Operating Model is the Link Between Your Strategy, Customer Experience and Profits

Designing the right operating model for the integration of two banks.

Redesign the Operating Model

The acquisition of one bank by another created the largest banking group in its country. However, the rapid process had left significant gaps in the integration plan.

The leadership team asked Gobeyond Partners to redesign the operating model for their wholesale contact centres, to realise the potential benefits of the integration.

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Options and opportunities

Using our proprietary operating model design methodology, we embarked on an 8 week redesign programme.

Undertaking significant research and speaking to real customers meant we could turn the customer needs into operational requirements.

We worked with the client team to develop design principles. Our unique approach means we start with a blank piece of paper – not a list of options.

A stretching set of principles were defined. From personal service, first point of contact resolution, and multichannel ‘always on’ availability for customers, and job enrichment and business stability for employees.

By ranking and weighting our design principles and iterating the design options (parametric analysis) we tested the theories to see the potential benefits in their entirety – £4.4m in cost savings alone.

The option taken to feasibility saw integration of telephony and maintenance, creating a multiskilled ‘flex’ team to balance demand.

It was clear this would deliver substantial service, efficiency, and colleague benefits as well as the predicted savings. Not to mention the additional revenue opportunities that could be realised alongside these.

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Realising the benefits

As projected, results were far greater than simply reducing costs.

By standardising process and consistency, and focusing on the customer – first point of contact resolution improved to 95%.

Speed of service across both maintenance and telephony also increased markedly.

By training specialist teams and multiskilling employees we could smooth the demand profiles for both telephony and maintenance.

Alongside a core efficiency improvement of 10%, this gave front line teams 20% more customer facing time.

This led to an increase in sales opportunities, and consequently with the right operating model implemented it has an uplift in revenue.

Through the creation of multiskilled specialists we improved job enrichment, one of the core colleague issues. This initiative saw engagement scores climb, and absence levels reduce by around 36%.