Mutual of Omaha IT Leadership Series

Ensuring Mutual of Omaha provides the best possible employee experience is what drives John Ramsey.

In his seven years at Mutual, Ramsey has led teams responsible for modernizing experiences, both from a customer and an employee perspective. At the forefront of both efforts is technology.

“Mutual of Omaha is very forward thinking on how we’re going to use technology to our advantage,” Ramsey said. “It’s great to work for a company that’s investing in technology the way we are.”

Ramsey’s latest role at Mutual of Omaha is as an information services director leading the Employee eXperience team. We recently talked to Ramsey about what excites him about working in an IT role at Mutual of Omaha.

Q. What interested you in a career with Mutual of Omaha?

A: I grew up in Omaha and know how important Mutual of Omaha is to the community. Friends who worked at Mutual before me told me how great the culture was to be a part of. And once I learned about their commitment to technology, I knew Mutual was a place where I wanted to build a career.

Q: Can you give us an example of how your team uses technology to drive results?

A: Our team is heavily focused on optimizing the “working remote” experience. As an example, it previously could have taken several days to get an employee a new laptop. We can now get an employee a new laptop in minutes thanks to dozens of automations implemented by the team. When we modernize our tools, our ability to provide prompt service to our employees drastically improves.

Q: What are some of the cool things your team is working on?

A: As many people probably know, Mutual is building a new corporate headquarters, and hybrid work will be a key element of our new work environment. Our team is looking forward to anticipate what that environment would look like. We’re experimenting with tools people need to do their jobs, such as ultra-wide monitors, workstations, advanced conferencing technology, and smart boards. Our end goal is to provide a high-quality and consistent employee experience, whether someone is working at home or in the office.

Q: How are you measuring your team’s success?

A: Employee experience can be measured by many different factors, but we’re starting by understanding our employees better. Our team is working closely with business partners to build personas to help us understand the motivators and stressors of our jobs. By building this foundation, we can focus improvement efforts toward the things that really matter to employees.

Q: What are you looking for in new team members?

A: We’re often looking for individuals with an engineering and automation mindset. Regardless of your role, the issue to solve is that Mutual employees have too many touchpoints to do their job. We want to make their experience frictionless, so they can focus on the work that matters most to them.

The technology modernization we’re in the midst of makes this a great time to work for Mutual of Omaha. We’re always looking to help IT employees build a variety of skill sets to help them advance their careers.