What is the most successful approach to implement and maintain your workforce optimization initiative?  Should you outsource this work to a dedicated company that specializes in this topic or should you allocate the project to an internal resource?

Internal Resource Approach – Initiation Steps

Plan for a long-term commitment.  Six to twelve months is only the beginning.  Planning and implementing an ongoing project will require a significant amount of time, so make sure you have all your resources in-house before you begin.

• Locate a qualified project manager and support team to manage the process.  Make sure their schedules can account for this time consuming project.  In most cases this means you have to push back or eliminate another project they are working on.
• Research & Development:  Work with your management team in order to identify the workforce optimization reports/metrics you require to properly carry-out the program.
• Work with programmer to develop the data extract requirements for these reports and a scheduling engine from the ground-up.  They will then need to automate the report generation so this can be done efficiently on a monthly basis.
• Work with IT/system administrator to establish database programming transfer requirements.  They will need to aggregate monthly and transfer it to the report administrator (project manager).
• Develop training session and carryout seminars to train Branch Managers and District Managers on how to read and understand the workforce optimization reports.  Furthermore, you will need to train them on the scheduling component – which is a critical portion of the initiative.
• Ongoing monitoring of the program should be closely managed by your project manager.  Subsequent targeted coaching should be carried out, as needed, per the monthly workforce optimization findings.

Outsourcing Approach – Initiation Steps

A true outsourced solution has no hardware or software to purchase or support.  From the time the data file transfer is set-up and complete, it is possible to have the full program, including a fully trained staff, up and running in only 2-3 months.

• Provide your IT/system administrator’s contact information and they will work with the outsourced solution to set-up the necessary data transfer (20 minute discussion).
• Assign a project manager/champion to oversee the adoption of the outsourced solution throughout the branch network (minimal time is required to oversee this project).
• Monthly reports should be provided by the outsourced partner including an executive summary report and individual branch reports.
• Monthly productivity rankings should be provided by the outsourced partner including all of their clients across the nation.  This will show you where your institution ranks amongst your peers in teller productivity.
• A fully automated online scheduling engine should be provided by the outsource vendor.  This scheduling engine should be easy to use and ultimately should save your schedulers time – by allowing for a more efficient scheduling creation process.
• Extensive training and support should be provided by the outsource solution partner including: best use seminars and full-day onsite introduction training sessions.
• Ongoing on-site visits should be provided by the outsource solution partner to keep a dedicated focus on the program.  Coaching and consultative advice should be provided during these visits.  These consultants should have a banking background and you should feel very confident about their expertise in the subject matter.

The outsourced approach requires much less work from your management team, has a substantially faster implementation time, and is a proven solution.  However, in some cases an internal approach is still considered by organizations – especially those with vast resources to handle projects like these.  With this in mind, there is a common pitfall with utilizing internal resources to manage a branch workforce optimization initiative that is often overlooked, and that is that these types of programs tend to lose focus internally – over time.  Specifically, invariably another big project comes along, with all the fire alarms whaling that causes management to completely shift attention away from ongoing workforce optimization.  Without a dedicated 3^rd party managing this process to ensure that it is completed monthly and that it is done right – the gains that workforce optimization brings to your profit margin are vulnerable.

Branch workforce optimization has a momentous impact on the bottom-line.  A dedicated commitment and quick implementation of this initiative is extremely important.  In fact, for every month that this program is not up and running at your financial institution, you are losing money – in some cases tens of thousands of dollars per month.  A rapidly deployed outsource solution brings these savings straight to your profit margin and most importantly – these savings are there every month going forward.