Giving Back Time

“Reduced process times by 96% and eliminated a backlog of 3,000 applications​ by implementing a new operating model that reduced customer complaints from 100+ per month to fewer than 3”​

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Context

The client faced challenges serving the development community. The utility was the number one risk for developers as a result of a substantial service backlog -- 3,000 jobs awaited connection, with a delay of over six months to process new development applications. The business lacked the tools and processes to give management end-to-end visibility of the service, leading to constant “firefighting” of customer issues and an inability to proactively address customer needs. ​

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​Approach 

• Sia Partners were asked to design and implement a new operating model for developer services. ​
• We conducted a diagnosis to identify the cause of the problem, then designed the future model and planned the way forward. ​
• We mobilised the change within the market and executed a plan that delivered a marked improvement in performance. ​

Outcome 

• A new operating model improved the core service, benefiting the company and its customers. 
• A 96% reduction in the average time it took to process a customer request was made with no increase in resources or impact on the other activities of the business. 
• The team moved the average time to process an application from 115 days to 8 days in 8 weeks. 
• A backlog of approximately 3000 applications was eliminated and complaint volume was reduced by 97%. 
• As Sia Partners worked alongside the client team, employees gained new skills and capabilities through knowledge-sharing. 

“Reduced the average time to resolve customer escalations by 70% by introducing a new operating model and ways of working.”​

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​Context 

The utility inherited infrastructure from local authorities that suffered from decades of under-investment and delayed maintenance. The resulting quality and integrity of customer data and business process design were inadequate. Within two years of billing going live, there was a backlog of nearly 8,000 customer escalations and mounting customer debt of approximately €20m. Customer service scores consistently trailed below 50%. The cost to serve was increasing and specific customer escalations had landed on the Irish Water’s MD’s desk.​

Approach 

• Initiated a 6-week process of diagnosis and design to map end-to-end operational inefficiencies. 
• Produced a quantified identification of waste, key root causes and key performance factors.
• Conducted an 18-week mobilisation involving impactful work at all levels of the organisation. 
• Designed and communicated a programme of both significant cost reduction and development of new capabilities across a large team with both internal and external stakeholders. 

Outcome 

• A redesigned operations model was embedded with new ways of working.
• The median time to complete and close customer escalation cases was reduced by 70% and the number of touches taken by internal staff to close a case was reduced by 64%, resulting in an estimated 40% reduction in resources and costs required to process escalation demand​.
• The redesign significantly reduced the cost of serving. 
• Staff developed new capabilities through Sia Partners-led knowledge-sharing and coaching​

“Delivered an opportunity to improve efficiency by 20% and a clear roadmap to achieve it, based on analysis of productivity levels across 80,000 minutes of processing time.”​

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Context

The client is a global wealth management platform that administers over $1.5T of assets worldwide. Leadership wanted to understand efficiency in different teams and identify areas for improvement with a blend of data and business insight.​ Sia Partners were engaged to 1) Understand the current efficiency of key teams to allow business leaders to have a better understanding of areas of focus, and 2) Identify potential future solutions that would deliver the most value to the business.​

Approach 

• Collected data in teams to ensure accurate recording and create productivity baselines. 
• This highlighted key areas for further investigation – workshops were conducted using interactive dashboards to ask ‘what if’ questions and augment the data-based approach with qualitative business insight. ​
• By comparing the initial baseline with data recorded in future 5-week segments of the project, productivity could be accurately monitored and assessed. 

Outcome 

• By providing the client with insight into their current operations and augmenting this with Sia Partners’ transformation expertise, a forward-looking view of future initiatives with priority ranking could be provided to the business, clarifying exactly what to do next. ​
• Prioritisation of key focus areas and sequencing of initiatives laid out a detailed roadmap that could increase productivity without increasing headcount.