asking critical questions pertinent to their market leadership and control. Such questions include what is going to happen when the pandemic is finally over? What are the short- and long-term implications of the crisis in their business operations and which is the best way to reposition the company for market growth, leadership, and dominance?
FITC, the world-class innovation-led knowledge and professional services firm providing cutting edge Learning, Advisory and Insight & Innovation services to clients within and outside Nigeria has for years, supported organizations to navigate troubled times.
To ensure theNational Insurance Commission (NAICOM) sustains its leadership and regulatory role in the insurance industry, FITC, during the NAICOM Departmental Retreat, provided tailored, strategy advisory support in revising and rethinking the organization’s strategic initiatives to align with new business realities and expectation.
The2021 strategy retreat: themed “Innovation, Distribution and Effective/Efficient Service Delivery”became necessary given the negative impact of the pandemic on major insurance policies including business disruptions policies, health insurance, and events insurance.
The Departmental Retreat for the eight Directorates of Commission which were delivered virtually was anchored by FITC. The NAICOM Board Retreat came shortly afterwards and was a hybrid event where two of the papers presented (including FITC’s) were delivered virtually.
As an innovation-led knowledge institution, FITC understands that in this accelerated phase of change, conventional strategic thinking has not helped organisations plan for the next “new normal.” Instead, the best answers have come from a hybrid approach: one that combines traditional business strategy with the latest thinking from behavioural sciences and innovation theories.
Besides, FITC has continued to support institutions within the financial services sector and other sectors of the economy to develop their plans for what comes next, providing end-to-end strategy advisory solutions.
According to the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, “the strategy retreat reflected the transformational aspiration of the Management of the Commission and the need to proactively respond to the evolving socio-economic and cultural milieu, which has reinforced the need to refocus our collective efforts towards the attainment of the Commission’s mandate” He said.
Speaking further on the retreat, Mr. Thomas shared that the revisiting of the Commission’s strategy is aimed at honing in on how the Commission intends to overcome some of the challenges being faced in the country that have negatively impacted on the activities and initiatives of the Commission such as the COVID 19 pandemic, the End SARS protests, the rise in kidnappings, armed banditry, communal tensions and conflicts, hence shaping how the industry conducts its business going forward, and the corresponding regulatory responses.
‘’With every crisis comes opportunities for competitive innovation and differentiation. This retreat and strategic rethink provides the catalyst for accelerating operational transformation, developing new business models, and connecting more closely with customers’’ Thomas noted.
The Commissioner further reiterated that the strategic plans of the commission are anchored on effective and efficient service delivery, safe, sound, and stable insurance sector, adequate protection of policyholders and public interest, trust, and confidence in the insurance sector as well as an innovative and developed insurance market. “This retreat affords the Commission the opportunity, with the help of FITC, the foremost consulting and advisory firm, to plan how the organization intends to overcome these challenges”. Thomas noted.
Speaking at the Board Retreat, Chizor Malize, MD/CEO FITC, noted that organizational strategy must be resilient to external shocks and adaptable to changing circumstances. For her, an agile strategic planning supported with agile systems, processes, and structures is now more important than ever.
Malize listed key trends reshaping the insurance industry in Nigeria that should be critical considerations for the insurance institutions in planning their strategy beyond 2021. The key trends dominating the insurance industry include the rise of Insurtech, hybrid distribution channels, compliance, and regulatory reforms as well as talent and demographic shifts.
Also in the list are remote working, mergers, and acquisitions, accelerated technology application, digital innovation and digitization, skills and talent shifts, innovative product development, changing customer preferences, virtual customer engagement, artificial intelligence, automation for claims processing as well as management.
These trends, Malize added, will not only reshape the insurance industry but determine industry leaders going forward.
She added that the COVID pandemic hasramped up the urgency of new competitive strategic imperatives and FITC has supported several financial and other institutions in either revising their strategic imperatives, developing these initiatives, charting out implementation road map and supporting execution.“A lot has changed in the Insurance sector, the pandemic has impacted travel insurance for instance, due to restrictions in movement especially for customers with additional covers against travel disruptions and in credit insurance as default rates rise. Besides, profitability of insurers could decline due to fall in yields on fixed income instruments which constitute the bulk of insurers’ income” Malize noted.
For her, the business landscape has changed significantly, and will keep changing rapidly. “Moving from resilience to reinvention will help organisations survive through this era, and this starts first with revisiting their corporate strategy. This is the time to build organisational bridges with strategic partners and external allies for effective strategy crafting and execution” She said.
FITC is a world-class innovation-led knowledge and professional services firm providing cutting edge Learning, Advisory and Research Services to clients in the Financial Services and other sectors, within and outside Nigeria.
Established in 1981 as a non-profit organisation limited by guarantee to provide capacity building and serve as a knowledge hub for the Nigerian Financial Services Sector. FITC is owned by the Bankers Committee, i.e., CBN, NDIC, and all deposit money banks in Nigeria.
For four decades, FITC has been at the forefront of innovative knowledge offerings designed for an array of C-suite executives, directors of banks and other financial institutions. Leveraging on international Faculty and partnership, FITC has led the knowledge space in delivering high valued capacity building solutions for Board Directors and C-suites. FITC is a recipient of the International Federation of Training & Development Organisations (IFTDO) ‘Change Agent in Learning and Development in Africa’ Award, 2020 Business Excellence Award (The BIZZ Award), 2020 Strategy Innovation & Change Award, The International Business Excellence (IBX) Award, among others.
