Sustainable KM
A Best Practices Case Study at BECU
When it comes to helping customers make sound financial decisions, the financial service industry can count on one thing—information all over the place. With data stuffed into binders, hidden in emails and databases, even passed by word-of-mouth, finding the right answer can be a "needle-in-the-haystack" exercise.
Knowledge management is touted as the solution to this problem, and it can dramatically improve customer service. However, knowledge management must be implemented within a rigorous framework of best practices to ensure initial success and long-term sustainability.
BECU is one organization that has done it right. As one of the top four credit unions in the United States, with more than $8 billion in assets and more than (550,000) members, BECU prides itself on its ability to act as financial advocates for members, offering convenient service through two full-service financial centers, two contact centers and nearly 50 neighborhood financial centers in the Seattle metropolitan area.
With rapid growth came the need to better manage the processes and information required to deliver the level of financial advocacy that BECU envisioned. BECU found it challenging to keep information up-to-date, accurate and consistent given constant process changes, new products, regulation and decentralized operations. Three-inch thick binders littered employees’ desks, and there were multiple versions of "what to do," leading to inconsistent member experiences and too many errors.
BECU executives championed "unified knowledge" as a keystone of their vision of consistently knowledgeable and competent staff. After considering several knowledgebase vendors, the credit union selected Talisma Knowledgebase to manage BECU’s expected growth. BECU devised an implementation strategy based on three key practices: 1. knowledge management as a process; 2. selective introduction; and 3. on-going communication.
It’s a Process, Not a Project
From the start, BECU recognized that knowledge management is not a "once and done" initiative. Developing a sustainable process became the guiding principle, which was reinforced by creating a separate knowledge management department headed by Hank Church, BECU’s manager of knowledge management.
Church explains: "We knew knowledge management would positively affect how our people interact with members every day. We wanted to shift the culture from one of employees spending a lot of time trying to find the right information to one of accessing that information very quickly and, as a result, being able to spend more time focusing on the member experience. We knew that this meant a long-term commitment to knowledge development and delivery."
BECU chose to dedicate resources to be sure information and processes were always timely, accurate and complete. Church notes that it is not absolutely necessary to create a formal department: "While your company may choose not to create a formal KM group, be aware that knowledge management never quits. If sustaining your knowledgebase over the long term is not made a priority, it will quickly become obsolete. For us, that would mean going backwards—and that is something we have no intention of doing."
BECU had a large body of process and product information available to populate the knowledgebase. Multiple departments, including HR and IT, were interested in incorporating their materials as well.
However, BECU decided that a measured launch would best serve its employees. Knowing that the knowledgebase would significantly impact the way employees work, it was launched with just the product and process information most frequently used to assist members. Similarly, the site’s home page offered a limited set of features. "We wanted the employees’ first impression to be one of simplicity and ease of use," Church says.
This measured introduction gave employees a chance to get used to the knowledgebase. As their comfort level increased, BECU added content, including HR policies and IT self-help, as well as functionality, such as FAQ and forum pages and an expanded home page to accommodate references to revised or new content.
It would have been easy to fall into the "if you build it, they will come" trap, but BECU knew better, making a concerted effort to increase acceptance and adoption. Church explains the importance of constant communication: "We consider promoting the knowledgebase to be a critical success factor. We want employees to feel vested in this tool because it is the single most important resource they have for working with members."
Communication takes many forms. At the beginning of the initiative, the credit union implemented a "Binder Bounty," with prizes for turning in traditional, 3-ring binder manuals. "This was not only fun for our staff, it was also an important, tangible signal that we were entering a new era of document and knowledge management," Church says.
The KM group "sounds the horn" every time new content or functionality is added. Employees are encouraged to contribute suggestions for improvement via built-in feedback processes. Regular "how are we doing?" surveys let them identify the good and the bad. And the knowledgebase has even been "humanized"—or at least "pet-ized"—with the catchy name of FIDO, which stands for Find Information and Documents Online.
Church’s team also communicates regularly with the subject-matter experts who are designated as content owners. They work with management to ensure content owners have enough time to maintain their information, and regular recognition programs emphasize the importance of content owner contributions.
Best Practices Yield Great Results
For BECU, using these best practices has produced measurable results. The credit union has experienced a 50% drop in error rates for loan processing, and Church estimates a 50% reduction in time needed to process and deliver information.
In surveys, employees have cited how it has helped them better serve members. One consultant noted that her ability to quickly help an elderly customer resulted in the opening of five CDs, each of a very significant amount.
"The knowledgebase is now a firmly established part of our culture. We know employees turn to it as their first resource for information. Ultimately, the real benefit has been to our members, who are now experiencing service that is faster, more accurate and consistent and, most importantly, more personal," Church concludes.
Talisma Corporation, an nGenera Company, is a leading provider of customer interaction management (CIM) solutions for delivering an exceptional experience throughout the customer lifecycle. The flexible, self-learning Talisma Knowledgebase captures and presents current, relevant information to customers in a Web self-service mode, and to agents through a flexible portal within the single-screen agent interface.