CareerHelp: Coming to the aid of people in need

“When COVID-19 exploded in spring 2020, we saw unemployment rates rise dramatically. As insurance professionals, this presented a major opportunity to help our partners – and to come to the aid of their end-customers. We wanted to do more than just handle claims”, says Sofia Kwarnmark, Head of Operations for AXA Partners in Sweden.

Building on an existing customer experience enhancement collaboration with the Swedish Public Employment Agency, which uses blockchain technology to automate claim management, AXA Partners in Sweden aimed to go even further.

“We reached out to the Swedish Public Employment Agency and it turned out they had a lot of good online content. In addition to job ads, they had also published inspirational videos and tips about how to improve one’s chances of getting a job. AXA Partners, on the other hand, had end-customers in need of this support. We recognized a win-win-win in extending the scope of our collaboration”, explains Sofia.

The idea evolved into a newsletter to be shared with end-customers that had filed an unemployment claim. The digital team at AXA Partners worked on a technical solution and developed a tool to manage email distribution. Now, when an end-customer submits an unemployment claim, this will generate a newsletter curated by AXA Partners and including information such as direct links to job-search-related topics. These tips include how to build a CV, how to use social networks to find a job as well as links to informative webinars.

“The ideas of helping people developed even further. As financial woes can cause stress, anxiety and even depression, we wanted to provide easy access to someone who can help. Someone they can talk to. We contacted the digital mental health care provider Mindler about setting up a similar offering to the one we have with the Swedish Public Employment Agency. And we were delighted to be able to enrich the newsletter with Mindler’s services” continues Sofia.

So far, the newsletter has been highly appreciated by our customers. According to a follow-up survey, more than 80 percent found the content very helpful. On the heels of this first successful launch, the “career help” initiative will go live in Norway, Finland and Denmark very soon, taking us one step further on our “payer to partner” journey.

“I feel grateful when I read the feedback and see that we have truly helped people in challenging circumstances. Not only financially by paying claims, but also by making people aware of these readily available, helpful and affordable services” concludes Sofia Kwarnmark.