What challenge(s) do our clients face?
Over an organization’s lifecycle in any industry, it is common that the way core and non-core processes are executed can become costly, complicated or even a barrier for growth
Organizations must regularly look internally and challenge their operations as they change in size, focus, market position and as technology evolves. Inefficient processes are somehow a consequence of incremental or more immediate changes to a business, which could be due to:
- Growth and reorientation of the organizational structures e.g. matrix, shared services, regional and even global structures play a role in process
- Poor understanding of interdependencies and connection between processes
- Use of multiple different systems, platforms and management models, which interface but do not necessarily communicated and link properly
- A lack of granular and specific understanding of stages, activities and roles in core and non-core processes
The cost of inefficient processes is amplified in today’s context with the fundamental role of technology, deeper and more frequent client interactions, multi-channel sales strategies, and complex legislation and compliance measures. Organizations can feel the inefficiency across the entire business through:
- Decreased service level
- Decreased profitability, driven by cost increase due to manual and non-scalable activities
- Inability to adjust process and cope with more advanced compliance principles
- Slow reaction and decision-making in response to changes in customer needs
- Misalignment between areas of the business due to lack of visibility
- Decreased consumer satisfaction due to slow and/or confusing communication
- Lengthy and uncompetitive time to market
When inefficient processes have been recognized as a root cause, organizations need to go beyond incremental improvements and rethink not only the way things are done, but how the business works at its core. Such an overhaul requires professionals to look at their day-to-day with an open mind, question how and why processes work as they do, and use internal and external references to find different approaches.
The principles of process design have been well-documented since the re-engineering age of the 90´s, but from our experience, entering a redesign still brings challenges in itself:
- Engaging professionals across the business to collaborate in the redesign process
- Transforming entrenched beliefs about “how things are done”
- Managing conflicts of interest between functions in changing roles, responsibilities and decision-making power
- Considering new tools and systems that impact process, but rely on external providers
How do we help?
We work together with all levels of your organization to identify and prioritize critical inefficiencies, map new processes, and build an implementation plan to prepare the wider team to execute on new ways of working from day 1.
By using a range of tools from traditional reengineering techniques, interviews and process mapping, to rapid prototyping, scrum groups and advanced analytics, we guarantee that any process redesign will be fully tailored to the needs of both your business and your teams.
We make sure to overcome the non-technical challenges which are common across industries and geographies. Challenges such as preparing professionals to understand the benefits versus the challenges ahead, executing the change management during implementation and coordinating all pieces necessary for the transformation (from systems to people).
Our methodology supports our clients to:
- Evaluate and prioritize processes, based on gaps and risks
- Redesign processes to maximize efficiency within the business
- Map the enabling factors for the processes to become embedded in the day-to-day
- Prepare and run the implementation plan, supporting the team to execute according to the organization’s targets
What are the benefits?
- Increase resource productivity: eliminate unproductive, non-value-adding and duplicated activities, and reduce manual and exception activities
- Improve service level: reduce time to deliver and delays through process clarification
- Increase reliability: processes that more accurately represent reality, are clear to all, and are followed, reducing compliance risk and errors and making breaks in the chain easy to identify
- Reduce reliance on individuals: standard, documented processes that can be executed by anyone with the necessary capabilities
- Increase accountability: better awareness of roles, ownership and accountability
- Empower teams for continuous improvement: teams have the knowledge and understanding of the new processes and rationale, and can repeat the redesign process in other areas
How does it work?
SUCCESS STORIES
CHALLENGE
An asset management firm grew rapidly through third party investment and the acquisition of new credit portfolios, which differed from their base business. As the organization entered a moment of transition in terms of management model and business characteristics, it needed to ensure greater control of the operation, which had typically run on undocumented, implicit knowledge of its professionals. The goal was to prepare the business for growth in a sustainable way.
APPROACH
We carried out a diagnosis of the 11 areas and 96 processes of the organization, and identified 16 priority processes in core areas. We worked with a multifunctional team inside the client to redesign priority processes through a series of workshops, simultaneously mapping out the key factors required to implement them. Once the processes were finalized, we prepared a full roadmap of activities to implement and solidify the new way of working, involving professionals of many different levels across the entire organization.
RESULT
With the implementation of the priority processes, the company gained productivity particularly through the front office areas, which allowed them to grow 2,5 times in AUM in 3 years without an increase in hiring.
