Company: John Hancock Financial Services, Boston, MA
Company Description: John Hancock's core retail products in the U.S. focus on providing financial solutions at every stage of our clients' lives. Our product suite includes life insurance, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, and annuities. We distribute our products primarily through licensed financial advisors, and through John Hancock Financial Network, a national network of independent firms. Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Training Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Training for the Future

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July 2013 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

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The John Hancock Shared Services Training & Development team collaborates with onshore and offshore business partners to develop training solutions that facilitate our business partners’ strategies in an efficient and effective manner. In 2014, our team was instrumental in the Shared Services Operations’ success by providing customer-centric training solutions emphasizing the customers’ needs which improved customer satisfaction while delivering a return for the business unit.

In 2014 the Shared Services Training team had the opportunity to partner on some unique and challenging projects that leveraged our expertise and structure, and further developed the suite of support we provide to the Shared Services Operations and Call Center teams.

The first opportunity surfaced when the Signator Operations group transitioned to the Portsmouth, NH site in Q3. This resulted in staff relocation as well as substantial on-site staffing needs. Our team demonstrated an undeniable commitment to making this effort a success. Using our structure and process we delivered solid project and business planning. A close collaboration model meant we were part of all phases of planning with business partners to determine where vacancies would exist and worked with current staff to document procedures that would translate to new associates at the Portsmouth site. An example of this is the mailroom and check deposit desk conversion. In order to ensure a smooth transition that would prevent gaps in time sensitive tasks, resources from the Training & Development team were deployed. The team created and managed a comprehensive project plan to ensure service levels remained constant and eliminated the risk of financial impact to the organization. The efforts of our team allowed for the business to continue operations without disruption to the end customer and provided critical procedural documentation which was used in new hire training and on the job training.

We also supported this endeavor by creating a dynamic new employee Onboarding Program, which ultimately facilitates the employee’s speed to production. This training plan includes an orientation session which provides information on the new location and its management team and infrastructure. We introduced best-in-class customer service training for the Signator call center, which is a group that had not previously received soft skills training. We work with this group on an on-going basis to ensure their training and development needs are met.

Another noteworthy example was the establishment of a second disaster recovery site in the Philippines. Our first step was to audit training material for gaps and to understand process complexity, which assisted us with recommending resource requirements. Our team was fully engaged in all aspects of the process including attendance at business unit and planning meetings. Prior to implementation, we facilitated trainer “bootcamp” sessions for business unit subject matter experts.

This ensured that the onsite facilitators were equipped to not only facilitate training but also to manage any situation that could affect the outcome of an event. During implementation we provided logistical support and oversight for classes being conducted offshore. Both onshore and offshore teams were well prepared due to this planning and partnership with the business units.

The final example was during Q3 of 2014 when the Life Insurance Call Center and its training program were insourced from an external provider. Our team observed their current training methods and conducted focus groups to discover successes and areas for development. Through these sessions it was evident that the program lacked hands on training and use of resources. Our team created new training materials and knowledge management tools, which improved new employee speed to productivity and call quality targets; ultimately creating a better customer experience. The team delivered 11 iterations of the program, and CSRs are taking more calls at higher quality scores than projected.

John R. Hatch

John R. Hatch is Vice President of John Hancock Signature Services, the mutual fund transfer agent at John Hancock, and Vice President of Enterprise Operations where he oversees operations, communications, and product support for U.S. Retail Annuities and Fixed Product along with Shared Services and Administration. Mr. Hatch is also responsible for IS for JH Investments and Annuities.

Prior to joining John Hancock, Mr. Hatch was Vice President of Annuity Operations at Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company and oversaw customer service and administration for all distribution channels. He was also principal consultant in the Investment Management and Securities Operations area at Price Waterhouse, Director of Corporate Treasury at Liberty Securities Corporation, and Control Manager at Colonial Investors Service Center.

In 2008, Mr. Hatch was selected by the American Business Awards as Best Executive - Financial Services.
Mr. Hatch holds his Series 6, 26 NASD licenses, as well as a degree in Marketing from Salem State College.

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