ANZ to implement modern agile approach to customer service
The agile mindset will ensure that the bank is more responsive to 21st-century customer expectations.
In a move to keep up with the demands of the 21st-century customer and compete with other global financial institutions and fintech startups in the digital age, ANZ today announced a commitment to implementing an agile approach to its Australian customer service division.
The agile approach is a proven strategy for organising and delivering work, which is based on running effective, streamlined and autonomous teams to deliver the best outcome in the most efficient way.
The approach is used by many companies that are at the forefront of technological innovation, including Spotify and Google, as it allows organisations to be more nimble. It's also widely popular among fintech startups, which have a much less conservative approach to running a business compared to the major banks.
ANZ already uses the agile model to deliver 20% of its technology and digital projects, including initiatives such as the launch of Apple Pay in 2016.
“In the digital age, customer expectations are being redefined by their experiences with businesses like Amazon and Apple," said ANZ chief executive officer Shayne Elliott. "We need to break with some of the traditional 20th-century approaches to organising and working to ensure we are more responsive to 21st-century customer expectations.”
“Moving to implement the agile approach at scale in our business is an important evolution in how we run ANZ, which will allow us to respond much more quickly to customer needs, create higher staff engagement and make further improvements to efficiency.”
“The use of agile will mean a much less hierarchical ANZ, one built around small, collaborative, self-directed teams focussed on delivering continuous improvement to the customer experience. This is an exciting change for ANZ because we know our people are more engaged when working in ways that are less bureaucratic and more empowering,” said Elliott.
The bank will initially focus on its Australian division for the transition to the agile approach, with hopes to roll out the approach to the entire business throughout next year.
