Case Study
Improving service, reducing HR costs.
Using operations excellence in HR centralisation.
Suboptimal HR service quality and quantity
For efficiency reasons, a UK bank had migrated HR resources from a decentralised to a centralised model. However, the revised HR organisation had failed to deliver the quantity and the quality of services for which it had been designed.
Lean organisational redesign
A Lean team reviewed all the processes and teams within the central HR services function. Lean methodologies and concepts such as ‘value stream mapping’ and the ‘voice of the customer’ were used to evaluate how well the function was performing. This analysis enabled the team to gain insight into where processes were being held up, why internal customers were not receiving the service they desired and where duplication in administrative areas existed.
Based on this analysis, a new organisational structure – one based on Lean principles – was designed and implemented.
Processes were also redesigned to ensure that customers received good quality advice and answers in a timely manner.
The new organisation included:
• The appointment of a value stream manager to ensure all process improvements would be translated into service benefits (such as more rapid turnaround times and lower costs)
• The adoption of an ‘end-to-end’ ownership model for transactional processes by one department to avoid the delays inherent in the old process, under which work was moved between four different areas
• The introduction of customer-focused Key Performance Indicators in the help desk areas (and the underpinning of these new KPIs by supporting the ‘expert’ team to become a focused team of floor-walking coaches who helped phone agents to resolve queries at first touch)
• Abandonment of inappropriate measures such as ‘average handling time’ and ‘grade of service’ in favour of ‘resolution at first touch’ and ‘customer talk-time’
• The co-location of support function roles (including IT, Supplier Management and Project Management) with the core HR activities to make sure that communication and co-ordination could happen more quickly and efficiently.
30% cost savings to the business
The benefits of the Lean review and the implementation of its recommendations over the first 3 months delivered significant benefits:
