Case study

Building on Lean Improvements

Implementing a customer focused and continuous improvement culture

Business challenge

Faced with the challenge of building a new shared-services group and keen to proactively introduce a greater focus on performance and customer service, this bank selected lean-management as a vehicle for change.

Spanning multiple geographies and business entities, a common approach incorporating management best-practices was required to break down organizational silos and to anchor a culture of continuous improvement.

Process

A transformational change program was structured to implement a lean way-of-working, build lean thinking capabilities and deliver significant results across 5 entities working in 4 countries.

Program and Performance Management

Multiple approaches were used simultaneously, including bottom-up coaching of individual teams and large scale deployment of “must have” practices including white-boards and daily team meetings. A performance management system with cascaded KPIs and targets, and streamlined meeting structures were implemented in each entity.

Organizational Transformation

A “back-pack” of best-practice tools and training was developed, and communities of practice and a certification process were established to support ongoing learning. Finally, the new way-of-working was anchored by building it into existing people processes including training, appraisals, and incentives.

Results

20%

Cost-income

5%

Continuous improvement results YoY