Award-Winning CX Nomination Stories

2023 Agent of the Year

Earlene Walker is a perfect candidate for the World-Class Agent of the Year and Agent Top CX Improvement recognitions. Earlene is always passionately advocating for every customer she speaks to, making sure that they are satisfied and ensuring that she's able to resolve their issue on the first call.

Earlene's willingness to advocate on the member's behalf is the same on every call, regardless of the situation. If something is not adding up, she will question the ins-and-outs to ensure that the situation is resolved and the best possible solution is obtained for the member. Earlene has a warm and welcoming Southern charm, which fosters her unique, natural ability to connect with her callers as if they were her very own family– and with the remarkable degree of caring, compassion, and concern she exemplifies, Earlene truly treats her callers like they are her family.

She always takes care to ensure the members have a clear understanding of all the information before she marks the issue as resolved. The following is just one example of Earlene's extraordinary commitment to helping people in their time of greatest need, taken verbatim from a "kudos" voicemail message from a very grateful mother:

"...I was just speaking with Earlene, and I just had to tell you - she has been helping me for, I think we've been on the phone at least an hour and a half if not two hours, with a horrible issue for my little baby girl who is 15 months old … she stayed on with me while I had to speak with two other areas, and stayed on with me for every single call and helped me to explain everything - even though I've worked in the insurance industry, it was becoming like a Twilight Zone call ... It was horrible, and she literally – I just told her she's my guardian angel – what she did for me and the length that she went to get this solved, and basically, I did tell her I was gonna tell you this – I would like her to have an immediate raise in salary and additional vacation days, I wish I could authorize that!

But anyway, I just want to commend her for being amazing AMAZING, she turned this day around when it was looking like it was gonna be a nightmare, so THANK YOU for hiring this amazing woman and thank you thank you thank you for having her and what she did for me. I can't tell you enough. Thank you again!!"

Because of her exemplary commitment to serving our members, Earlene has been selected to pilot many new processes and initiatives to ensure optimal impact on service to our customers. In addition, Earlene can always be counted on to support new team members as they get acclimated to the role, assisting in learning the ropes and providing thoughtful coaching feedback, as well as walking the walk and showing by her example what world-class service truly means.

In recognition of her truly outstanding commitment to service, Earlene was recently promoted to the position of Account Advocate, where she works closely with our employer groups to ensure that their members receive nothing short of a World Class customer experience.

More comments from Earlene's members (taken from her SQM surveys):

• "She listened to my concerns and reason for my call. She understood what I was discuss [sic] what I was talking about. She asked me for the information that was needed; she took care of that in a timely and efficient manner. And she was very, very pleasant to deal with."
• "She actually was willing to look at the things that I needed and tried to take time to explain them."
• "She made it very easy to take care of the problem I was having. I literally told it to her. I asked her for what I needed, and she said: 'Why don't we just call who we need a call?' And she called with me on the line, and we got it taken care of within a short amount of time and I was concerned that I was gonna have to wait for some type of paperwork before I could take care of what I need to take care of. But with her on the phone, I was able to just get it done right there."
• "Well, she was very polite and professional. She explained what she was trying to do and how she was trying to resolve my question. Just a very nice lady, she knew her stuff."
• "She was very kind; she answered all my questions. I was satisfied with all the answers she gave me, and she was very kind as well."
• "She was helpful, friendly, and she gave me another call today to give me some extra information."
• She got me where I needed to go, and she got everything done."
• "She took the time to make sure that the issue was resolved."
• "She was knowledgeable, was able to answer my question and friendly. She made sure that I did not have any other questions."
• "She went out of her way to try to get it resolved. She called the doctor's office, and we got it resolved."

In recognition of and appreciation for Earlene's outstanding achievements of attaining a 91% World Class certification for 2023 (the highest in her entire Division) and her AMAZING 22% improvement from 2022 to 2023, we are nominating Earlene Walker for consideration for World Class Agent of the Year and Agent Top CX Improvement recognition.

Earlene Walker – BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina (National Alliance)

2022 Agent of the Year

Raci is an awesome candidate for CSR of the Year.

He continues to fight for each of the customers he speaks with, making sure that not only are they satisfied with him, but with Mr. Cooper as well. He pushes to ensure they get the best customer service and options to suit their needs. Providing the best option to help them move forward with their mortgage and everyday life is a priority to him.

