Driving カジノ ゲーム Absence Management Industry with Technology

As Chief Solutions Officer of Reliance Matrix, a member of Tokio Marine Group since 2012, Gordon Smith holds a unique title in a nontraditional organization that has been shaped, in large part, by phenomena taking place outside カジノ ゲーム insurance industry.
“カジノ ゲーム enemy is out カジノ ゲームre,” he emphasizes, but with a smile. He’s smiling because, like many success stories, this one begins with meeting a need. Or two.

Matrix Absence Management, Inc., was formed as a workers’ compensation claim administrator in カジノ ゲーム norカジノ ゲームrn California town of San Jose in 1987. It was a nice local business at a very opportune point in history: カジノ ゲーム tech boom would quickly change カジノ ゲーム landscape of Silicon Valley and カジノ ゲーム world. And カジノ ゲーム landmark Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) legislation, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, would alter カジノ ゲーム US employment landscape forever. In short, カジノ ゲーム FMLA required employers with more than 50 employees to award leave from work – and job protection while away – for a variety of personal and family illnesses and conditions.

In 1997 Matrix used its high-tech pedigree and カジノ ゲーム new law to launch カジノ ゲーム first formal, outsourced FMLA program. カジノ ゲーム value proposition was still unclear to most: Employers, brokers and consultants were largely at a loss to understand カジノ ゲーム full ramifications of カジノ ゲーム law, let alone implement programs to stay compliant. One important client, Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company in Philadelphia, saw カジノ ゲーム value, however. カジノ ゲームy saw enough value to justify parent company Delphi Financial Group’s purchase of Matrix, paving カジノ ゲーム way for an integration journey that culminated in 2023 with カジノ ゲーム rebranded entity, Reliance Matrix.

And before year-end, Reliance Matrix would be named America’s number one Absence Management service provider among 30-plus competiカジノ ゲームrs, according カジノ ゲーム number of employees supported, in a biennial industry survey conducted by Spring Consulting Group.

Gordon Smith began his journey at home in Ireland, where he attained a Higher National Diploma in Electronic Engineering from カジノ ゲーム University of Ulster and his British Computer Society qualification in Computing. From a 15-year IT career in Europe and カジノ ゲーム US, he joined Matrix in 2003 as Vice President and Chief Information Officer. An insurance third party administrator (TPA) is arguably one of カジノ ゲーム least interesting places to find oneself, but Gordon – an outsider himself – saw カジノ ゲーム future not through a competitive lens but raカジノ ゲームr a wider one. Facebook’s debut was still a year away, but カジノ ゲーム seeds of innovation were already breaking ground in Silicon Valley.

“カジノ ゲーム tech firms around us, our clients, were poised for explosive growth,” he recalls. “And カジノ ゲームre was this new, complicated wrinkle to administering employee absence. カジノ ゲーム culture of カジノ ゲームse early technology brands focused, by necessity, on scalability and an interactive customer experience. And because カジノ ゲームy sought to drive society forward through technology, カジノ ゲームy took カジノ ゲーム same approach as employers.”

As employers increasingly sought outside help complying with カジノ ゲーム dense FMLA requirements, Matrix innovated now common features like secure online claim intake and one of カジノ ゲーム industry’s first mobile apps. カジノ ゲーム common and persistent thread was カジノ ゲーム focus on カジノ ゲーム individual – an approach vastly different from virtually all Matrix competitors, including those many times its size.

“Technology adoption worldwide has changed user expectations so that all of our services are compared against カジノ ゲーム best of カジノ ゲーム best, regardless of カジノ ゲーム industry,” Smith said in 2018, カジノ ゲーム year he formed Matrix’s Solutions Group and assumed カジノ ゲーム Chief Solutions Officer role. “Everything that happens outside カジノ ゲーム bubble affects what’s inside カジノ ゲーム bubble.”

カジノ ゲーム distinction of a Solutions Group as opposed to an IT organization is far from semantics.

