Demonstrate the value of change – Case Study 1

Demonstrate the value of change – Case Study 1

by | Case studies

A single view of change: How a bank protected customers and unlocked new value

Managing change in the financial sector is always a complex task, but the lessons from one leading bank stand as a powerful example of how clarity, collaboration, and customer-centric thinking can turn potential problems into value creation. In this case, one proactive step—leveraging an integrated view of change—became the catalyst for protecting both customer relationships and business performance.

The hidden challenge: Overlapping changes with a high-value customer segment

Every large bank is engaged in a continual cycle of transformation. New products launch. Systems are upgraded. Regulatory and compliance requirements evolve. Yet, as the pace of change accelerates, the risks of unintended consequences also grow. That risk isn’t always technological. Sometimes, it’s about the customer.

The story began when the bank reviewed its change data using The Change Compass, a platform designed to give leaders a holistic, quantitative view across all active and upcoming initiatives. It quickly became apparent that one valuable customer segment would be impacted not once, but three times in the space of a single month. Each encounter was driven by a different project team. Each project was planning separate communications and customer asks, with little alignment or coordination.

At first glance, these projects appeared to be unrelated. Yet, all three were targeting customers with the highest share-of-wallet, meaning they owned multiple products and had longstanding loyalty to the company. These were not just any customers—these were the “crown jewel” group whose satisfaction and retention were critical to the bank’s revenue and brand.

Why customer experience is so easily overlooked in transformation

When large organisations manage dozens or even hundreds of projects, it is common for teams to operate in functional silos. Each project has its own objectives, stakeholders, and deadlines. While project teams may conduct their own customer research, they might not have real-time awareness of what other groups are doing at the same time.

In this case, the data revealed a classic example of accidental customer overload:

  • Three projects, each reaching out separately to the same customer group

  • Different communication styles, messaging, and even visual branding

  • Conflicting asks of the customer within a short window

  • High risk that customers would receive mixed messages through multiple channels

The cumulative risk was clear. When customers are bombarded with uncoordinated service changes, requests, or notifications, confusion and frustration grow. Worse still is the potential for customers to feel undervalued, as though their loyalty is being taken for granted. For a segment with high share-of-wallet, this can lead to disengagement, product attrition, and ultimately significant loss in revenue.

Using change data to drive immediate management focus

Recognizing the risk, project and business representatives did not keep the issue at a working team level. Armed with hard data from The Change Compass, they were able to socialise and escalate the issue quickly to senior leaders. The evidence showed not just that there would be customer overlap, but exactly who would be affected and when. Visualizations made the potential for negative experience tangible and urgent.

The result was swift. Senior managers prioritised this risk and asked the three project teams to connect, align, and rethink their plans with the customer at the center.

Turning competing projects into a single customer journey

The solution the teams developed together was both pragmatic and creative. Instead of three siloed interventions, the projects worked collaboratively to:

  • Sequence the timing of their customer impacts so that communications and asks happen in a coordinated, logical order

  • Integrate and harmonise their messaging so that customers would see one brand, one bank, regardless of which internal team was driving the change

  • Create unified communication which was consistent across all channels, ensuring readiness among staff as well as consistency in digital and direct outreach

All relevant customer channels were engaged. Contact centers were readied to provide clear and timely information for the anticipated queries. Branch staff received integrated briefing materials. Online resources were updated so that customer queries could be addressed seamlessly, regardless of which change had prompted the interaction.

Managing the customer experience for maximum value

The most important shift, however, was psychological. The three separate project teams stopped thinking only about their project outcomes and focused instead on the holistic customer experience. Their collaboration ensured that every customer’s journey through these parallel changes felt seamless and considered, not piecemeal or haphazard.

The data-driven approach did more than avoid complaints. It delivered quantifiable business value. The potential cost of poor experience was significant: for this high-value customer segment, confusion could have led to attrition and a loss of cross-sell opportunities. Through better management, the estimated value preserved for the business exceeded one million dollars, mainly by protecting loyalty, retention, and associated revenue.

Keys to success: Visibility, collaboration, and leadership engagement

There are several important lessons from this case that any change leader can apply:

  • An integrated view of change is essential. Only by adopting a platform that provides a holistic perspective can you spot issues that cut across project and functional boundaries.

  • Data is the great enabler for smart escalation and storytelling. When you can visualise and quantify the risk, you arm frontline teams with what they need to secure executive focus and intervention.

  • Silos are broken down when the customer is placed at the center. Teams that are used to working independently quickly find common purpose when they are guided by a shared commitment to customer experience.

  • Solutions are not always complex. Sometimes coordinating timing and messaging, and making sure every channel is informed and ready, produces remarkable value with existing resources.