Just recently, Raci spoke with a customer who was very anxious about losing their home. They had been on a pandemic fb plan and the loan was behind on payments. The customer had great concerns about how they were going to be able to move forward and not lose their home. Raci went through the workout options, provided them with a solution, and explained the next steps and time frames.

The customer had stated that she and her husband had not been able to sleep prior to making the call to Mr. Cooper for fear of bad news about what they could or could not do. Raci put their mind at ease, and they were extremely grateful and expressed such on the call. The customer was able to leave the call with the information Raci had provided and the workout that was set up for them with confidence that they could breathe a sigh of relief when it came to the mortgage.

Raci works towards such results with each and every call. If something cannot be achieved at any point, Raci questions the ins and outs as to why and looks for alternatives to a solution/resolution. He makes sure he can explain all to the customer.

Raci keeps a personable attitude with the customers and makes them feel as if they are family and not just another customer or caller on the phone. He is efficient with each one but ensures the customers have an understanding of all the information before allowing them to go and ensures their satisfaction all around.

Raci Smith – Mr. Cooper

2021 Agent of the Year

Success In Adapting to Best Practices

She goes the extra mile to improve her calls and ... goes above and beyond with each of her callers.

Madeline is a true rockstar on our team. Every member that she speaks with receives the same level of respect, empathy, and urgency, whether they need an ID card, simple benefits, or have an urgent pharmacy request. There are many members who will only speak with Madeline and are willing to wait on hold or request a call back if Madeline is not available. Not only did Madeline have a 96% certification for 2021, but she achieved an 87% FCR rate, 96% in Issue Resolution, and 98% in Customer Satisfaction.

In sharing some of the comments left by our members below, you can clearly see that Madeline is valued and our members appreciate how effortless the experience is when they speak with Madeline. Members advise:

“She was very pleasant. She answered my question immediately and resolved my question immediately. She just made me feel very comfortable about calling and inquiring.”

“She was very nice. She didn't lose her patience with me. She went above and beyond to help me and let me know about stuff getting set up in the system, and where I could look at my claims. She took time to help me with everything, even things that I didn't know anything about. She took time to help me, and she did help me. That will cut down on me having to call them again for information, because I can look at it myself.”

“They were kind, courteous, understanding, and they even followed up on the issue today to confirm.”

“Just very kind, took care of the issue, and she actually called my previous employer to speak to their representative and had me on the line just to make sure that they were getting everything I needed.”

Even when Madeline is pulled in many different directions during the day she does so with grace and kindness, and it is evident in her scores. She is also extremely helpful to her peers, assisting with answers to challenging member scenarios in the Team Chat, and no matter how difficult a member’s issue may be, Madeline is always very kind, gentle, and determined to resolve the issue. Madeline is more than deserving of this award.

At BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, we identified an area where we could improve our FCR, CSAT, and Resolve Rate results from the SQM Call Summarization Best Practices materials. We followed a standard closing, but wanted to improve the experience for our members to ensure first call resolution, so we refreshed and improved our agent closing process using best practices.  Madeline Rodriguez already had a strong closing of her calls, however, was not used to deliberately providing the thorough closings outlined by SQM. During July & August of 2021, there was a focus and contest for CSPs to go through four steps at the conclusion of each call: summarize by restating why the member called, quickly recap the work the agent did on the call, repeat any actions that were needed by either the agent or member, and then finish with saying, “Have I resolved the reason for your call today?”

As stated, Madeline already had a good closing, but agreed she could do even better by following these suggestions. Changing ones call flow can take time and effort, and it was no different for Madeline. The behaviors that Madeline exhibited in this one example are behaviors that she exhibited throughout the year and which have contributed to her excellent results. Each week the CSPs had one random call reviewed where the ending of the call was reviewed to see if those four parts were done.  The agents had no idea which call would be reviewed and worked through many various scenarios to perfect the closing to ensure the member was resolved and satisfied.  During the first few weeks, Madeline took feedback, sought feedback, attended calibrations, and worked on improving her call closing. As the results show, once she got her flow down, between weeks 3 and 4, Madeline never looked back.

This example shows how she goes the extra mile to improve her calls and is an indicator of the way she goes above and beyond with each of her callers to provide a World Class Call experience. She not only connects with her callers, but she also supports the call center, and helps others improve. She positively changes the way we do business at BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina.

