1. Washington State Employment Security Department
Innovating UI Programs through Business Process Reengineering
Steve Ruggles, UI Benefits Administrator

2. Who is Washington State UI?
Unemployment Insurance Benefits Division –
Approximately 300 staff
Two main Claim Centers, Special Programs, and Office of Special Investigations
Two Claim Centers – Spokane and Lacey
Special Programs – Shared Work, Training Benefits, Trade Readjustment Allowance, Job Search Review Center, Special Wage & Benefits
Office of Special Investigations – Fraud, Identity, and Data Mining units
Central Office – Budget, Lean, Training
TAA = Trade Adjustment Assistance

3. We travelled down both roads

4. Where we started
UI Benefits started the transition to continuous improvement/Lean in 2012
Inconsistent processes (150 adjudicators using their own process)
Various answers depending on who you asked (policy, sups, leads, Spokane, Seattle)
Unpredictable production levels
Our first efforts – standard work in adjudication
Adjudication teams (2)
Continuous improvement teams ( - lesson learned)
Template teams (+ lesson learned)
Standard work teams

5. Process mapping at our first kaizen

6. Our journey Greenbelt training (slam dunk projects) Blackbelt training
Lean/Continuous Improvement Project Manager
Outside Lean consultant
Visual management boards
Lean leadership training for sups/leads ( - lesson learned, start this earlier than we did)
Staff involvement (use their ideas)
Communication (there is never enough, but make this a priority – 7 ways/7 times)
Certified 60 staff in Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt training
Completed numerous “slam dunk” projects in training
Certified 3 staff in Black Belt Lean/Six Sigma training
Hired Divisions Lean/Organizational Development Manager
Brought in contracted Lean Business Consultant
Partnered for Lean Leadership training for managers, supervisors, and lead workers
Get staff involved – asked them what needed to be fixed
Communication – this was a major focus on all efforts. Communicate early and often. Be transparent.

7. Green Belt projects Peer to peer training MG (gross misconduct) issue
Pension/School specialization
D2/D9 project
Quarterly review (formerly SST)
Staff privacy on s
Huddle improvement
Reduce reoccurring questions
Standardize standby
Reduce 1099 calls
Reducing defects in job search review
Streamline and document UCX/UCFE process
Talk about a few key projects

8. Other improvements
Continuous improvement teams - One Fix-It Team for UI processes (Future Investment eXamining Improvement Team)
Template team
SharePoint teams
Policy question process
Hybrid – combining intake & adjudication for first call resolution
Visual boards/huddles
Adjudication quality

9. Quarterly quality (BTQ) scores
Had consistently not met BTQ goals for separation decisions.
Team of about 10 met in June 2013 to do root cause analysis and make recommendations.
Kaizen & Improvement efforts

10. Baseline data collection & root cause Number of decisions with these defects
2nd quarter 2012 through 1st quarter 2013
Reviewed 287 written decisions
Focused efforts on the top three

11. What we did about quality
Due process quick win
Kaizen event
Quick checks
Quality reviews
Umpire consistency

12. Due process adjudication defects
Baseline data was a review of the 287 decisions written
Success measures was based on a review of 1,578 decisions written March – August 2014
Other things done –
Implemented a quick check form so that sups and leads can review a large number of decisions quickly focusing on just the top three areas.
Later implemented a more thorough quality review of the entire decision

13. Quality reviews Quick Checks Quality Reviews
Large volumes conducted by supewrvisors/leads
Do we have an issue
Date of separation
Start date of the decision
Due process followed
Quality Reviews
Review two decisions per adjudicator each week
Immediate in person feedback
Training and learning focused

14. Quarterly quality (BTQ) scores
As you can see we made significant improvements and with little exception, we have sustained it for several quarters
Kaizen & Improvement efforts

15. 2016 Call connect rate

16. 2015 vs 2016 Call connect rate
2016

17. Where are we now? Building on lessons learned
Improving and using visual management boards
Going live with a new UI System
Customer First Initiative – one piece flow

18. Any questions?

19. Thank you Steve Ruggles, Administrator Spokane UI Claims Center