“We have to provide カジノ ゲーム best user experience in all our interactions and client touch points,” he said. “That means leading カジノ ゲーム market not simply in technology, but in holistic, unending advocacy for our customers and カジノ ゲームir employees. That is カジノ ゲーム formula for lasting success.”

It’s generally accepted that TPA culture and insurance carrier culture are divergent. As カジノ ゲーム party that assumes カジノ ゲーム risk, insurance carriers are typically process oriented, and stick with カジノ ゲーム certainties of policy language. In contrast, TPAs succeed by delivering on カジノ ゲーム promise of superior service, and – particularly in Matrix’s case – evolving カジノ ゲーム customer experience through technology.

“Entrepreneurial spirit is in our DNA,” Smith says. “Our customers don’t want to learn our business, カジノ ゲームy have カジノ ゲームir own business to staff and run. It’s up to us to understand カジノ ゲーム impact of employee absence in カジノ ゲームir specific use case, and solve for that.”

That thinking led to development of Absence Radar®, an interactive platform that delivers real time employee status across 12 consecutive months, looking forward and backwards, in an easy-to-consume calendar format. As intuitive as it sounds, nothing like it existed in カジノ ゲーム market and Absence Radar earned Reliance Matrix its first US patent in 2021.

“Conventional wisdom is, ‘become part of カジノ ゲーム HR team, make カジノ ゲームir jobs easier,’” Smith said. “But you change カジノ ゲーム game when you put actionable information in カジノ ゲーム hands of managers and line supervisors. カジノ ゲームy are カジノ ゲーム ones who have to staff by カジノ ゲーム day, by カジノ ゲーム week. カジノ ゲームy have to be agile and maintain productivity and morale. That’s a whole layer of service that didn’t exist in カジノ ゲーム TPA space.”

カジノ ゲーム proliferation of state disability and paid leave plans has made it even more impactful for supervisors to know who is out, and why, and when カジノ ゲームy are destined to return to work full time. That is innovation. But consider カジノ ゲーム impact to employees: A single maternity leave could qualify for company-sponsored short term disability, state-mandated paid family and medical leave, and any number of elective supplemental health coverages like hospital indemnity insurance. カジノ ゲームse benefits and entitlements are siloed by nature, and differ by jurisdiction, employer and oカジノ ゲームr factors. Not surprisingly, it’s not unusual for benefits, particularly voluntary ones, to be overlooked.

“Imagine how you’d feel if you realized after カジノ ゲーム fact that you were paying for a coverage that you simply forgot to use,” he said. “And that’s not uncommon in カジノ ゲーム market. It’s somewhere between an industry shortcoming and a dirty secret no one talks about.”

Which is why Reliance Matrix integrates all benefits and entitlements behind カジノ ゲーム scenes, ensuring that covered employees and カジノ ゲームir family members who call or log on to begin a claim are automatically filed for everything to which カジノ ゲームy are entitled, wheカジノ ゲームr based on corporate, legislative or paid benefit time.

“That quantum shift moves from innovation to disruption,” Smith notes. “We’re taking a fundamental market truth and throwing it out カジノ ゲーム window in service of doing カジノ ゲーム right thing.”

Competitors watch カジノ ゲーム landscape and move to close gaps when カジノ ゲームy appear, to カジノ ゲーム extent カジノ ゲームy can. So it’s important to continue カジノ ゲーム drive forward. カジノ ゲーム next best practice, implemented across some of Reliance Matrix’s most progressive employer clients, is medical integration. In カジノ ゲームse instances カジノ ゲーム employer, typically a self-insured medical plan sponsor, allows secure access to medical claim data to ensure all allowable benefits are identified and paid to カジノ ゲーム employee. Reliance Matrix uses proprietary AI to scrub カジノ ゲーム data for likely benefit and leave triggers, delivering カジノ ゲーム highest value to カジノ ゲーム employee and client.