Madeline Rodriguez – BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina

2020 Agent of the Year

Impacting Lives with a Patient-Centric Approach

Once I built her trust and she allowed me to help, we started seeing results.

To create a positive customer experience, each interaction with the customer needs to be treated as an opportunity. Every time we pick up the phone we have the opportunity to “wow” a customer, retain a customer, or lose a customer. As an agent, I shoot for the “wow” factor, and if I miss on wowing that member, at the very least we can retain that individual. I would like to share a story of how I was able to retain one of our dissatisfied members.

For the sake of not using our member’s real name, I will refer to her as “Beth”. I first spoke with Beth back in 2016 as a result of her concerns being escalated. Beth, who is a mother of two, would fight tooth and nail for her family; however, she found herself at a crossroads in her life. Beth was behind on her self-employment taxes, her daughter had injured her knee, and medical bills were piling up. Each time she contacted customer service her back was against the wall; she had no other option but to demand results. Her calls became increasingly aggressive, resulting in me stepping in. To put it bluntly, I have feared three women during my lifetime: my mother, my wife, and Beth. Beth found herself in a hole, and her hostility was a cry for help.

I found the best way to help Beth was simply to listen and empathize with her. I can remember conversations, at first, which would last over an hour, sometimes completely unrelated to her issues.  Once I built her trust and she allowed me to help, we started seeing results. We started small by looking at the family’s medical bills. I had Beth come to my office to meet face-to-face. She brought in a stack of medical bills that I separated into two piles: ones she owed, and ones she did not. We set up payment plans with each provider for the bills she owed. I then called the providers to make proper adjustments for the bills that were incorrect. In doing so, we determined there were thousands of dollars being billed to her in error.

The next order of business was getting her daughter the care she needed. The complications from her knee injury were far too complex for our in-network providers. We made calls to other providers throughout the state looking for an orthopedic surgeon who could do her surgery. It took some time, but we found a specialist that was able to assist. We went through the process of getting authorizations in place, and her daughter had a successful surgery. It would take months of therapy to get her back on her feet. Near the end of her daughter’s recovery, I remember speaking with Beth and she broke down. She was crying, not because of sadness, but because of joy. She was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The last order of business was her taxes. I have an accounting degree, so I had a basic understanding of her needs. Even so, her issues were far too complex for me. She found an accountant and we worked together to collect insurance tax documents from 6-7 years prior. Slowly, they plugged away at getting caught up on taxes. Every year during the annual enrollment period I help Beth renew her coverage for the upcoming year. One question on the application asks if you have reconciled your premium tax credit from prior years. For 4 years we had to mark “no”, but in 2020 we were able to mark “yes”.
I can honestly say Beth is a different person now than when we first met. I took a patient-centric approach with Beth. I treated her as an individual who needed help, and the best way to do so was to listen and empathize. To this day, I continue to speak with Beth and believe that our interactions transformed her into a loyal customer.

Jason O’Connell has been with Security Health Plan since 2014. During that time, he has proven to be an integral part of our Customer Service team. He quickly became trained on all of our core product lines and became a licensed insurance agent. Jason handles one of Security Health Plan’s Answer Center locations completely on his own, located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. He has been our sole representative in this area to assist members both on the phone and in person who comes into the answer center.

Jason was chosen as our internal Customer Service Agent of the Year for 2020. He is so incredibly willing to help with anything we ask of him and does so with such a positive attitude! On top of handling the answer center by himself, he also does a lot of other side projects and extra duties such as assisting with our online chat program, being a subject matter expert for complex third-party administration questions or issues, enrolling members into Marketplace plans, and taking escalated calls from our newer agents if they need assistance.

Jason has continuously improved his SQM metrics year after year. He finished 2020 with a 97% World Class Call Resolution, which was a 3% increase over 2019 and a 7% increase over 2018. Jason continuously has a very high CSR Csat percentage as well. He finished 2020 with a 98% CSR Csat as he did in 2019 as well. Jason’s Call Resolution was 98% for 2020, a 4% increase from 2019. Jason has received multiple positive member compliments over the years and is recognized often for his attention to detail and for making sure the member is not put in the middle. He does an excellent job with our members both in person and on the phone, and also with other agents in the department. He is a great resource used by many.

Jason O’Connell – Security Health Plan

2019 Agent of the Year

Determined to Make a Difference

I Can, I Will, and I Did resolve her call.

