Interview with Giovanni di Meo, Head of Business Development,Generali Employee Benefits

 

Graham Proud, Project Director, Insurance Nexus: What are the biggest challenges you face in your job?

Giovanni di Meo, Head of Business Development,Generali Employee Benefits: At Generali Employee Benefits we design and tailor employee benefits plans to meet the needs of our customers’ organizations. Our leadership together with our customer retention prove our ability to deliver on our promises. The biggest challenge resides then in the product design phase, when we need to embrace the philosophy, culture and strategy of our customers and identify together with them the best combination of products and services to suit their needs. The human touch remains critical at the rising era of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

How does your company uniquely identify itself amongst its competitors?

We have a business model geared to support our ambition: providing employers with the best solutions to protect and enhance the wellbeing of their workforce worldwide. On the one hand we have built the largest international employee benefits network in the market, to be there where our customers and their employees need us. On the other hand, we have designed a strong client relationship management model that ensures continuous availability, accessibility and engagement with our customers. These are two of our distinctive features.

What does genuine ‘customer engagement’ mean to you?

A genuinely engaged customer is the one that has chosen you for your strengths, despite your weaknesses. An engaged customer may be even willing to help you overcome your weaknesses because it is in his own interest to get a better service.

Can you name the single biggest change you have witnessed since your started working in the insurance industry?

The change that impressed me the most so far for the improvement it brought to customer service, has been the deployment of drones in loss prevention and claims management procedures. Today, in case of fires, floods or natural catastrophes in sites with difficult access or in remote locations, thanks to the drone technology, we may be able to sharply reduce the timeframe for claims adjustment and settlement and therefore improve the speed of delivery to our customers.

What is the often the subject of your first work-related thought of the day?

Nothing awe-inspiring. My first work-related thought of the day is generally related to time management. I want to ensure I always save some time to pause and think, after all the time spent with business partners and colleagues.

Not including matters of price or costing, what delights your customer about your company product or service?

Our customers tell us they are delighted by how well we know them. And this is mainly thanks to our timely and accurate data management and reporting capabilities.

Name a single technological development that has impacted your day to day working in recent months/ years?

I would love to tell you that Block-chain and Artificial Intelligence have completely disrupted the industry and the way we are working. However I think that the most impactful technological development in the recent years has  been Cloud Computing.

When have you felt especially proud of your company and what it has achieved?

Very recently, in February 2018, when Generali Net Promoter Program was recognized as the world’s most successful and expansive NPS program by Medallia.

Why is it a good idea for talented graduates to begin a career in the insurance industry?

Insurance has never been the most popular choice for talented graduates. However if self-fulfilment is really one of the priorities for millennial and post-millennial graduates, then we should have the right credentials to become an industry of choice in the future. The insurance sector plays a fundamental role for the growth, development and welfare of our societies and most of the players boast a strong and long established corporate culture.

If you could click your fingers and change one thing about the insurance industry in an instant, what would it be?

I would like it to be more accessible to clients across the entire value chain. We have still a journey ahead of us to put our solutions at the clients’ fingertips, if we compare ourselves with other industries.

 

 
Giovanni di Meo is the Head of Business Development at Generali Employee Benefits Network (GEB). Giovanni has an across-the-board insurance experience that spans from property and casualty to employee benefits from Europe to Asia. Before joining GEB, Giovanni was based in Hong Kong where he led the team of client and broker relationship management for Generali Global Corporate & Commercial Asia. Previously he held also the position of Head of Marketing and Value Proposition at Generali Global Corporate & Commercial in Milan. Giovanni holds a cum laude double master’s degree in Marketing Management from Bocconi University and Management of Innovation from Rotterdam School of Management.

 

Generali is an independent, Italian Group, with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is among the world’s leading insurers and it is present in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €68 billion in 2017. With nearly 71,000 employees in the world and 57 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Western Europe and an increasingly significant presence in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia. In 2017, Generali Group was included among the most sustainable companies in the world by the Corporate Knights ranking. Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) Network is the strategic unit of Generali Group dedicated to providing employers with solutions to protect and enhance the wellbeing of their workforce worldwide. Established in 1966, GEB is now the world’s leading employee benefits network, serving multinational companies in over 100 countries.