Gained around 2.5 hours per day for high value-adding activities, by cutting back on ineffective meetings and emails
Saw a 95% reduction in clutter in their inbox and elsewhere, which reduced distractions and allowed focus on priority work
Became more effective at planning and preparation, which prevented unnecessary interruptions
PEP continues to work with one of Australia’s largest banks, with over 13 million customers. Its success is built on enduring customer relationships and being a place where the best people want to work.
Challenge: Not enough hours in the day
In this particular case, bankers and support staff are tasked with helping their customers achieve their financial goals. To do their jobs well, staff need to be focused on customers. However, staff reported that they faced multiple interruptions, and did not have time for proactive customer service. Common frustrations included:
- having to react to urgent, unexpected demands
- procrastination
- spending too long on emails and low-value work
- ineffective meetings
- working long hours
- feeling unable to switch off mentally.
All of these challenges meant that staff were stressed and unable to focus on their most important priority – their customers.
``I have many interruptions throughout the day, being from the staff I supervise to emergency breakdowns, clients wanting everything or information straight away etc.``
Our Solution: Customised PEP Program
The Bank chose PEP to deliver customised programs to over 500 business bankers and support staff. PEP worked with their team to build habits and routines that enabled:
- better work organisation – quickly and easily access what’s needed, when it’s needed
- better workflow – so that action is taken quickly and easily to progress work to the next logical step
- sustained attention – to focus energy on key priorities.
PEP provided a set of tools and individual coaching sessions to help staff work more efficiently and effectively. Because PEP is an experiential program, staff started using the learnings straight away.
Results: More time for the important things
Participants reported seeing time and energy savings immediately after the program. By the end of the PEP program, participants:
- gained around 2.5 hours per day for high value-adding activities, by cutting back on ineffective meetings and emails
- saw a 95% reduction in clutter in their inbox and elsewhere, which reduced distractions and allowed focus on priority work
- became more effective at planning and preparation, which prevented unnecessary interruptions.
“I no longer live in my inbox, focus more on what matters most and can therefore deal more effectively with interruptions and also prevent unnecessary interruptions in the first place.”
Because PEP supports people to form productive workplace habits, the benefits are long-lasting. Having more time to focus on the important things meant that staff could better serve their customers – 79% of program participants scheduled between 1-5 additional client meetings per week.
Staff also reported being able to fit their work into “normal hours”, which improved their work/life balance. Program participants reported a drop of more than 50% in feelings of stress and anxiety.
“I loved the fact that time was allocated to implement the process in the class…It was the best use of time and the best course I have done in a very long time.”
Conclusion
PEPworldwide has been helping this large Australian Bank and its business units to improve their productivity since 1996. The results of this program saw dramatic increases in time spent on high-value activities while participants reduced stress by fitting their tasks within a normal workday.
As workplace environments continue to evolve, so too must our ability to optimise performance and productivity during work hours. The results from this case are testament to the importance of investing in your employees to ensure a happy, effective, efficient workplace.
Learn how PEP can help your team build productive workplace habits and get more out of each day.