I received a call from a member who was on vacation at a Vineyard located on an island. When she outreached to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont for help, I was determined to make a difference in her day. I listened, showed empathy, and reassured her that I was going to help her. Those few steps I took to resolve her call left an impressionable WOW moment.

While the member shared her story with me, I kept thinking about what I would do in her shoes. How can I resolve this for her? She was stranded at the Vineyard for two more weeks with an injured arm. The only way off the island was by pre-registration for ferry transport. She wasn’t scheduled to leave for another two weeks. The emergency room took x-rays and confirmed she had fractured her arm in two places. The physician referred her for immediate follow-up care with an orthopedic surgeon who was on the island. They refused to see or treat her without a primary care referral. She contacted her primary care provider in Vermont, and they refused to send a referral on her behalf without seeing her first. Obviously, this wasn’t possible, and clearly not an option for her. She was feeling desperate like no one wanted to help her, so she called me for assistance. I felt panic and discomfort in her every word. She was in pain and the last place she needed to be was in between a provider turf war.

After researching her benefits and options I ran into some snags. Although her policy didn't require referrals, the orthopedic surgeon required one. So, I outreached several times to her PCP office and left messages, but no one returned my call. When I finally got through, they indicated they had tried calling but our call volume was too high, and they weren’t going to wait to get through. Although I pleaded on her behalf, they still refused to send a referral to the orthopedic surgeon or submit an out-of-network authorization request. Financially, she needed an out-of-network prior authorization to reduce her out-of-pocket expense. I worked with my team leads and supervisors to brainstorm and find an alternate way to assist my member. My options were limited, as rules restricted me from making outbound calls out of state for pre-service issues without permission. So, I contacted the necessary outreach and obtained the permission needed to outreach to the out of state provider.

The orthopedic surgeon needed reassurance that the member’s plan didn’t require referrals and that I was going to complete an out-of-network prior authorization on the member's behalf so she could get her best level of benefits.

At last, I got through to the surgeon’s office, gathered all of the relevant information, and completed the out-of-network prior approval form on the member’s behalf, and sent it to our Integrated Health Team for review. Finally, I received approval for the out-of-network surgeon. I called the surgeon back, provided the approval information and they agreed to see the member. When I called the member back, I could hear her sigh with relief. She didn’t have to fight anymore, she wasn’t stuck in the middle anymore, and she was relieved that someone had listened.

I put my member's needs first. When roadblocks appeared, I calibrated with leadership to come up with non-traditional options and sought the best route to resolve the call. These simple steps made an impact on the member's experience. Three months later, the member sent me a personalized thank-you letter.

She shared how patient and helpful I was. How I followed through and went the extra mile to help her when no one else would. How appreciative she was that I called her a few days after her orthopedic visit to ensure everything went well. The most impressionable comment she shared with me was, “If you ever feel like not getting up to go to work – think again! What you do and what you did for me made a huge difference.” Her heartfelt appreciation made every step I took worthwhile. With empathy and compassion, I showed her that, “I Can, I Will, and I Did resolve her call.”

Terry Lyn Bicknell – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont

2023 Supervisor of the Year

Steve has reported to me since I joined the Florida Blue (FB) Federal Employee Program (FEP) in November 2022, so for nearly 18 months. I am nominating him because he is an outstanding supervisor and cares emphatically for our members and the FEP Plan. He works very hard each day to not only get his work done, but also in making the work of his direct reports effective and more efficient.

When Steve came to FB FEP his focus was immediately on improving the service we provide to our customers, whether that was a member, provider, phone advocate, team lead, or an internal or external entity. He is tenacious about the customer service our advocates provide and the first to suggest a new approach to doing an existing function if he thinks it will improve or performance and relationship we have with our customers.

To improve our performance and the service we provide to FEP members, Steve led the following activities and refresher training sessions in 2023.

With Call Calibrations Steve brought together three or more phone agents and a team lead for their technical expertise to listen to a random call from each agent. After each call, they discussed what was done well and what could be done better. Once the process was established, he shared the nuances with his peers, so they could perform call calibrations with their agents.

Secret Caller communications were also performed in 2023. Leaders and others within the department volunteered to make live calls to our agents to evaluate their performance when answering specific information that had been identified as a frequent error trending in our department. When the call concluded the agent was given feedback and a pass or fail rating.

