Business Process Reengineering Lean Transformation How Arizona UI used Lean reengineering to improve processes for both staff and customers

Background In dealing with the Great Recession, Arizona UI created a number of processes that were the best solutions at the time After the Great Recession, the budget shrank and we added additional solutions to cope with the reduced staffing Examples Requiring claimants to file claims online FAQs online to answer questions Examples included requiring (most) claimants to file new and continued claims online we added more FAQs online and hoped that they answered most claimant and employer questions For those who needed to call, we had only a few staff dedicated to answering claimant questions resulting in long waits made worse with an outdated phone system

Background By late 2014, I was looking into Six Sigma and Lean to correct some of these past efficiencies In early 2015, Governor Doug Ducey had the various Departments begin to use Lean to reengineer processes UI was ready and we were one of the first areas in our Department to Lean our processes

Lean Reducing the call wait times was our first Lean project Selected a team Mapped the processes Implemented the changes Tracked, measured and adjusted We selected a team that included call agents and a few of us from the leadership including a Lean expert We tacked a huge sheet of butcher paper on the wall and mapped the process with drawings and multi-colored Post-its Identified the waste Identified other improvements such as our Interactive Voice Response, and webpage We increased the amount of information on the IVR, which answered many of the common questions We improved the amount of information on our webpages but also how the information was worded and presented Implemented the changes, tracked, measured and adjusted

Call Wait Times Reduced 100 minutes to 10 seconds UI Inquiry Calls Call Wait Times Reduced 100 minutes to 10 seconds Calls Answered Percentage 47% to 100% The 100 minutes were usually over two or three days We did this without adding additional staff (Erlang C indicated that we’d need over60 staff, we had about 20)

Improved Online Claims Weekly Continued Claims 85% to 90% Paper Claims 60% reduction Although we had required all claimants to file initial and weekly continued claims online, we still had a percentage who filed paper claims The online CC system would only take one week, If someone missed that, they had to call and agent or got to a reemployment office to get a paper claim The other paper claims were initial claims, mostly filed by migrant and seasonal farmworkers who lived in Mexico but worked in Arizona. Filing online was difficult, so they would go into one of the two remaining local UI offices and complete a paper claim.

Other Projects Tax Account Applications Reducing “No Issues” Imaging Increasing Workforce Full Registration Online Filing Reduced the amount of time to file an new Tax application Reduced the number of claims that needed adjudication but were not actual countable issues Reduced the time and volume of documents scanned by the Imaging Unit Claimants complete a partial workforce registration during the UI claims process. We are working on increasing the number of claimants that fully register with the Workforce Administration in order to provide complete services Increase the number of employers that file tax reports and payments online

Keeping Up the Lean Momentum Desk Aid Gemba Walks Huddles Scorecards

Presented by Andy Baldwin Arizona UI Director Abaldwin@azdes.gov 520 770-3769