Business Rationalization & Improvement

Mid-size Bank in Southeast US

Situation

The bank had just gone through reorganization at the upper level less than one year prior to the commencement of the project. The new president wanted to maximize efficiencies and review processes. The client was being monitored by the office of the Thrift Supervisor. LoBue Associates was hired to review and justify expenses and current operating procedures.

Recommendations

Redesign mortgage origination processes.
Obtain Fannie Mae approval for the reallocation of duties.
Reorganize the appraisal process and establish dispatch capability.
Right-size the staffing requirements of the banking centers.
Provide management analysis techniques to measure productivity.
Rationalize and collapse redundant functions throughout the organization.
Centralize customer service capabilities and restructure processing areas.
Introduce peak-time and part-time staffing mixes.

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Results

Due to process improvements, the customer service department was able to spend more time servicing customers. The introduction of peak and part-time staffing mixes enabled the branch system to provide more tellers to service customers, which resulted in lower staffing costs and a reduction in customer wait time. Reorganization allowed the customer service area to continue to reduce the number of service representatives needed at the banking center, which enabled the bank to save $4.5 million annually.

The client now has the ability to continue to improve the bank’s operating procedures and to reap the benefits of expense reduction. The bank has more measurable criteria to aid management in discovering potential bottlenecks and improving customer service through the empowerment of bank personnel and the elimination of redundancies.

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