PHI & Authentication refresher training sessions were our department's first in 2023. In part because we were seeing errors and opportunities to improve. All our FB FEP agents and those from our vendor attended the training in the first few months of the year.

Dental Benefit refresher training followed the same path as the PHI refresher training described above. So too did Medicare and Eligibility & Enrollment refresher training sessions.

The Writing Skills training and the Inquiry Documentation sessions were agent focused through the analysis of feedback we received from our Audit department, team leads, and supervisors. The purpose was to gain clarity in the comments our agents add to inquiries, which in turn would improve performance, reduce audit errors, and aid research by others in the future.

Lastly, with respect to activities and refresher training sessions, Steve prepared and provided the Empathy training for FB FEP. As stated earlier, he is compassionate about providing world class service to our members. He provided the training prior to our Audit department implementing their own training for empathy and establishing an error for lacking empathy when a call necessitated it.

Working from home has not stopped Steve from always looking for ways to improve himself, his team, and our department. His passion for world-class performance, customer satisfaction (CSAT), and first contact resolution (FCR) are alive and well in the way he approaches each day.

Steve continues to engage our agents by holding the before mentioned call calibrations and he routinely listens to live calls so immediate feedback can be provided. The call calibrations also offer the agents the opportunity to learn from each other and network; something much harder do while working remotely.

In addition to his efforts to improve the performance of FB FEP with respect to CSAT and FCR, Steve also handled escalated calls that were initially taken by an agent, progressed to a team, and were successfully resolved through his hard work and dedication.

Steve also noticed early in 2023 that one of his agents was struggling to meet the 85% goal for World Class Performance. The agent ended 1Q 2023 at 80%. Steve and the agent started reviewing his surveys and listening to the calls that resulted in a negative response. After listening to the calls and gathering all the necessary data, Steve scheduled a meeting with the employee.

In the meeting, he advised the employee that he would like to work with him to improve his Word Class Performance. Steve continued to review some of the agent's surveys and listened to several more calls. While listening to the calls with the agent, he identified improvement opportunities and Steve provided him with additional tips that would help the agent improve his performance. One specific area the agent was missing was not recapping his calls, nor asking if there was anything else he could assist with before the call ended. The agent agreed that if he had recapped the call and asked if there was anything else he could assist with, his survey results would have been higher.

Steve continued to monitor the agent's performance and scheduled multiple one-on-one sessions to calibrate. For the 2Q of 2023, the agent was recognized as a World Class Performer. The agent thanked Steve for his support, expertise, and his willingness to help him. The agent remains motivated and has used the experience working with Steve to motivate others during Team meetings; reminding his peers that working together and learning from others really helps.

The agent ended the year with an 87% score and as a World Class Performer. He continues to thank Steve for the time and effort he spent with him to ensure his success.

In closing, Steve Toth is an ambassador of World Class Performance for Florida Blue FEP and SQM. He knows and openly shares the benefits of the relationship FB FEP has with SQM and how they have partnered with us to provide the very best service to our members.

Steve Toth – Florida Blue (Federal Employee Program)

2022 Supervisor of the Year

At the beginning of 2022, I set a goal to improve my team’s World Class call percentage from 88% in 2021 to 90% in 2022. To meet the goal, I needed a plan of action. As a supervisor, I wanted to make sure my team was aware of the goal to increase the world-class call percentage and as our department’s SQM subject matter expert, I needed to train our department’s newly hired employees in what SQM does and how they do it. Next, I needed to make sure our new hires understood what makes a member interaction World Class. And finally, I needed to explain how to achieve a World Class call.

In 2022 I shared my team’s new World Class call goal of 90% during the first team meeting of the year. In the meeting, I asked my team to think of member interactions where they received a World Class survey and member interactions where they didn’t and what did they do differently on each member interaction. I asked the team to think about and prepare to discuss this during the next team meeting and individual check-ins. In one-on-ones, I asked the CSR to share their thoughts about how to improve their member interactions and call resolution. During team meetings I had each team member share their experiences. I led brainstorming sessions with the team about ways to increase the team’s World Class surveys. This proved to be an effective way to find tips, tricks, and best practices to share with the team in real-time. I also found it was a great way to build team camaraderie.

