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Process Improvement Takes Strength

Excerpt from CUES Magazine – Published January 2016.

The challenge with process improvement is that it is not for the faint of heart; it requires rebels who are willing to step up and tear processes to shreds, and rebuild them from the ground up.

It is not human nature to constantly challenge the status quo. It takes a rebellious nature to question everything and accept nothing at face value. The death stroke of a good process improvement plan is the belief that everything is fine because “that’s how we’ve always done it, and it’s never been a problem.” A huge advantage non-traditional competitors have is that they are not bogged down with legacy thinking and processes.

Rebels are required to shake things up.

Process improvement is a habit credit unions can create to find better, faster, and easier ways of bringing value to members and employees. In some credit union circles, process improvement is slowly gaining traction as one of the most important tools in a credit union’s hip pocket.

Click here to read the full article on the CUES website.

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Process Improvement: Are You Getting Your Desired Results Out of New Systems?

Many credit unions have implemented new loan origination and/or new account opening systems.

While these new systems can absolutely enhance consumer experience, save time and drive better performance, we sometimes find that old processes remain in place when new systems are launched. If your credit union has implemented new systems and has not achieved desired results, it may be time to really dig in and review exactly how the new systems are being used.

Once you agree on, or recommit to a new process, it is necessary to control the new process and measure success. Click here for more detail on process improvement.

Following is just one example of a “control chart” analysis related to the average time it takes to decision a loan. Weekly and monthly iterations calculating average time and control limits can help decision makers understand if a process is “out of control.” A “control limit” (CL) is calculated based on the average of the sample set; standard deviations are then calculated to develop an “upper control limit” (UCL) and a “lower control limit” (LCL).

Keep in mind, it is absolutely true that what gets measured gets focus!

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The Value of a (Process Improvement) Minute

For so long, anyone exposed to commercials has heard the pitch, “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.” Then a competitor came along less than a month ago and advertised, “15 minutes for a quote is crazy. See how 7½ minutes could save you on car insurance.” For car insurance consumers, cutting 15 minutes in half to get a quote isn’t that big of a deal. It’s really the savings that they are after. But for process improvement, cutting 15 minutes in half is a huge deal. Time savings like that can help a company process more applications more efficiently, which can theoretically help process more customers and help the company earn more income.

Credit unions should consider this idea from two angles:
1. Are we advertising a competitive advantage in the wrong way?
2. What can we do to save ourselves a minute?

The second angle is sometimes the hardest concept to grasp. A minute seems like such a small improvement, it’s almost not worth celebrating. A minute carries all the excitement of holding a penny in your hand—it’s not much!

But actually, a penny can amount to a lot. For instance, would you rather have a million dollars, or a penny doubled every day for thirty days? If you chose a million dollars—you’re missing out! Because a penny doubled every day for thirty days equals $5.4 million.

A process improvement minute is just like that penny; over time, the value of that minute increases exponentially and creates larger returns to your credit union. Never underestimate the value of a process improvement minute!