A financial service operator’s optimal goal is to leverage with technology and resources to captivate efficiency and win customer trust. Developing a world class operational excellence framework that supports the business must remain a top priority for the banking and financial services industry.

Banks and financial institutions are on a continuous drive to change and improve their operating models and cultivate competitive advantage, efficiency and desirable customer experience.

African financial sector is striving hard to improve their business turnaround. Industry experts are in a continuous search for strategies and tool sets to analyse customers, transform and improve processes, managing change, enhance people performance and productivity, expanding footprints and above all being able deliver a lot more for less through technology and minimized costs.

In words of Aristotle - “ We are what we repeatedly do, therefore Excellence is not an act but a habit”, thus the vision is not only restricted to a change in work process, organizational structure and workforce but to imbibe a change in organizational culture and behavior.

Operational excellence is not a process or program but a holistic continuous cycle, which can be best defined by the three aspects on organizational operations, such as:

* Process - The formal structures, processes and systems through which human and organizational resources are managed and optimized to achieve shared goals.
* People - The way people think, feel and conduct themselves in the workplace, both individually and collectively
* Technology - The way physical assets and resources are configured and optimized to create value and minimize losses

Relatively small improvements in business processes can put companies significantly ahead of competitors but the first step is to recognize which processes really matter-and develop the disciplines to manage and sustain them. Business processes are fundamental to every organization’s performance and successful execution of its strategy

With the growth of ISO and Six Sigma, there is a need for banks to re-evaluate their non value adding entities into more fruitful processes. The right people are important and proper supporting structures are necessary. The number one factor in increasing the level of highly satisfied and engaged customers in your business is the level of highly satisfied and engaged employees in your business.

The objective of achieving operational excellence can thus be measured by increase in shareholder value through
increase in revenues and cost reduction, improved customer service by creating friendly environment, excellent service delivery, customer focused staff and developing employee satisfaction through reward and recognition and provision of adequate working tool.

Understanding the need of the current situation in banks and financial institutions with respect to OPEX, the 4th Annual Operational Excellence in Financial Services, will focus on the “Emerging Trends in Operational Transformation & Process Excellence.”

Smartstream is the platinum sponsor and ITS is the gold sponsor for this conference which will take place on the 10 – 11 June 2015 at Holiday Inn Sandton Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa.

To know more about the conference, complete speaker list, discussion topics request for the complete conference agenda at [email protected]