I presented SQM World Class call training to four new-hire classes in 2022. During the training, I shared what SQM does as a company as it relates to Regence and surveying our members. I explained what criteria make up a World Class survey and how to make sure our members feel valued during each interaction by using the four call-handling practices: Care about me, Help me, Resolve me, and Understand me. The new hires were also instructed on how to find their surveys, how to navigate the SQM system, and what information is needed to review their call or chat interactions with members. This helped to improve customer service skills and call resolution skills. The presentations are an excellent way to introduce our newly hired employees to the SQM program and stress the importance of providing outstanding customer service to our members and resolving our members’ issues on the first contact.

As the departmental SQM subject matter expert I manage our department’s World Class Call Awards Program to incentivize CSRs to achieve high World Class call percentages throughout the year. The awards include gift cards, PTO comp days and department-wide email recognition for customer service representatives with World Class call percentages of 85% and higher. In 2022 the department award program, along with SQM’s, WCC certified, and Agent of the Year awards were great tools to motivate newly hired employees and seasoned customer service representatives to strive for a wonderful member experience on every member interaction.

Because of my department’s SQM training program, WCC Awards Program, and the hard work of our department’s CSRs, the department met its 2022 World Class call goal of 89%. Because I set a realistic World Class call goal in 2022 and due to the hard work of my team, we ended 2022 with the highest-ranking World Class call percentage in the department with a score of 91% World Class, exceeding the team’s goal of 90%, along with a score of 93% calls resolved and 93% Customer Satisfaction with over 1,100 surveys.

Jason Chapman  – Regence BlueCross BlueShield Plans

2021 Supervisor of the Year

Coaching Resiliency Through Change

When there is trust on both sides, and you have your employee’s buy-in, people will give their all.

Alia Bawazer is a supervisor that leads with encouragement and makes time for each person on her team. Alia understands that coaching is most effective when given at the soonest availability, and she is there on the spot when her team needs her. She wants to build trust with each member of her team. Alia loves to recognize her CSRs by sharing the team’s success stories with Leadership.

Agents from Alia’s team have shared the following:

“Alia has helped me develop consistently since day one on her team. She continues to encourage me and support me by continuing to provide feedback. Alia makes it a point to thank me for the work I do. I always feel like a valued employee on the team which helps me stay focused and drives me to look for areas to excel in my career with the company.”

“I was struggling with calls, and Alia provided me with tips. She went over how to use soft skills, listened to my concerns, gave full explanations of procedures, and helped me create a plan to improve. Alia made me feel not afraid of asking for help and to reach out for one-on-one support. She has compassion and cares. Each day, I feel more confident because she is always there for me. I couldn't have asked for a kinder supervisor. She understands mistakes can be made and there is a way to improve. With her amazing coaching, my Call Resolved has improved.”

“Alia Bawazer is the true definition of phenomenal. Alia has played such an enormous role in my growth with VSP. I honestly don’t think I would be as knowledgeable, skillful, or as resilient as I currently am within the company if it weren’t for her remarkable leadership capabilities. Alia is always available for any assistance needed to make sure her team has all the guidance necessary for a productive workday. Consistently going above and beyond is perceived as nothing more than effortless from this gem! Her flexibility, intelligence, and selfless acts are just some of the many attributes Alia possesses, which dramatically aid in the success of not just her team, but VSP as a whole. I adore the abundance of encouragement she constantly provides, and I love the relationship we have built over the years. I truly do believe VSP is extremely blessed and lucky to have her as a part of leadership. I’m able to maintain a high performance on my VoC results due to Alia’s continuous coaching.”

Feedback shared from Alia’s Manager:

"Alia is a World-Class Supervisor every day when she comes to work. Her positive energy is infectious! Her engagement with her team, her peers, and the organization is like no other supervisor I have encountered. She gives her all with the Eyes on Engagement Committee and is dedicated to the Black Heritage Business Resource Group committee as a Professional Development Leader. Alia displays a passion for developing her CSRs. She coaches everyone with positive reinforcement and uses different tactics that resonate with everyone. Her Csat score in Q1 started at 85.5% and ended the year at 95%. Her consistent improvement was due to coaching her CSRs to show the same energy with our members as she shows with them every day. In Q4, Alia and her team were given the assignment of being placed on a Skill Development Opportunity (SDO) in support of our Eyeconic business. Naturally, she was met with resistance by her team. There were so many unknowns, many new things to learn, and schedule changes, and again when hours of operations changed, more schedule changes. Alia didn’t let these things stop her or her team. She coached them through change management and showed them how to be resilient. Especially as this team consistently changed their hats from Vision Benefits (VB) to Eyeconic, through peak season Alia was right with them to change her hat as well. Alia reminded her team this was a learning experience, and she too was learning right beside them. She reinforced that it was okay to make mistakes; this is a part of growth and development.”