CHALLENGE
A top Developer and Administrator of Shopping Malls questioned the efficiency of its strategic planning process. The process begun at the unit level and had many back-and-forth revisions and iterations with corporate areas, leading to generalized frustration, misalignments and many versions of the plan.
APPROACH
We diagnosed the need to balance 3 perspectives. (i) the long term view, needed by the real estate development business, (ii) the short term view needed by the administration of the local business unit, and (iii) the need to segment the overall corporate’s guidance.
Based on this knowledge we were able to define a process which broke down the guidance from shopping clusters into one specific mall with a clear time line, governance, meetings and participants.
RESULT
The new process was successfully implemented and reduced by 50% the number of unnecessary and painful interactions through clear guidelines on activity and meeting objectives, participants and roles, making the planning process run on time with a better quality and better alignment of the challenges.
CHALLENGE
A multi-business unit Commercial Bank – one of the largest retail banks in Brazil – was struggling to meet sales and processing objectives in the multi-million-dollar Home Loans unit. Due to a recent merger process inside the area, the adjusted processes were not well established or running smoothly, causing delays, frustrations, poor service level and consequently the loss of revenue from unsatisfied clients.
APPROACH
Together with the client we identified bottlenecks with internal and external providers, redesigned the interaction with customers to meet core customer needs, and reviewed the organizational structure to prioritize resource allocation in the most critical and complicated parts of the process. In this case, the diagnosis of system requirements and its possible benefits were key to map the area needs and prioritize the initiatives.
RESULT
The implementation of the project resulted in an efficiency gain that more than doubled the number of contracts processed by each FTE, improved response time, and reduced future hiring needs (double the volume without extra man power).
OUR INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
We work with a broad spectrum of industries redesigning especially core and front office processes.
Since we don’t have our team specialized by industry, we can leverage ideas and best practices from one sector to another, reaching recommendations that are not only tailored and reality adherent, but also innovative.
In past years sectors that we have higher project concentration were fast-moving consumer goods companies, Real Estate, Financial, and Services companies.
TALK TO US
Andréa Volpe
Andrea Volpe is an senior manager and has worked on projects on commercial policy, pricing, cost reduction, cost-to-serve, due diligence, and synergies calculation in the consumer goods, retail and third-party sectors.
Carolina Flores
Carolina Flores is a senior director an has been working in our Finance & Management Practice since 2010, helping our clients across industries achieve important transformations. She has often been involved in projects of large and international scale supporting organizations to achieve their financial objectives through efficiency programmes, Organizational Structure changes, Synergy Evaluation and PMI [...]
Constanza Alves
Constanza Alves is a senior manager within Integration´s Implementation and Leadership & Organization Practices and has been working in the company since 2013. Her experience includes Change Management, Culture Transformation, PMO, Process Redesign, S&OP, PMI and Logistic Networks in sectors such as Retail, Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Technology and Industrials (Paper, Oil and Gas, Construction materials).
Diogo Selingardi
Diogo Selingardi is a director and has been working in Integration's Implementation practice since 2011, supporting our clients across sectors, but in particular Private Equity, Financial Services and Consumer Goods. Across his time working in Implementation he has delivered and led complex projects related to M&A, PMI, synergy capture, cost reduction and strategic planning.
Hugo Ribeiro
Hugo Ribeiro is a founding partner at Integration and can count on more than 30 years of experience in consulting. Hugo, who holds a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Harvard University, is a senior specialist in the area of Finance & Management and frequently leads projects in Organizational Structure, Strategic Planning, M&A, Improvement of [...]
Jaime Espinoza
Jaime Espinoza is a senior manager at Integration with significant experience in Supply Chain and Implementation having worked across both of Integrations practices. His work in consulting has developed his knowledge in industries including Consumer Goods, Construction, Pharmaceuticals, Private Equity and Infrastructure among others. Moreover, the founding of his own company, an intermediary technology platform [...]
Jorge Gomes
Jorge Gomes is a senior director and a highly experienced professional in our Finance & Management practice having joined Integration in 2008. Jorge has travelled to countries around the world in support of our clients, leading projects related to revenue management, strategic planning, M&A and more. He has a well-rounded experience having completed multiple projects [...]
Marília José
Marília José is a director at Integration. From may 2014 to jan 2018 she worked in the Finance & Management Practice, and since then has been serving the Implementation Practice as a Finance & Management business partner. Her experience includes work in strategic roadmaps, transformation and cost reduction, project management, governance and indicators, and process [...]