HR in the Fast Lane at Progressive Insurance

About Progressive Fourth largest writer of private

passenger auto insurance in the US Approximately 20,000 employees First auto insurer to sell insurance via

the Internet Progressive leads the industry with

innovative Internet offerings

Presentation Overview

Where We Are How We Got Here Where We’re Headed Questions and Answers

Where We Are

Current Environment Centralized call centers, field claims

offices Applications accessed via LAN, WAN,

and dial-up connections Robust corporate intranet Centralized HR call support in the HR

Service Center (HRSC) In production with PeopleSoft HRMS

7.51

HR Self Service at Progressive

HR self service intranet site includes: Printable HR forms Links to HR content sites

(compensation, travel services, policy manual)

Transactional applications Life event and manager checklists

Most transactions must be done through self service

Manager Self Service Applications Job Requisitions Manage

Candidates/New Hire Employee Requests Terminate

Employees Employee Bonuses Salary/Job Changes Group Increases

Performance Reviews

Supervisor Changes Training Registration Skills Tracking Drill Down Delegation Manager Checklists

Manager Self Service Site

Terminate Employment

Terminate Employment

Termination Checklist

Employee Self Service Applications

Job Opportunity List Transfer Requests Work Experience Education and

Background Internal Resume Employment

Application Online Paycheck

Personal Data/ Emergency Contact

Federal W4 Direct Deposit New Hire Orientation Benefits Enrollment Training Registration Life Event Changes

Job Opportunity Listing

Apply for Jobs

Internal Resume

Self Service Usage

Average Sessions Per Month Average Sessions Per Day

90,024 2,972Busiest Day/Number of Sessions Busiest Day of Week/% Volume

12/31/2001/9,358 Tuesday/25%Average Sessions Weekday/Weekend Pct Sessions Weekday/Weekend

3,944/1,011 79%/21%Average Rows Keyed Per Month Average Rows Keyed Per Day

30,401 1,014

How We Got Here

HR Strategic Direction

Support growth Simplify HR processes Y2k compliance Intranet based self service

Reduce transaction costs Reduce calls to HRSC Eliminate paper

Progressive HR Systems Mainframe based self service

Benefits Enrollment & Training Registration - Early 1990’s

Time entry - 1996 Lotus Notes based salary changes -

1996 HRSC created in 1996 Converted from legacy HR/Payroll

system to PeopleSoft HRMS in 1998

Business Case for Self Service

Identified the following benefits: Reduction in mainframe support costs Reduction in advertising expense,

agency fees Reduction in mailing costs,

overpayments Reduction in cycle time Savings in recruiter, HRSC, training

administrator, manager, and employee time

Business Case for Self Service

Identified the following costs: Hardware Software Licensing Programming Ongoing support

Application Definition Researched HR best practices Consulted internally with all areas of HR Identified 40 applications and analyzed

importance and complexity Started small to minimize risk and cost Also reviewed business needs and ROI

to determine deployment schedule

Team Structure

Started with small dedicated project team Functional project manager and I/T

technical manager Two functional and three technical

resources Increased size of team in 2000 Multiple areas participate in production Used consulting when appropriate

Tools Selection

Factors considered: Company standards Ongoing support Upgrades Cost

Development tools include HTML, PeopleTools Web Client and Message Agent and Microsoft Active Server Pages

Development Challenges

Newness of technology made estimating work difficult

Network performance/bandwidth Applications must work with various

hardware and software Display resolution settings

Development Strategy Iterative development process most

effective Creation of prototypes and usability

testing critical Considered the following for all

changes: Usability Performance Cost/benefit of modifications

Usability Testing Critical step in designing applications

for casual users Users walk through scenarios and

observers record/analyze their experiences

Consistent test results Site organization very important Users often ignore instructions Simple labeling most effective

Deployment Strategy Rollout organization in phases

Begin with pilots Minimize performance hit Pull back if necessary

Support multiple processes Allow infrastructure to catch up Minimize negative impact

HR role in communication/training

Rollout Schedule April, 1999 - Initial ESS and MSS April, 1999 - PeopleSoft upgrade April, 2000 - Internal Recruiting September, 2000 - External Recruiting, New

Hire and Terminations November, 2000 - New Hire Benefits, Annual

Enrollment and Training Registration September, 2001 - On Line Pay Advices December, 2001 - Group Salary Increases

Return on Investment

Total projected five year return at net present value is $5.6 million

Initial applications projected to reduce transactions costs from $14.23 to $6.23

Changes in hire process are expected to yield savings of $75 per hire

Processors in the HRSC reduced by 65% despite 60% growth in headcount

Keys to Success Management support Minimizing development costs Flexibility, iterative development

process and usability testing Building the necessary

infrastructure Streamlining processes

Ongoing Challenges

Measurement of results User reactions are often subjective New technology is always more

attractive Continued support of new processes Changes in functionality visible to

entire organization

Where We’re Headed

Upgrade Conducted comprehensive functional

fit/gap analysis for self service applications in 2001

Decision was made to wait for next release

Functional fit/gap results: Much of ESS functionality is delivered Most of MSS functionality is not delivered Recruiting functionality is increased but

business processes are significantly different

Upgrade Strategy Committed to use delivered self-service

where possible I/T currently estimating hours to reapply

customizations Effort will be significant Degree of fit determines upgrade

approach Where fit is high, apply customizations to

base pages Where fit is low, maintain custom pages

Key Learnings HRMS software changes impact self-

service regardless of tool Self service processes are still new

and not clearly defined Manager functions are more specific

to each company/industry Custom development of self service

may require maintaining customizations

Upcoming Projects PeopleSoft upgrade Intranet based time entry and

management Web Reporting for Managers Personalized content integrated with

transactions Deploy HR self service over the

Internet

Questions and Answers