case study: Back-office Operations improvements

BACKGROUND

Our client, a leading Australasian bank offering a full range of direct and broker-introduced retail mortgage products, was facing a number of challenges:

Increased broker activity had reduced margins and introduced time to complete as a competitive dimension
Approaches including TQM, ABC and BPR had been used previously, without gaining step-change benefits
Staff morale was low

Management was initially unconvinced that a productivity uplift could be achieved in such a short time frame and work in their unique business.

OUR ROLE

By using our Workforce Improvement approach our experienced consultants implemented a sustainable, bottom-up change of culture and management practices. We actively mentored team leaders, helping them create a dynamic unit cost model, while empowering individual staff and teams to foster an open, accountable culture focused on performance and continuous improvement.

RESULT

The benefits of the Workforce Improvement program exceeded the clients expectations delivering:

22% productivity improvement, and stablised within 5% variation
10% reduction in FTE
Significant lift in morale, as staff become empowered to manage their own workloads
Adoption of the reveal group approach by team leaders and supervisors, ensuring gains are sustainable
Productivity has been incorporated as a KRA for individuals and team leaders

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