Unlocking Cost Efficiencies in Times of Uncertainty: A Strategic Approach

Sometimes it is hard for your customers just to make a decision. You might even notice it within your own company. Today there are many more decision-makers. The time taken to make decisions is extending, and headwinds are making the next 12 months tough terrain. The pressing need to achieve cost efficiency without sacrificing quality or long-term viability is a key focus for many.

Operational efficiency isn't only about cutting costs. It's about reimagining how value is delivered in a way that is both sustainable and scalable. This perspective is essential for ensuring cost reductions are not temporary, but integrated into the business's operational framework, preventing costs from creeping back in.

Here are three strategies to consider when thinking about sustainable long-term cost efficiencies:

1. Take a customer end to end lens to remove work with limited business value

All too often, we think of changing a process or series of steps a customer might experience in narrow terms or from the perspective of our department. However, when we take a customer-centric approach, we think of the entire customer experience, from when customers first experience our product or service right to the end. At ADAPTOVATE, we often work with clients on customer journeys to deepen their understanding of what a customer might experience and where there might be inefficiencies or opportunities to remove steps with limited value.

For example, a state government organization sought help to improve their mortgage application process for home buyers. We assessed their current processes end to end to provide recommendations that would increase the number of applications (efficiency and effectiveness) and improve the overall experience (lifting customer and staff outcomes). The results we achieved together included:

• Increased the speed of approval from 45 days to 15 days

• Increased the % of viable applications received by improving customer and broker education, introducing a structured program

2. Remove organizational silos with cross-functional teams to increase work autonomy

Duplication of work is a typical inefficiency affecting many organizations, leading to wasted resources and unnecessary costs. Even in flatter organizations with delegated decision-making, the composition and interactions within and between teams is crucial. By removing organizational silos and designing teams cross-functionally, we aim to reduce hand-offs, decrease dependencies, and make decisions faster.

ADAPTOVATE assists clients in identifying areas of overlap and redundancy. This enables the consolidation of tasks and functions in a manner that bolsters efficiency and productivity, breaking down silos and promoting a culture of open communication. For example, following the boom in online shopping in recent years, an Australian retailer attempting to grow its digital business faced complex internal processes and red tape, hindering its ability to adapt and scale its operations quickly. The retailer’s existing operating model was siloed, affecting responsiveness to external events, product availability, supply chain management, and customer service.

A new operating model was implemented, and cross-functional teams were formed to break down silos, with the autonomy to change priorities as needed to manage the rapid changes in orders, deliveries, and in-store customer foot traffic due to the pandemic. This solution led to a 72% surge in employee efficiency, which factors in faster completion of tasks, better quality outputs, and more effective use of resources.

3. Implement sustainable improvements by including the people who do the work, so all recommendations are pragmatic and fit for purpose

An effective cost-reduction strategy incorporates both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Top-down leadership is essential for articulating the vision, providing the right resources, and eliminating barriers to change (getting out of your people’s way). Separately, a bottom-up approach ensures those closest to the work can identify inefficiencies and suggest solutions - getting the team 'on the bus'. This dual approach ensures comprehensive identification of potential savings, cultivates a culture of co-ownership, and reduces the need for change management interventions because the team is along for the journey.

For example, at a United Nations G20 infrastructure organization they had a challenge to improve public and private infrastructure investment and planning without increasing the capacity of the program or use of resources. Together, we aligned its operating model to what was important to the G20 organization. This high alignment between the people doing the work and its ways of working saw a 50% increase in staff efficiency by giving all (15) project teams a new structured way to communicate with each other, have their blockers removed and seek feedback quickly where there was previously lack of clarity through 2-week sprint cycles.