AXA Health is continuously striving to make life better for its colleagues and customers. And that means encouraging its people to have the confidence to explore new ideas and develop new skills. Enterprise Architect, Connor Jackson, is blazing a trail on both counts. As well as completing hundreds of learning Trails, Connor is helping to deliver the IT and business innovations that will accelerate AXA Health’s digital transformation. We talked to Connor about the company’s digital journey and the importance of upskilling and wellbeing in the workplace.
What attracted you to work at AXA Health?
I’ve always been interested in a career in technology and studied computer science at university. By joining the team at AXA Health, I can use my skills to help make people’s lives safer and better, which gives me a great sense of purpose. As an Enterprise Architect, you can sometimes feel disconnected from the impact your work has on customers. But at AXA Health, I know that by delivering new digital technologies and enabling new processes, I am helping to enrich the experience we provide to thousands of members.
What will digitalisation mean for AXA Health and its customers?
Digital technologies will enable us to simplify healthcare journeys and provide more personalised customer services. But there’s a lot we need to do to ensure our digital initiatives are a success - especially when it comes to unifying operational data. For example, we are using Salesforce to bring together sales, claims, payments, and policy administration data on a single platform.
Tell us more about how Salesforce is supporting AXA Health’s digital journey
Salesforce will be at the heart of everything we do for our customers – around 900 colleagues have already used it to conduct 280,000+ live chats, perform 106,000 payment recoveries, and process 360,000+ pre-authorisation requests from Doctor Care Anywhere, an online GP service for AXA Health members. But this is just the beginning. I am working with stakeholders from across the business to identify how we can tap into other Salesforce capabilities to help them achieve their goals and deliver better outcomes for our members. For example, we’re exploring how Sales Engagement could enrich relationships with prospective customers.
How will digitalisation drive greater efficiency at AXA Health?
It will help our people work faster and smarter, enabling them to provide our customers with better service.For example, we migrated our Third-Party Recovery Team from 13 different systems to a single solution built on Service Cloud, which enabled them to beat their recovery targets by 50% in just 12 months. Salesforce has also helped to improve the efficiency of our Provider Account Services Team by making it easier for them to categorise queries and offer personalised support to different healthcare partners.
What is your favourite Salesforce feature?
I love solving problems at work and at home – if there’s a lawnmower that needs fixing or a bit of furniture that needs building, I’m the first to volunteer (or to be volunteered!). My business colleagues look to me to help find solutions to their challenges. With Salesforce Flow, I can meet their needs faster by automating processes or creating digital forms without having to write any code. For example, we used Flow to make it easier for sales agents to confirm a customer’s contact details when creating a quote. Flow makes automation easier – we can build a new process in minutes and have it deployed within a few days.
How do you keep developing your skills?
I am a huge fan of Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning tool. I’ve collected more than 130 badges and 131,000 points, which makes me a Double Star Ranger. I love creating playgrounds to experiment with different Salesforce products. Trailhead makes learning more inclusive by offering Trails that appeal to different roles and different levels of expertise. It sparks people’s curiosity by enabling them to explore the art of the possible – and that’s key to the culture at AXA Health. We believe things can always be better and want everyone to have the confidence to progress.
How do you maintain your wellbeing at work?
To deliver great customer experiences, organisations need to ensure their employees are in great shape too. AXA Health places a big emphasis on the physical, emotional, and financial health of its people. When we’re on a delivery deadline, we work hard, but there’s no concept of pushing people until they break. I love getting out in the fresh air during the working day – even if it’s just a walk around the garden. Most of my lightbulb moments happen when I am not in front of my screen.
Taking small steps to increase my wellbeing has a big impact on my ability to do my job well – and I must have got the balance right as I was selected to be an AXA Health Feelgood Champion! We want to help other companies focus on employee wellbeing, which is why we’ve launched the AXA Health app. It shows how small steps can lead to big lasting changes in a person’s health.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in tech?
It’s an exciting time to join the industry, but the pace of change can make it feel intimidating. At AXA Health, we encourage a ‘Know You Can’ mindset. So, don’t worry about your background, your education, or your experience: just know you can succeed with the right support. And if you do change career direction, then the skills that you have acquired will be highly transferrable to other roles and sectors. A career in technology isn’t just about deploying great systems, it’s about building great relationships.
Conclusion
Digitalisation unlocks new opportunities for companies, colleagues, and customers. By empowering its teams and transforming its processes, AXA Health will be able share the benefits of digital with more people.
