Quocirca Insight Report: Operations Management in UK Financial Services
QUOCIRCA INSIGHT REPORT
November 2007
Contacts:
Sharon Crawford Quocirca Ltd Tel +44 7989 243830 sharon/crawford@quocirca.com Operations Management in UK Financial Services
How effectively is technology being applied to help to monitor and improve operations performance?
The extremely competitive nature of the financial services industry today and the changing landscape of customer expectations and their approach to investing in financial products, puts an onus on suppliers to consider how well they are dealing with new and existing customers’ business transactions. Much is written about the frontline call centre operations, but this report focuses on the back office activities, the operational area where complex applications and enquiries are processed. This research investigates how technology is being applied to manage and improve operations. Operations management is a critical business task contributing significantly to the overall performance of financial services companies Over 90% of UK financial services companies set and publish operational targets. Reducing processing times and costs are targeted alongside measuring the quality of work done. Production Management methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma are being applied extensively to manage work throughput. The UK has embraced the use of specific operations management systems 85% of UK financial services companies report having specific systems in place to support operations management. Reporting, document and process management tools and to a lesser extent, staff forecasting and scheduling applications are all components of such systems. Such systems have had an impact on improved operations The survey shows that introducing operations management systems has led to improved customer service, reduced costs and better staff utilisation. However, despite a reasonable degree of satisfaction with such systems, there is room for improvement. Also, although staff attitudes should be important,
November 2007
Contacts:
Sharon Crawford Quocirca Ltd Tel +44 7989 243830 sharon/crawford@quocirca.com Operations Management in UK Financial Services
How effectively is technology being applied to help to monitor and improve operations performance?
The extremely competitive nature of the financial services industry today and the changing landscape of customer expectations and their approach to investing in financial products, puts an onus on suppliers to consider how well they are dealing with new and existing customers’ business transactions. Much is written about the frontline call centre operations, but this report focuses on the back office activities, the operational area where complex applications and enquiries are processed. This research investigates how technology is being applied to manage and improve operations. Operations management is a critical business task contributing significantly to the overall performance of financial services companies Over 90% of UK financial services companies set and publish operational targets. Reducing processing times and costs are targeted alongside measuring the quality of work done. Production Management methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma are being applied extensively to manage work throughput. The UK has embraced the use of specific operations management systems 85% of UK financial services companies report having specific systems in place to support operations management. Reporting, document and process management tools and to a lesser extent, staff forecasting and scheduling applications are all components of such systems. Such systems have had an impact on improved operations The survey shows that introducing operations management systems has led to improved customer service, reduced costs and better staff utilisation. However, despite a reasonable degree of satisfaction with such systems, there is room for improvement. Also, although staff attitudes should be important,