Here is what one of her CSRs had to say about Alia:

“I just want to share how much we appreciate Alia. She is very supportive and understanding of any situation I have brought to her. I not only know and understand my job duties as VB and EYECONIC trained but also the encouragement for Career Development and Growth with the company has never been initiated by a Supervisor and worked to make it possible. She deserves a well-done pat on the back from all of us on TAT5.”

As you can see, Alia deserves a pat on the back for a job well done. She has the ability to lead her team with compassion, creating a collaborating team to work towards the one mission of World Class Service.

Feedback shared from Alia:

"In October, I asked my team to not only follow me but to be open and positive about following me to become SDOs supporting our Eyeconic business. I knew we could do this and be successful. I met with each employee, reinforcing that we are a team and that they each are an important part of this team. I let them know that this is a great opportunity to learn new skills and help our business. I met with each person, and at the end of the conversation asked them, how do you feel? They said, “sure I want to help. I trust you, and I’ll do whatever the team and VSP need me to do.” This response was unanimous, across the board. Of course, it wasn’t easy. There were challenges that we would need to overcome, but they supported each other and me every step of the way. During the SDO, I went back to them and said, “I need you to change your schedule”. Next, “I need you to support both VB and Eyeconic calls”. And finally, “I need you to learn how to process emails”. They did all of this with grace, dedication, resilience, and enormous flexibility, with their focus always on the most important part, our member experience. I could never have asked my team to follow me without trust. It turned out to be one of the most successful peak seasons in Eyeconic. My team had a positive impact on these results and on our customer and member experience."

"What made me World Class in 2021 is my team. I could have never asked them to take that leap of faith with me without trust. I believe to be a successful leader you must gain your employee’s buy-in, and that in turn, creates a more positive experience for the employee and therefore, for the members they serve. I work to build trust by leading through engagement, stressing the importance of a team; that when one of us wins all of us win, displaying my commitment to their development in both their current and future skills and continuing to reinforce the message that what you do as an individual matters. As a leader, I reflect on ways I could have done things differently and how to adjust for the future."

"To me, trust is the seed you need for success to grow. Does my employee trust me and where I am leading them? All the coaching, support, and encouragement doesn’t matter if there is no trust. When there is trust on both sides, and you have your employee’s buy-in, people will give their all. That is how I lead to achieving World-Class experiences for our members, providers, and customers."

Alia Bawazer  – VSP Vision Care

2020 Supervisor of the Year

Meeting the Challenge of Leadership During the Pandemic

He truly believes in our potential and encourages us to continually strive to be better than we were yesterday.

I would like to nominate my team manager Karandeep Singh for Supervisor of the Year. I joined Karandeep’s team in September 2020, and I soon discovered his amazing leadership skills. As a team leader, he is consistent in his role, leads with integrity, and is supportive of his employees both professionally and personally.

He understands that productivity and quality of work can only be achieved by a positive and engaged workforce. For example, once we transitioned to a work-from-home model, due to the pandemic, Karandeep personally checked in on my comfort level with this new way of operating. He did this by assessing and ensuring that all systems and applications were functioning as required and that I was comfortable using the new applications, which were installed to support the work-from-home model. Karandeep also addressed my questions with regard to the new business processes which were put in place to support our customers during the pandemic. He made sure that every team member was set up for success.

Karandeep understands and demonstrates the work/life balance, and treats all employees with dignity, respect, and integrity. For example, my family and I had a COVID-19 scare at my child’s school. He listened while I was in panic-mode, and offered his support and reassurance, which immediately calmed me down and helped me focus. His care and support did not stop there; he continued to check on the well-being of my family and myself right until test results were received.

Karandeep promotes teamwork while supporting our well-being. He empowers us to make decisions and take risks by supporting us, regardless of the outcome. He holds people accountable and helps us learn through our mistakes, by creating an environment built on mutual respect and appreciation for one another’s uniqueness. He truly believes in our potential and encourages us to continually strive to be better than we were yesterday. Our team results have consistently been stellar and continue on a positive trend. Karandeep never fails to celebrate individual and team successes during our team huddles or via email, as well as letting the team know how proud he is of our efforts. In doing so, he brings the team closer together while promoting a win-win culture.

