Cooperative banks – process management

Digitalization, regulation, demographic shifts – the future vision for the operating model of cooperative banks requires a lot of work. Each dimension has a direct or indirect impact on the institutions’ ongoing business model innovation, the efficiency of their organizational and operational structures and therefore also their cost structures and profitability. In many cases, individual measures aimed at strengthening these structures have been exhausted or need to be postponed due to massive staff shortages.

In addition, the deployment of new system environments and platform solutions is becoming increasingly dynamic, but they still need to be systematically and structurally evaluated, implemented and communicated. This includes, for example, the introduction of the BVR’s Prozesslandkarte (process map), its linking with concrete work instructions as well as the modeling of processes in ADONIS. Process and application perspectives meet in the context of the omni-channel platform (OCP) and the future-oriented BankingWorkspace (BWS).

Moreover, many cooperative banks lack meaningful process controlling that would enable them to carry out systematic process optimization and quantify results.Digitalization, regulation, demographic shifts – the future vision for the operating model of cooperative banks requires a lot of work. Each dimension has a direct or indirect impact on the institutions’ ongoing business model innovation, the efficiency of their organizational and operational structures and therefore also their cost structures and profitability. In many cases, individual measures aimed at strengthening these structures have been exhausted or need to be postponed due to massive staff shortages.

In addition, the deployment of new system environments and platform solutions is becoming increasingly dynamic, but they still need to be systematically and structurally evaluated, implemented and communicated. This includes, for example, the introduction of the BVR’s Prozesslandkarte (process map), its linking with concrete work instructions as well as the modeling of processes in ADONIS. Process and application perspectives meet in the context of the omni-channel platform (OCP) and the future-oriented BankingWorkspace (BWS).

Moreover, many cooperative banks lack meaningful process controlling that would enable them to carry out systematic process optimization and quantify results.

In the coming years, cooperative banks will have to make properly embedding process management in their organizational structures a top priority in order to keep in step with digital transformation, further reduce costs and increase their efficiency. However, not all cooperative banks are ready to immediately initiate the required measures. Their process management needs to match their individual levels of ambition and should be derived from and based on previously conducted strategy processes. Moreover, those in charge of process management ought to be given extensive decision-making powers that allow them to achieve the defined target maturity level.

Process management is the basis for ongoing process optimization both in customer-oriented processes and in the banks’ internal processes. It goes well beyond the scope of process control in agree21. In light of the further development of the underlying systems (OCP/BWS) and the increasing focus on the banks’ internal processes, process management is taking on a whole new dimension.

In concrete terms, it does not suffice to consider the above-mentioned strategic approaches from a purely technological perspective and come up with a quick-to-implement plan. Instead, they have to be understood as a fundamental, comprehensive cultural issue. Employees involved in process management must be empowered to properly use the available tool kit, while those who use the processes must know how and where they can pass on ideas for improving them.