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Case Studies
Redesign
of a manufacturing division
Redesign of a bank division
Resolving
conflicting objectives in an IS group
Designing a consulting division
New product introduction redesign
Implementing a new performance management
system
Managing the development needs of 1000 consultants
Rollout of proprietary training
A review of an existing rewards and motivation
system
Case Studies | Redesign of a bank division
In this example, the client company was the deposit account division of a major clearing bank. Changes in exchange rates, coupled with the introduction of new tax breaks, had prompted a surge in demand. They had taken on extra staff, but were suffering from backlogs and customer complaints.
As was usual in the banking industry staff were split into groups according to function. One group dealt with changes to account holder details, one dealt with withdrawals, one with reinvestments etc. Instructions would arrive from the branch network on forms, and would be passed to the appropriate group. Unfortunately most of the forms had to be processed by more than one group, which meant they spent a lot of time in trays before they were completely dealt with. If a member of branch staff called with a query it was difficult to track down who had the form in their tray.
We agreed that the best way to approach the situation would be to start by understanding the business processes, and then use that understanding to come up with options for the organisation structure. We also agreed that the changes would be designed and implemented by a team selected from within the company. The work would be broken into stages, starting with a diagnostic, and there would be a review at the end of each stage.
Once the team was selected, we trained them in a range of project working methods and helped them to define the objectives of the project. In the diagnostic stage we quantified the volume of work and some of the problems. This helped us to focus on what needed to improve, and to convince people that there was a real need to change.
In the design stages we developed a map of the business processes, and understood the contribution of each of the bank divisions and each of the groups within the deposit centre in detail. We had a steady stream of visitors to see the process map as no-one had had the opportunity to see the whole process from end to end before. Many suggestions for ways to streamline the process were investigated and implemented.
We developed a new organisation model, in which groups of deposit centre staff were aligned to geographical groups of branches. Each of the new groups could carry out the complete range of deposit centre activities. This meant they could develop relationships with the branches, and would always be able to track down account details. We created new definitions for the roles of group leader and member so responsibilities would be clear.
The transition was carefully planned to minimise the period of disruption. Group leaders and members were selected so that each group had a good mix of skills and levels of experience. Training plans were developed to address skills gaps and new measures of performance were set up. In parallel with the organisational aspects we helped the IT department to identify and prioritise changes to the computer systems.
On this project I worked as a full time member of the team for the duration of the project - five months - as coach, facilitator and expert resource. I helped them to plan each stage of the project, introduced relevant techniques and as we went along, and helped plan communications with their management team and colleagues to ensure continued support.
The project was regarded as a significant success by management, deposit centre staff and branch staff. Branch staff confidence in the process was restored, and the deposit centre productivity was significantly and sustainably increased. The new organisation and management structures that had been implemented meant capacity was more flexible and skills development and planning could be managed more effectively.
