San Francisco, Calif. — Nine in ten (89%) banking professionals say that their organizations suffer from 'corporate cholesterol', or business process inefficiencies and inaccuracies. More than one-third (38%) believe this significantly impacts their ability to achieve business goals and targets, while 43% say it's a source of stress and frustration.
In a recent poll conducted by Exigen Group at the 91st Mortgage Bankers Association Conference, October 24-27, 2004 in San Francisco, California, and the BAI Retail Delivery Conference & Expo, November 16-17, 2004 in Las Vegas Nevada, 423 banking professionals were asked to identify the cause and effects of 'corporate cholesterol' prevalent in their organizations. The most common symptom experienced was that customer status calls result in multiple internal contacts to find information – 34% had seen this in their organizations. This was followed by the inability of junior staff to follow processes as quickly as experienced employees (33%) and uneven workload distribution (26%).
The survey also showed that process inefficiencies have a direct impact on operational performance. Almost half (42%) of the respondents cited an increase in staff frustration and churn as the most common effect of inefficient business processes, while 32% said that inefficiencies result in reduced productivity and therefore increased costs.
Respondents to the survey said that the main drivers for business process improvement include competitive pressure and the need for growth and expansion. As a result, 47% of banking organizations are either currently implementing or planning to deploy new technology, while 46% are focusing on re-engineering certain business processes.
"This survey reveals that, within banking organizations, inefficient business processes and the supporting technology can impact all aspects of the business, from financial health, to the day-to-day tasks of employees. Therefore, the primary challenge is to ensure that the IT goals are tightly aligned with the bank's business objectives," said Dennis Rygwalski, general manger, banking solutions group at Exigen Group. "In order to achieve long-term improvements, organizations need to first be able to pinpoint the source of the inefficiency, then determine the appropriate technology-enabled business process changes that will address the specific problem, and finally set financial targets and metrics in order to measure the business value."
For a copy of the research and a guide to spotting symptoms of corporate cholesterol in banking organizations, go to www.exigengroup.com/downloads/index.html#banking.
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