Over the last 5 years most big financial services firms have launched themselves enthusiastically into something they would describe as transformational change. The costs reported in the press go into the tens of millions of pounds. It’s an expensive journey and one companies do not undertake lightly.
However, what is the real cost of change? I’m not talking about the development and implementation, but if change isn’t implemented perfectly (in all my years I have never known this happen) what is the real cost?
When you work in Operations or BAU teams I can tell you the cost feels huge, as ultimately this is where the impact of change lands. It is these people who are really suffering the real cost of change, not the 8 figure budgets!
Any of us involved in these types of projects know that the closer delivery becomes the more complex it becomes. Delays occur and suddenly some of the original scope gets “bumped” out to Day 2, with any chance of servicing automation and efficiencies following it swiftly to the right. Ultimately the prospect of taking defects into BAU then become a common theme.
Operations teams are then asked to find temporary workarounds. They are masters at this craft and quickly devise manual processes, stitched together between emails and spreadsheets, and they cope, of course they cope as they are without doubt the most resilient area of the business!
But how long is calling something a workaround feasible to describe a process that is put in place due to a failure in the implementation of change? I have known workarounds be in place for years…at this point they are just BAU. Workarounds are a risky business, normally adding a manual element to an already heavy BAU workload, adding minutes or sometimes hours to a company’s daily FTE requirement. It’s introducing risk, and without the right focus and information may not even meet the standards required, causing customer dissatisfaction or a rise in regulatory breaches.
And thereby adding additional costs to your already expensive change delivery budget! The implementation of workarounds should be done with a careful and informed approach. Engagement with appropriate stakeholders alongside an impact assessment should be the minimum before integrating workarounds into BAU.
Then comes the change fatigue…! Change is constant, we all know that it is the only way things evolve. However, when you work in a BAU team juggling change against an already pressurised environment it is tough, especially when things don’t go to plan and change isn’t delivered as expected with new problems arriving at your door.
Early communication and adopting a collaborative change culture between the project/change teams and BAU teams can mitigate this. BAU teams need to feel heard and represented upon the delivery of change. Their knowledge is invaluable, and they are also likely to be a valued voice of the customer. Ensuring your target operating model has considerations for this is paramount before embarking on a sizeable or consistent change project. If not, it is likely BAU staff will become frustrated, disheartened, and unmotivated leading to knowledgeable staff leaving, adding yet more cost to that already expensive change delivery budget.
And finally leading on from the above 2 points is the cost of the inability to deliver the desired vision or full strategy. How many times has Day 2 never arrived or change delivered in piecemeal or sprints never been finalised? This itself is normally due to budget constraints or something coming in from a sideways direction that has to take priority.
In addition to both workarounds and change fatigue the inability to fully deliver the promised outcomes can add a reputational cost. Customer frustration and lack of trust will follow if a promised change isn’t delivered as expected! Chunking up change and delivering and communicating smaller desired change strategies may mitigate this, however the real mitigation is a strong collaborative leadership team who can really focus on the business strategy in all areas of change and commit to delivering this.
So, I urge you when implementing change, don’t just look at the ££ on your change budget ledger, but think about the costs to processes, people and ultimately your clients. Going into change with your eyes wide open, can mitigate the surprise of hidden costs surfacing long past delivery!
