At its core, the insurance business is about minimising risk, but Isabel Lam knows, to do that, you have to be forward-thinking and inventive.
So, in her role as chief people and corporate management officer of AXA Hong Kong, she is looking to build an entrepreneurial spirit, giving every employee the chance to create innovative solutions and expecting them to approach company problems as if they owned the business.
“We have done a lot in the last few years, but we can still be better,” says Lam, who oversees all HR-related issues for 1,000 internal staff and around 5,000 agents in Hong Kong and Macau, besides running the CEO office. “We want to engage staff and hear their ideas, to change the mindset and get people thinking about different departments, even suggesting things that might at first seem a bit ‘crazy’.”
This, she recognises, is the way to achieve incremental improvements in existing products and services and, importantly, to make the occasional quantum leap. For instance, taking advantage of the latest technology, the company is planning a “cashless experience” for customers and to create a unique network of panel doctors to help avoid or pre-empt potential medical problems.
“We need to look outside insurance at other types of industry, such as banking and hotels,” Lam says. “We have to learn from others, not just work in our own box, and help to support projects and crystallise good ideas. It is a cultural initiative and a journey, but we want this to become part of our DNA.”
That readiness to absorb outside influences and strive for something better are traits which have shaped many of Lam’s key decisions. She grew up in Wong Tai Sin, living in a 16-storey apartment block and attending a local school, and looks back on those days with real fondness. In particular, there were the friendships and the sense of equality among middle-income families with similar backgrounds and facing common problems.
“I played with all the kids on the same floor, and we were very close to people in the neighbourhood,” she says. “At school, I did a lot of activities and became chairman of the student association. My parents said focus on study, but for me those other experiences were important and made me more outgoing.”
One early dream was to study abroad, and with her mother, who ran a clothing factory near Shenzhen, and father, an accountant, offering financial support, she opted for a four-year BA in actuarial studies at Macquarie University in Sydney.
“Back then, I had a very clear aim: to take a course where I could easily get a job with a stable income, so I could take care of my family later on,” she says. “But I also wanted to learn about life overseas and to see everything, so my tactic was to make friends with students from other countries without forgetting Hong Kong is my home.”
Graduating in 1992, she returned to do three months with pensions firm Watson Wyatt before friends advised her that life insurance offered wider scope and opportunity.
She joined AMP Society, at the time Australia’s biggest insurance company, but with a limited presence in Hong Kong, and looked after products, pricing and creating the monthly statement of account for agents.
“In a small company, you do everything and learn a lot. For five or six years, I enjoyed it, but the ultimate goal there was to be chief actuary, and I didn’t really want that.”
So, instead, in the late 90s she moved to Swiss insurance firm Winterthur for a distribution management role. It involved more marketing and client contact, greater responsibility, and new insights into the day-to-day workings of a larger-scale organisation.
And, when AXA acquired the firm in 2007, it meant Lam had the breadth of experience and analytical skills to help the CEO build the “dashboard” used to measure processes and performance and identify areas for improvement across the business.
“I looked at new policies, turnaround times, renewals, call-centre resolutions, and conversion percentages,” she says. “I helped the ‘industrialisation’ of the process, changing the way operations people did things, so things happened more quickly and for a better purpose.”
Success there led to running the CEO office, along with sales and distribution responsibilities and, since 2016, oversight of the HR function. It is a lot to handle, but Lam relishes the challenge and the fact that it keeps her close to the business.
“The role lets me have a direct impact,” she says. “You need a great team and have to engage and empower them. I prioritise and delegate, but they come to me if there is a big problem or they need a different perspective. And whatever we decide about principles, rules or benefits must work for the good of the company.”
Recent HR-related initiatives include a “reverse mentoring” scheme to held older staff understand the tech generation, “lean in” circles for women executives, and more support for working mums, workplace diversity and flexible office hours.
“I want people to have opportunities and like to see them improving.” Lam views herself as generally calm, energetic, cheerful and outgoing. She can also be quite competitive, but only at weekends when playing tennis or golf with her husband.
“Sometimes, patience is not my strength; I still need to practise this,” she says.
Her broad-based advice to those choosing a career path is to consider carefully what the sector will look like five years from now.
“For example, with big data, some traditional actuarial jobs will disappear, but that doesn’t mean studying the subject is not worthwhile. Chat with people who have more insights and, if you have a dream, make sure you understand the best way to pursue it.”
(Photo: Laurence Leung)
