Well-run banks have top-performing Administrative & Operational (A&O) functions that help enable their broader business strategy and objectives. In CCG Catalyst’s experience, optimizing within each A&O function creates improvement but is rarely enough to reach full potential. The biggest gains come from looking within and across all functions and fundamentally changing the way people work together to deliver the highest-value to the bank.
What We Do
To create lasting improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, we help banks focus on getting four things right:
The Business Strategy supported by the correct support functions: A&O leaders need to anticipate and adapt to evolving industry and functional trends. A&O functions are evolving their roles to focus more on enhancing business value as opposed to delivering transactional support.
The service portfolio and service levels aligned with business needs: Top-performing banks build alignment with the business on which support services should be “best in class” and which services should be “good enough” to help meet business needs and manage demand.
The optimal service delivery model: Banks fundamentally change how work is done in order to simplify and eliminate low-value activities. These structural changes require a greater commitment than quick cuts to the current system but provide much longer-lasting value.
The right people, processes, and systems: Optimizing the A&O function is not a one-time event. Ensuring the right people are in the right jobs with the right priorities and the right incentives ensures that costs don’t creep back in. Banks that get it right offer the re-training necessary for employees to succeed in their newly designed roles, invest in tools that drive productivity and create a culture of continuous improvement to ensure that processes keep getting better and costs don’t creep back in.
Our Approach
We are driven by your strategy. Every bank is unique in what you bring to market. Our process supports your business strategy and put in place a “Best Practice” that is designed for your bank.
We focus on effectiveness and efficiency versus just cutting costs. Instead of starting with what functions are doing, we start with what customers want.
We tackle both the function-specific improvement opportunities and the deeper structural issues. These often cut across functions and involve processes, systems and culture.
We don’t streamline processes. We change how the work is done. We offer customized solutions using multiple levers and tools to create larger and faster results that are sustained over time.
At the heart of any improvement is recognizing that support functions may need new roles for new aspirations. The greater a bank’s aspirations, the deeper the structural changes required. We work with banking leaders to redefine the work, and to help employees find fresh ways of adding value to the broader organization.
Client Engagements
Process Re-engineering
Client was seeking a highly qualified firm with proven success in process improvement and change management. We were retained, the first phase of the engagement was an assessment of all operational and support functions. The second phase was the implementation phases of our process initiative resulting in improved efficiency, client service, and profitability. The foundation of this initiative was a comprehensive analysis of the Bank’s using CCG Catalyst’s Top/Down – Bottom/Up approach, which resulted in long term savings to the bank.
Cost Reduction
The Bank retained CCG Catalyst based on an initiative to primary reduce cost and workflow improvement. The bank also was in need of assistance putting in place a best in class “Customer Experience” based on our work in Service Operations. This phase of the engagement focused on operational functions performed in the branches as well as in the centralized operational areas. As part of this engagement, we provide detailed improvement suggestions that the bank was able to implement on their own based on our advice. The end result was a bank that was more efficient and effective over the coming years.
