All participants in the New Zealand Best Practice Competition receive verified certificates and digital badges displaying their star ratings (refer to Fig. 1), alongside verified credentials from the International Best Practice Competition.

Fig 1: Westpac New Zealand Ltd. and FMG’s New Zealand Best Practice Competition digital badge, shareable across social media platforms

Below is a short case study from the Winning Best Practice: ‘Life and Health Insurance – Advice Creation Review’ by FMG (Farmers Mutual Group)

 Founded in 1905, FMG is a New Zealand-owned mutual insurer with over 120 years of rural roots. Its ‘Life and Health Insurance – Advice Creation Review’, a process improvement initiative that transformed the process for producing Statements of Advice (SOAs), cutting the lead time, delivering faster, tailored insurance advice to clients. Using Lean Six Sigma’s structured DMAIC approach (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control), FMG designed an improved advice creation process through a three-phase deployment. It streamlined workflows, eliminated non-value steps, tackled seven of eight wastes, and introduced new templates, improving both compliance and employee morale.

The graph in Fig. 2 shows the significant non-financial benefits gained through the 3 stages of improvement, with the Average Lead Time for producing an SOA dropping from 6.7 days to just 2.1 days, well beyond its initial target of under 6 days. The Maximum Lead Time narrowed dramatically, from 38 days to just 7, creating a more predictable and efficient workflow. The initiative also freed capacity equal to four full-time roles, valued at $202,837 USD annually, and has been fully deployed across the Life & Health team, delivering sustainable benefits for clients and staff alike.

Inspiring the Future of Best Practices in New Zealand

Congratulations to FMG and Westpac New Zealand Limited on being recognised for their best practices. We encourage organisations across New Zealand, regardless of size or sector, to consider participating in the New Zealand Best Practice Competition 2026. This is an opportunity to share and benchmark your own practices on both a national and international stage (with automatic entry also into the International Best Practice Competition 2026).

To know more about how you can participate in the New Zealand Best Practice Competition 2026, please contact:
Dr Robin Mann, Chairman, International Best Practice Competition
Email: r.s.mann@coer.org.nz
Phone: +64 21 142 6531