How a Pushed Work Model Improves Branch Productivity

Proactive guidance helps associates continuously take the best next action “in this moment.”

by Brian Wallace

December 20, 2022

Over the years, banks have added a lot of systems, solutions, and technology to their branches. Theoretically, branch staff have more information than ever before—about their customers, daily responsibilities, corporate goals and initiatives. But this hasn’t made executing branch work any easier or more efficient.

In fact, it’s made employees’ lives more difficult by forcing them to constantly switch between disparate systems for each activity—from compliance trainings, to emails, to fraud alerts, to CRM tools, and more. Every time they switch activities or need new information, employees must actively login to a new system, hunt down, and retrieve each item. It’s time to switch from this “pull model,” to a “push model” where activities are consolidated into a single system, intelligently prioritized, and pushed to employees when relevant.

Empower Real-Time Branch Operations

According to a recent survey, the top branch challenge is keeping up with rapidly changing regulatory concerns and the top roadblocks are technology and talent. Switching to a push model helps alleviate both roadblocks and enable more agile branch operations.

In a pushed work model, real-time notifications and alerts—bespoke by role, location, and individual user—are delivered directly to a branch associate’s device, enabling immediate action and attestation. For example, if a collateral update is required, a skilled branch employee receives an update with all the relevant details. The project is intelligently prioritized and can be accessed from a single to-do list with all the associate’s other activities, including any knowledge support an employee may need on the details of the request. Once they complete the collateral update, they can easily upload a picture or evidence of completion within the same system.

All of this improves the ability of branch, field, and corporate leaders to get insights into branch execution and drive top line productivity and improved controls.

Simplify Branch Execution and Efficiency

At the same time, this push model improves employee engagement and productivity by simplifying the branch environment. With a central view of branch work, you also gain a real-time view into branch execution. Silos, slow decision making, and rigid policies are top obstacles to speed in a banking environment. A single screen, push approach to branch execution helps cut through the noise and eliminate the silos that impede efficiency.

For example, if a banker is off their target for selling a specific product line, auto-generated performance alerts could be prioritized for the branch manager, with an intelligently scheduled coaching session that covers topics based on the specific performance gap. Rather than waiting for specific managers to run specific reports and follow up on the results, you can reduce administrative overhead and improve the effectiveness of your branches!

To learn how successful banks are modernizing branches to better serve customers, watch the CBA on-demand webinar, “How First Tech Federal Credit Union Streamlined Branch Operation and Improved Efficiency.”

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Brian Wallace

Brian Wallace serves as the General Manager of Banking at Reflexis, which was acquired by Zebra in 2020. He has over 20 years of experience developing and executing operational strategy and technology solutions across both retail and banking.