Wealth Management Process Improvement

A national wealth management firm were seeking to transition their current paper-based ‘review’ process into a digital workflow.  To achieve this goal, they needed to remove paper files from their business which had become the ‘baton’ for workflow management across their offices.  By undertaking a structured analysis of their current process and leveraging existing technology they were able to fully transition to a future state digital workflow for their ‘review’ process.  The key to their success was designing and implementing a structured change management strategy which encouraged ownership and staff buy-in across the business.

There were several key challenges that our client was seeking to address.

• Workflow management – The current workflow was not centralised and was managed across a number of systems including SharePoint, Xplan and Outlook. Paper files were also utilised as the key workflow management tool in the current review process.
• Paper files – The paper file was being used as the ‘baton’ for task management which was resulting in a lack of transparency for all stakeholders involved in the process. There was limited visibility of actions/tasks and they were not always being followed up consistently.
• Single client view– As the review process was paper based some client information was not stored centrally so it was difficult for advisers and client service staff to have a ‘single digital view’

Our client had attempted to solve these challenges in-house a number of times through the implementation of new workflow management systems.  However, these attempts at going digital had been unsuccessful due to a lack of buy-in from staff and Directors.

We assisted our client to develop and implement a plan that incorporated extensive staff consultation and engagement.  The solution was focused on the following key areas:

• A future state process that leveraged existing tools and technologies and would transition advisers on to the core practice management platform

• A phased approach for the transition of 2000+ client paper files into a digital format ensuring minimal business disruption

• A new client data management process that was rolled out to all staff focused on significantly improving the management, quality and input of client data in core systems

• A seamless integration of staff to the new ‘review’ processes from a recent acquisition ensuring everyone was managing reviews ‘One way’

The implementation of the future state ‘review’ process resulted in a fully digital process with clear roles, accountability and measurable KPI’s. There was 100% adoption of the new process across the business.

One of the key drivers for success this time was the focused effort placed on change management activities.  This included:

1. Removing the physical paper file from the office
2. Creating a KPI leaderboard on the wall for advisers capitalising on their natural competitiveness
3. Developing a suggestions mailbox for staff to provide their feedback on the new processes
4. Empowering a dedicated team of subject matter experts from the business to make decisions on the future state process
5. Identifying change champions who were enthusiastic about the new way of doing things and could help staff through the changes
6. Developing interactive training guides within key applications E.g. Xplan through the implementation of Guidethrough, an interactive platform for digital adoption

With renewed confidence that they could manage significant change into their business our client embarked on the next stage of their digital transformation.  The next step was to focus on consolidating all business activities into s single CRM platform which would bring their core workflows together (Discovery, Advice and Review).