People: The oft forgotten variable of banking transformation

Hatton National Bank, a vintage institution from the emerald isle of Sri Lanka, credits its core banking transformation success to the effort invested in securing the buy-in of key stakeholders at all levels including technology teams.

This is a rare nugget in the world of banking transformation, where implementation is typically led and fed by technology and its champions. Which is perplexing really, considering that it’s the banks’ operational staff that will feel the effects of transformation the most.

When banks decide to transform their core platform, often underneath the organizational optimism runs a current of employee apprehension. Kept in the dark, people worry about adapting to the new systems, or indeed, if they will still be around to do so. Who can blame them for reacting adversely to transformation or rejecting it altogether?

Unfortunately, in many implementations, the banks’ people are the last to know. The irony is that top management puts off telling the ranks for fear of backlash! They couldn’t be more wrong.

Successfully transformed banks underline how important it is to carry people along right from the start. Take the case of The Co-operative Financial Services, one of U.K.’s most admired banks. Their transformation initiative was driven by no less than a member of its board, who, along with other members of the executive leadership, spent a month talking to various business units about the need for change.

Involving staff at an early stage has several benefits. One, being the closest to the processes undergoing transformation, they are in the best position to offer valuable suggestions for improvement. Two, once informal leaders within the business units have been won over, they advocate the transformation to others in their personal network. Third, by devolving ownership of transformation to the ranks, the organization binds their commitment and dismantles their reservations. And in the process, melts away their fears about handling the change.

In short, transforming banks must take care of their people; technology is increasingly geared to take care of itself.