In closing, I firmly believe that the team’s dedication to always being the best in anything that we set out to accomplish is a direct result of the balanced leadership style, positive attitude, responsiveness, and sense of humor of our supervisor, Karandeep.

Karandeep Singh – 407 ETR

2019 Supervisor of the Year

Make Them Feel Heard and Understood

The impact of empathy reaches far beyond the dos and don’ts of everyday business.

Empathy! By definition, empathy means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This has been the heartbeat of Michael Roberson’s leadership over the last two years as a supervisor of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC). 

Michael graduated with his Master of Arts in Counseling in May of 2018. While going through school he discovered the impact of empathy reaches far beyond the dos and don’ts of everyday business. He took this learning and focused his energy on helping his customer service reps understand the power of empathy when dealing with customers. He consistently met with them individually and together as a team, and every time he would highlight the importance of empathy. In 2018, 11 out of 12 of his customer service representatives finished the year as World Class Certified representatives. In 2019, 10 out of 12 representatives on his team finished with World Class Certified status.

When asked what he has done differently over the past two years, Michael stated, “I believe that using empathy and connecting to members is 80% of a good customer experience. Doing and saying the right or wrong thing is the other 20%. If you can connect to the human being on the other end of the line, and make them feel heard and understood, you both win – even if you have to tell them information that they don’t agree with.” 

Michael truly believes that empathy is at the heart of a good customer experience. After seeing his team’s results from his emphasizing empathy over the past two years, Michael took the initiative to create an empathy presentation entitled “Empathy in Service” and has been sharing it with various departments in the company to help impact members’ overall experience.

Michael’s team also had nothing but great things to say about him and how he leads their team. When asked about how he is as a supervisor and a leader, his team had the following things to say:

“When I was struggling last year, I asked Mike to listen to my calls and tell me what I needed to improve on. He always had positive feedback, but he also told me that I was lacking in confidence when I was speaking to members. I knew my job, but it sounded (to the members) like I lacked confidence. After meeting with him, I made the adjustments and started speaking with more confidence, and it helped my SQM scores. Mike is always so positive and not a micro-manager which makes the job easier.” 

“Our success is a reflection of the leadership we were provided. Michael is always helpful and willing to work with anyone on his team when issues arise. He helped me personally with any issue I had that required a supervisor to handle or any issue that needed to be escalated further. He is such a supporter of his team, and he is always encouraging.”

“I’m so happy that Mike is being acknowledged for all of his leadership, hard work, and guidance of the Membership phone team (aka, Team Awesome). Mike has really dedicated himself to be available to each member of the team to ensure that we are successful not only with SQM but with all aspects of our job at Blue KC.  I have been on Mike’s team since I started in October 2016 and have met my SQM goal every year. I know that my success has a lot to do with Mike’s leadership and encouragement. Whenever I have needed help or had an issue, he has been available to discuss and work with me to come up with a plan to help. It has been a pleasure to work with, and for, Michael Roberson.” 

“Michael has helped me by giving me tips on how to respond to members with a better tone, and by showing great empathy when they are most vulnerable. He has also helped us with weekly SQM tips to increase our scores.” 

“Teams are only as great of a success as the leader that has guided them, and Michael Roberson has been a GOOD leader. I have had the pleasure of being on Mike’s team now for almost five years and I must say that Michael has been extraordinary. Michael has always shown himself to be friendly and knowledgeable and always willing to help. I remember talking to Michael shortly after he hired me, and he told me to set my path and he would help me get there. I did just that. I have excelled tremendously over the past five years with Michael’s guidance and assistance. It is because of the great leadership that I have received that I am now pushing forward to becoming a supervisor myself.”

“From a team perspective, Michael has always gone above and beyond for our team. The encouragement received during the good and bad times has honestly groomed each of us into being better reps. Our team is now closer and stronger than we’ve ever been and that is due to him spending countless hours grooming, coaching, and guiding us. Team Awesome would not be who we are without him.”

As you can see, Michael Roberson has done an amazing job. His numbers over the last two years speak for themselves, but even more, his team verifies that his leadership reaches beyond the numbers. He is a great supervisor and leader, and I believe that he deserves to be recognized by SQM as Supervisor of the Year.

Michael Roberson – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City