Although the general economic outlook has undoubtedly improved since the downturn, worker productivity remains a problem. A recent JPMorgan Chase report noted that worker productivity has grown by only 0.7% in America in the last three years.

Over the next decade, we will see banks reinvent themselves, not only in response to the pressures of today, but as they flex their business operations to adapt to the world of tomorrow. The shift in mindset of banks will see them becoming more innovative by embracing the future of banking technology and automating business-critical processes in order to drive worker productivity, increase profitability, streamline services and meet the constant changes in customer expectations.

Why are productivity gains so challenging?

One of the biggest productivity gains is business process automation. To date, IT systems have only succeeded partially in achieving this. But the future of banking technology has moved on, and banking organizations are starting to understand that they need to change the way they work. Many are implementing new platforms and applications, such as BPM-enabled software, to streamline workflows and drive worker productivity.

How can BPM drive worker productivity?

Together with automation, BPM can transform financial services processes such as mortgage and loan approvals. Without automation, it is still common for banking staff to have to move paper documents around the back office as they pass through the various stages to completion, or for documents to be sent by post to other sites for further processing. The average mortgage application goes through 35 manual hand-offs before completion.

Implementing automation with BPM can:

• Reduce processing cycle times.
• Improve visibility into the status of requests for front office and customers.
• Standardize processes across business areas or regions.
• Enhance the quality of service to customers.

Management insights into progress and productivity through process visibility across the business enables dynamic redistribution and prioritization of work across multiple service centers. Intelligent routing and prioritization of tasks to back-office agents with specific skill sets will enable tasks to be processed by the right operator within the right timescales.

Key productivity benefits of BPM

With BPM, organizations can align internal business functions with customer needs and determine how to direct, monitor and measure company resources. When properly executed, BPM has the capacity to reduce costs, enhance efficiency and productivity, and minimize errors and risk.

The key benefits of BPM are:

• Optimization of business-critical processes – streamlining repeatable processes, such as loan applications, will reduce the amount of time each process takes and free up back-office staff for frontline services and other value-added activities.
• Efficient Task routing – intelligent routing and prioritization of tasks will reduce the risk of delays and mislaid paper documents, increasing overall efficiencies.  
• Improved Customer experience – BPM can meet and even exceed customer expectations by integrating channels, systems and applications to make sure that accurate, consistent information is delivered to the right people at the right time across any channel.
• End-to-end process visibility – With real-time monitoring of bottlenecks, transforming operational efficiencies.