Creating a culture of proactive change management

Importantly, this was not a one-off intervention. By practicing this cross-project alignment, the bank reinforced a culture of proactive, customer-driven change management. Teams learned to ask new questions. Who else is communicating with this customer segment? What is the experience like from their perspective, not just ours? Where could joint planning enhance value for both customer and company?

The executive team also gained confidence that they were not missing hidden risks by focusing only on vertical project updates. Instead, they built strength in horizontal oversight, preventing accidental overload or misalignment for their most important clients.

Looking forward: Embedding these practices for lasting advantage

The value of these lessons goes well beyond any one episode. As the pace and scale of transformation accelerate in the banking sector and beyond, organisations must move from reactive to proactive change management. A single, data-driven view across all initiatives is no longer “nice to have”—it is a competitive necessity.

With The Change Compass, this bank gained the ability not just to detect emerging risks, but to act on them collaboratively, protect revenue, and continually strengthen the trust of its best customers.

Protecting what matters most in a changing world

Change is inevitable, but negative consequences do not have to be. The experience of this bank highlights how the right tools and mindset can help any company deliver more value through transformation. By seeing the whole picture, collaborating across boundaries, and acting in the interests of their customers, leaders set themselves up not just for project success, but for enduring business growth.

If your organisation is ready to manage the complexities of change with confidence, while ensuring the customer always comes first, discover what The Change Compass makes possible. With data-powered insight, alignment, and a relentless commitment to experience, your next change story could be your most successful yet.

To download this case study, click here:  Demonstrate Value of change 1

How the sea inspires a different way of managing change

How the sea inspires a different way of managing change

by | Change Initiatives, Designing change

How the sea inspires a different way of managing change

In taking my vacations in Hawaii I thought I would start a series of Change Management articles inspired by my trip to Hawaii. For those who have not been to Hawaii or have only stayed around Waikiki, the Islands of Hawaii is quite astoundingly beautiful.  There is something magical about Hawaii that inspires the mind and soothes the soul. It’s welcoming people, amazingly jagged mountains, fantastic beaches, and sensational food is enough to bewitch any visitor.

As change or project managers we usually plan our approach in managing change from a top down perspective.  We look at what senior executives would like employees to change, how much change is required, what benefits would be achieved through change, and which parts of the organization would need to change.

There is the usual focus that change leadership is critical and that without strong senior sponsorship that the initiative will fail.  The senior leader is expected to have all the answers, to know exactly how to steer the employees towards an end state and be able to convince them the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of the change.  On top of this, if there is any resistance, the leader needs to identify these and overcome them in order to successfully drive the change successfully.

This all sounds like the standard recipe for change success does it not?  So what is wrong with this?

Hawaii and leading change

When I was snorkelling in the North Shore of Oahu Island I was amazed at how much tropical fish I could see literally just metres from the beach.  In fact, as soon as I had put my head down I could see the various sizes of amazing tropical fish.  And the farther I go the more I notice at the abundance and variety of fish and coral around me.

When we surround ourselves purely with the top down approach of change, we start to develop a fixed mindset of how change should be done.  Most of change literature resolves around adopting a top down approach.  However, when we start to adopt a user mindset, an employee lense of change, we start to see things very differently.

The diversity of the ocean and the diversity of employees

Similar to the fish in the sea, there isn’t one type of employee.  There are many types of employees with varying interests, backgrounds and preferences. It is easy for us to interview employees through conducting surveys and declare that we are intimate with employee concerns.  However, in most situations there isn’t just one set of employee beliefs and concerns. Different employees have different concerns, just like in the ocean there is star fish, tetra, gold fish, carp, etc.

Whilst we cannot cater for every type of individual employee concerns and interests, it is also important to be able to see through impacted employees and what they are seeing.  I became amazed at the wonderful world under the sea and how colourful and stunning it really is.  If we really start to see through the different groups of employees, sense what they are sensing, we can really harness their power to drive change.

How do we leverage different employee groups in driving change

For example:

  • For employees who are change champions and early adopters – How do we harness their influence and positivity to quickly spread the word, and advocate for the change?
  • For those who have had bad change experiences in the past and are cynical and critical – How do we involve them closely to design the change process, so as to avoid any past mistakes and leverage to enhance success?
  • For those who were agnostic and did not either support or resist the change – How do we give them accountabilities to progress and promote the change
  • For those who strongly resist the change and actively counter against the change – How do we listen to them and address this head on.  And leverage the influence of other employee groups such as the change champions?
  • For those who tend to be overly cautious and do not feel confident when there is change – How do we actively identify them and spend more time to nurture their confidence, or leverage change champions to hand-hold them?

Dipping below the surface of what various senior stakeholder groups are looking for in change, we start to see a different picture of what employees see.  Let’s open our eyes to the various colours, shapes, and sizes of the attitudes, preferences and feedback of employees.  When we start to see the diversity of different types of employees and where they are at, we can then leverage them to better drive and position the change for success.