In our retail banking operation, labor is our single biggest cost. We needed to do a better job of managing our pool of labor across our rapidly expanding branch network while ensuring that our customers continued to have a positive experience in our branches. Our objective was to make sure our tellers were available when our customers arrived in the branch while at the same time making sure we were not overstaffed. The goal for each of our branches is to serve 80% of its customers in less than five minutes.
Balancing Act
To achieve this balance between having too many or too few staff, MidAmerica partnered with Witness Enterprise Solutions (formerly Demos Solutions), on a branch productivity and staffing project. The bank had been a long-time customer and had been impressed with the vendor's industry experience and the functionality of its products. And because Witness Enterprise Solutions works with large financial institutions as well as community banks, we receive the same software functionality used by our larger competitors. MidAmerica also knew we could rely on Witness Enterprise Solutions' consulting expertise to make the project a success.
MidAmerica used the former Demos workforce and performance management system to measure the amount of work taking place in its branches, streamline processes and procedures, and determine the right staffing levels within half-hour increments.
Timing is Everything
As part of this project, Witness Enterprise Solutions assisted MidAmerica in timing every branch transaction, from handling a loan payment to cashing a check to balancing the ATM. Based on these measurements, they built staffing models that provided branch managers with guidance on their staffing needs. They ran the models with test branches and refined as needed. In addition to making sure that the models were bulletproof, employees in the test branches became evangelists for the solution since they had ownership in the design and testing.
The term "guidance" has been critical to our successful roll-out of the scheduling tool to our branch managers. One of the biggest issues of implementing a staffing model is dealing with employee fear that the staffing model is absolute. Branch managers need to be empowered to override the staffing recommendations based on their experience. The solution is not designed to dictate staffing but to be used along with the branch managers' intuition and intelligence to help managers make the right staffing decisions.
We've been able to meet our customer service goals while decreasing our number of full-time employees by 100, achieving a significant return on investment. Very positively, we have not had to fire any employees. Instead, we've relied on attrition as well as reassigning employees to other areas of the bank to achieve optimum staffing levels.
Evolution, Not Revolution
Busy employees are happier people—and being appropriately staffed means they don't have the peaks and valleys that they had in the past where one hour they were overwhelmed with customers and the next hour they were bored.
One reason we have been so successful in our branch and productivity project is that we've taken the time to communicate our vision to the rest of the bank. We provide guidance and support to the managers in the field, and we involve them in the process. Implementing staffing and productivity improvements is an evolution rather than a revolution. Management needs to be patient and allow the improvements to evolve.
Waiting Expectations
We also needed to manage our customers' expectations for wait times. Although our goal is very little wait time, the reality is that some customers who were used to walking right up to a teller when we were overstaffed now may have to wait for a few minutes. But wait times are not necessarily a bad thing.
MidAmerica is very focused on relationship banking and deepening our existing relationships. What a great opportunity for branch managers to approach and speak to customers as they wait in line! Handled properly, wait time can be used to engage a customer in conversation, learn about his or her financial needs, and suggest additional products and services when appropriate. It is amazing how much our managers have learned, and how much business they have gained, by spending time with customers they may not have had a chance to speak with otherwise.
Of course, reduced labor costs are only one part of the reason to implement a branch productivity and staffing project. Perhaps the most important reason is the continual striving to improve processes and procedures, making it easier for employees as well as customers to do business with your bank. Productivity is not just about cost savings. Productivity is the ability to get more out of your resources while delivering more value. Using Witness Enterprise Solutions' Workforce Management Software, MidAmerica Bank has been able to achieve both those objectives.
About Witness Enterprise Solutions:
Witness Enterprise Solutions was formed in 2006 following the successful combination of Demos Solutions and Exametric. Operating as a division of Witness Systems, the group is focused on workforce optimization for the retail financial services market, as well as back-office and other enterprise operations.