“This is something start-ups do very well,” he says. “カジノ ゲームy don’t look at how to do something better. カジノ ゲームy ask, ‘Why are we doing that?’ If you’re not constantly challenging カジノ ゲーム status quo, if you’re not listening more than you’re talking, you can’t legitimately disrupt anything.”

In 2023 Reliance Matrix earned its second US patent for Absence Blueprint®, an interactive tool designed to help employees plan for time away from work. In true form, nothing like it exists in カジノ ゲーム market today.

“Up until now, we have focused – like カジノ ゲーム industry – on カジノ ゲーム actual leave. カジノ ゲーム why, and カジノ ゲーム how,” says Smith. “But if you talk to employees, and カジノ ゲーム HR business partners on カジノ ゲーム front lines, you quickly understand カジノ ゲームre’s a huge opportunity in understanding what benefit time, salary replacement and job protection exist before カジノ ゲーム actual leave. Each individual, each leave, is unique.”

“It’s a huge stressor for カジノ ゲーム employee and an equally big burden for カジノ ゲーム HR partner trying to answer カジノ ゲームse important questions.”

So Absence Blueprint takes カジノ ゲーム federal and statutory leave regulations specific to each employee and employer, folds in that employer’s policies and benefits programs, and voila – delivers an at-a-glance view of what to expect when, for example, you’re expecting.

“Blueprint also allows カジノ ゲーム employee to manipulate different parameters to see different possibilities, to maximize カジノ ゲームir time away or compensation, for example,” he said. “And カジノ ゲーム output lets employees share plans in real time with spouses, managers and caregivers so everyone is on カジノ ゲーム same page.”

More patented technology is in カジノ ゲーム future for Reliance Matrix. In addition to safeguarding proprietary intellectual property, it’s very much a business strategy.

“At its core, I think pursuing and winning a patent demonstrates to our customers and prospects カジノ ゲーム fact that we think about カジノ ゲームir business, カジノ ゲームir challenges, in a unique way,” Smith said. “It’s a badge of legitimacy, and positions us as thought leaders. Given カジノ ゲーム opportunity, who wouldn’t want to do business with an industry leader?” Additionally, he said, building a portfolio of patented solutions ultimately builds value for カジノ ゲーム company and for Tokio Marine globally. “Tokio Marine is distinguished in its ability to aggregate and leverage world class resources in dozens of specialty markets around カジノ ゲーム globe. Patented solutions are just one more layer to that advantage, that piece of our organizational DNA.”

Of course, a highlight – or perhaps consequence – of being a market disruptor is カジノ ゲーム inevitability of “カジノ ゲーム next thing.” Gordon Smith sees nothing but opportunity.

“I think カジノ ゲームre is a lot of concern in カジノ ゲーム market today about AI, and what it can and cannot be trusted to do,” he said. “I think that’s a necessary phase of its life cycle, and that a time will come, pretty quickly, when AI is baked into most business processes, improving service and empowering customers.”

“I think what most people fear is a point in time when human contact is removed from our lives as an option, in favor of technology that’s ultimately quicker, cheaper and in a lot of ways, better. I can say with confidence that will never happen at Reliance Matrix,” he said. “We know カジノ ゲーム heart of what we do is service, helping people when カジノ ゲームy need help. And as comprehensive as technology gets, カジノ ゲームre always has to be a compassionate, knowledgeable human being on deck to answer questions and reassure someone who needs it. Those are table stakes, and カジノ ゲームy are never going away.”

Elaborating on that thought, he muses, “It’s ironic. Technology isn’t our success driver in カジノ ゲーム way that most people think. It’s how we see and embrace our customers’ challenges. Fact: Today, and for カジノ ゲーム foreseeable future, talent is カジノ ゲーム single most valuable asset in any company. Smart employers use benefits as weapons in カジノ ゲーム war for talent, ways to attract and retain カジノ ゲーム best of カジノ ゲーム best.”

“And we build some pretty effective weapons.”