Spotlight | Customer Perspectives | Technology Perspectives | Best Practices | News   Performance Management Yields Major Dividends for UK's Co-Op Bank Company wide implementation drives commercial results The Co-operative Bank is among the UK's most successful banks. The company was merged with its sister company, Co-operative Insurance Services (CIS), under the umbrella of Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) to create a powerful financial services provider with a shared customer base approaching 7 million and a full range of banking and insurance products. The Bank says it owes much of its success to a wholehearted commitment to employee performance, pursued in the belief that, by focusing individual effort on key corporate objectives, it could positively impact commercial results. Performix has been deployed across the Bank's contact center operations and branch network to over 90% of the bank's 4,400 strong workforce, as the bank seeks an ever-closer alignment between individual employee effort and the achievement of its corporate objectives. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive deployments of employee performance management technology in Europe. "As a commercial organization driven by co-operative principles we've always been profoundly concerned with the management and development of employees. In the past, however, this was too frequently seen as an activity that distracted management attention from the commercial priorities rather than focused us upon them. Using Performix we've been able to establish clear links between our overall business objectives and the performance targets set for individuals. That means employees and their managers can see on a daily basis, exactly how their performance is affecting business progress. As a result, managing people has become integral to managing the Bank," says Shelagh Everett, Director of Strategy & Business Projects for The Co-operative Bank. Client achievements Revenues and profitability up 13% and 27% respectively Sales conversion rates doubled and tripled on key products Employee satisfaction at record levels Customer satisfaction scores ahead of other UK banks, as measured by MORI Improved contact center productivity ROI within six months A flexible, results driven business tool Performix creates a matrix linking individual employee targets to the key performance indicators used to monitor performance in each business unit. In turn, these KPIs are directly tied to overall business objectives. Performix then automates the performance management process to deliver an objective, accurate and transparent view of individual performance directly to each employee's desktop on a daily basis. Employee targets can be weighted to reflect their potential impact on team performance, making it easy for employees and their managers to prioritize and focus their efforts on those activities that will deliver the greatest benefit. This ability to prioritize has allowed The Co-operative Bank to achieve some startling results. For example, when sales of personal loans were given higher priority through Performix, completion rates doubled within a month. Similarly, sales conversion rates for privilege accounts almost tripled. At the same time, productivity improved, with the number of customer contacts handled increasing significantly. "Performix has become a practical management tool that allows us to shift employee focus quickly when new priorities, such as service introductions, arise or there is a requirement to focus effort on a particular product segment or channel," says Everett. "Because the target-setting capability of the software is infinitely flexible, we're able to give employees in different work groups very specific priorities that reflect their business function." Improved commercial performance Performix has helped the Bank drive change that has delivered consistent improvement in commercial performance. Improved productivity in its contact center operations has, for example, generated significant cost savings. Everett tells us, "In the past we had a raft of team coaches in our contact centers who, rather than coaching, spent most of their time trying to track down data from the myriad reports generated by our diverse systems just to get a picture of how things were going. The process was so long-winded that feedback - either to employees or the business - was so late that it was of little value. Because managers now have an immediate source of objective and consolidated information, they're able to spend their time productively coaching individuals and developing their skills; as a result, we've been able to remove the specific role of team coach." Developing employees and reviewing performance Employee reviews and the production of development plans are also being automated through Performix. On a monthly basis the system identifies weaknesses in employees' performance and automatically triggers a program of training and personal development options to address them. The system presents the most appropriate training activity from a pre-established menu of options, including e-learning, one-on-one coaching or specialist study, and enables time for the training to be allocated within the employee's work schedule. Most importantly, after the training, it will monitor whether and to what extent performance has improved against the specified objective. "Not only does Performix save valuable management time, it also means we are able to target training investment more effectively and evaluate its effectiveness," says Everett. Satisfying customers - satisfying staff Performix was introduced first to the customer-facing areas of the Bank - its contact centers and branch network - where it has primarily been used to focus employees on service improvements designed to drive customer loyalty, retention, and sales; key priorities in today's increasingly fickle banking climate. Over the last three years The Co-operative Bank's customer satisfaction scores have outstripped those of other major UK banks, according to MORI. Employees too have welcomed the objectivity and clarity provided by Performix. The Bank's union, UNIFI, of which circa 65% of the bank's employees are members, has embraced the technology. According to Bernie Davies, UNIFI Seconded Representative, "Performix brings objectivity and clarity to the employee review process." Company-wide deployment As Shelagh Everett tells us, "This is breaking new ground. To date we've used this technology to monitor the performance of employees at the coal face of our operations, engaged in regular and repeatable business processes which, one might argue, are relatively easy to manage and regulate. By applying the same technique to senior managers we'll uncover the true value of management's contribution to the business and focus their attention on their primary role as developers of our people's skills and potential." "Performix brings objectivity and clarity to the employee review process." Bernie Davies UNIFI Seconded Representative7   "Using Performix we've been able to establish clear links between our overall business objectives and the performance targets set for individuals. That means employees and their managers can see on a daily basis, exactly how their performance is affecting business progress. As a result, managing people has become integral to managing the Bank" "Not only does Performix save valuable management time, it also means we are able to target training investment more effectively and evaluate its effectiveness." Shelagh Everett Director of Strategy & Business Projects
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