Banks target expenses to boost bottom line
The Globe and Mail’s Feb 2, 2012 article, “Banks Target Expenses to Boost Bottom Line” discusses the bank’s approach to reduce cost by slowing the growth of expenses. As quoted by Gord Nixon, Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer, “From our perspective we’ve focused on utilizing technology to improve efficiency, as opposed to mass head count reduction”. I applaud the approach of not cutting heads as the only solution to reducing cost, but I also caution using technology as the solution to becoming more efficient.
Technology should be a tool, not the solution to improving efficiency. So what is the difference? Technology as the solution means you replace a way of working with another way of working and cross your fingers hoping that the solution will fix all problems. But does anyone truly know what the real problem is? You could be replacing one problem with another and not even know it. But if we think of technology as a tool this means we first look at how we work. We take the time to understand how everything and everyone interacts. Then we identify and rid the waste in our ways of working. Last, if needed, we then use the right technology to make the new process more efficient. This approach will resolve the issue the first time and increase workplace efficiency.
Sometimes the best way to reduce cost is to simply look at how you work. This in itself can be a huge cost and time savings for everyone involved. Sometimes you don’t need to spend money in order to save it!
How has technology helped you streamline your business processes? Feel free to leave a comment below or shout out to us on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, you could always write your own blog post on the subject and share it with us… We’d love to read it!
