The Agency Growth Series

Our blueprint - one year on

Written by Jo Howarth | Dec 16, 2021 5:20:10 PM

It's a year on since we introduced our Strategic Blueprint, and as we head to the end of 2021 it's a good time to look back at the year, what we've achieved and plans for the future.

This cascade is split into three sections, you may have already covered some of this, but if not its worth spending some time with your teams. It's written as notes to help you deliver it, and gives you a few opportunities to have a conversation as a team as you’re going through the content together.

PART ONE - looking back on 2021

SLIDE 1 - WELCOME

  • The purpose of this session is to look back with pride on the last 12 months and celebrate what we’ve achieved so far in 2021.
  • We’ll then take a look at the economic context, before looking forward to 2022.

 SLIDE 2 – TWO YEARS AGO

  • So, let’s start by looking back at what YBS was like two years ago, before our Blueprint.
  • We were all working hard, but collectively everything was a bit out of focus.
  • And our Senior Leadership Team acknowledge that that started with them.
  • They were all going in slightly different directions, which caused confusion. But most importantly, it was holding us back from achieving the incredible potential we knew we had as a Society.
  • We weren’t in a good place to deliver our purpose. We were underperforming in savings, had poor digital capability, and out of date ways of working.

SLIDE 3 – WHAT WE DID

  • So, what did we do?
  • First, we looked at our case for change.
  • Next, we set our ambition really high to raise the bar.
  • And then we got ourselves focused with our Strategic Blueprint - setting out our Why, What and How.
  • A reminder, the Why is our purpose: Real Help with Real Life.
  • For the What, we decided on our four Strategic Priorities: Savings Rebooted, Purposeful Analytics, Properly Personal Experience and Unbelievably Easy & Efficient.
  • The ‘How’ is our Behaviours, which reflect our culture at YBS (We Care About People, We Say it Straight, We Reach for Better, We Make it Happen).
  • Finally, and possibly the hardest part - we aligned YBS colleagues. Pulling together in the same direction. It’s not easy that stuff, but it’s making a massive difference.

SLIDE 4 – HOW DID 2021 MAKE YOU FEEL?

  • So, all of us can be proud of the work we’ve done on the Blueprint.
  • During some recent Blueprint ‘One Year On’ virtual events, colleagues were asked how they felt during their highs and lows of 2021.
  • You can see some examples on the slide here.
  • [If you’re looking at this with your team, have a discussion: Share how you felt during their highs and lows of 2021 – and expand on what your highlight and biggest challenges were.]
  • [Acknowledge that 2021 has been a bit of a rollercoaster and it has felt a bit overwhelming and uncertain at times.]

SLIDE 5 – A ‘WE SAY IT STRAIGHT’ VIEW OF THE YEAR

  • So, we’ve looked back to pre-Blueprint YBS… now let’s take a more in depth look at the last twelve months.
  • Overall, this has been an outstanding first year of our transformation.

SLIDE 6 – 85%+

  • In fact, to put a score on it, we have achieved over 85% of what was on our roadmap.
  • Anything above 75% is viewed as phenomenal by industry standards. So, it would have been difficult for us to have had a better year.
  • Let’s looks at each of our priorities to see how we made this happen.
SLIDE 7 - SAVINGS REBOOTED - AN INCREDIBLE YEAR OF TURNAROUND

 

First up, Savings Rebooted. Last year our business underperformed in terms of growth. But one year on, we’ve had an incredible turnaround:

  • As well as our fantastic face to face business we now have the bones of a fantastic digital business.
  • Our app has been a huge hit with 250,000 users a month.  
  • And our savings NPS is up from 35 to 42.
  • As well as this, we’ve increased our rates not once, but twice this year – a brilliant demonstration of Real Help with Real Life.

SLIDE 8 - PURPOSEFUL ANALYTICS – A STANDOUT FOUNDATIONAL YEAR

Next is Purposeful Analytics, which is fast becoming our secret weapon and we’re using it with practical purpose.

  • It’s been a great first year and we’ve got some really strong pricing and retention models in place.

Purposeful analytics also helped us to:

  • Increase resource in our mortgage teams so we could meet the demand surge during Covid.
  • And be the first lender back into 95% mortgages to help our first-time buyers.

SLIDE 9 - PROPERLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE


  • If Purposeful analytics is our secret weapon – Properly Personal Experience is our brand differentiator.
  • It goes right to the core of what makes YBS special. If we can take that warm, personal service and combine it with a modern digital experience…that will set YBS apart from our competition.
So, this year we’ve done a lot of work on bringing this to life:
  • Like how colleagues came together to support brokers and customers through the stamp duty peaks.
  • In Accord and Commercial Lending, our common-sense, personal underwriting approach is key to what makes us different.
  • And our retail colleagues have gone above and beyond to breathe new life into the face-to-face network.

SLIDE 10 – UNBELIEVABLY EASY & EFFICIENT

And finally, Unbelievably Easy and Efficient.
  • We’ve done some great foundational stuff this year.
  • We’ve reduced our paper usage by 40%.
  • We’ve made some fantastic progress simplifying our savings journey.
  • We got Buy to Let onto the Mortgage Sales Origination (MSO) platform which was a big win.
  • In Commercial Lending our valuation turnaround has reduced by 18 days.
  • And of course, new kit... which is on its way for our Retail Network.
  • So, some serious delivery there. Lots still to go for, but we’ve achieved the vast majority of what we set out to this year.

SLIDE 11 – THE HEADACHES

  • But there are a few things that haven’t gone as well as we would have hoped.
  • For example, the delay to the Desktop Refresh rollout in Retail which has been really frustrating for all of us… and it hasn’t been helped by the supply chain shortages.
  • The other one to call out is Payment Simplification - this is a difficult change for some members, and we appreciate the lengths that you’ve gone to, to help those who have been affected.
  • [Open conversation if you’re with your team: Thoughts/reflections on what you’ve heard so far]

SLIDE 12 – DELIVERY AGAINST PURPOSE


  • So, bringing it all back to our WHY – the reason YBS exists.
  • Your efforts are supporting our ambition of helping half a million people into a home, and another half a million people towards greater financial resilience by 2024. All whilst handing as much value as we can back to our members.
  • We have real momentum now. And these aren’t just numbers. These are real people and real lives we are helping.

SLIDE 13 – OVERALL A STAND-OUT YEAR


PART TWO - LOOKING AHEAD TO 2022

SLIDE 14 – INTRO SLIDE

  • We’re now going to turn our attention to how we make 2022 another standout year and will share the economic context we’re facing into next year.
  • To give you an idea of the potential shape of the market next year, let’s watch this short film:

SLIDE 15 – PLAY REAL LIFE HEADWINDS VT

  • [The video is on the Agency media drive, ‘Real_Life_Headwinds_C_20211123’]
  • Or on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/650379048 password oneyearon

SLIDE 16 – BLUEPRINT Y2

  • As that film alludes, we don’t all need to be running for the hills, but equally we do need to be realistic about what that insight tells us.
  • We’re looking at all parts of the business, but Mortgages is where we’ll likely feel the most We have shown the benefits of strong performing mortgage business. And we know our strategy works.
  • We can achieve what we want and need to… but it’s going to take real focus and aligned effort from everyone to get.
  • We know we can do it so we shouldn’t be worried…just focused and thoughtful.
  • [Open conversation if you’re with your team: what you they think of the video? What stands out to you as being the biggest challenge next year?]

SLIDE 17 - OVERVIEW

  • So, it’s going to be tough but there’s no need to panic.
  • If we stay focused, we can absolutely do this. Let’s look at how.
  • We’re on a three-year journey … 2021 has been about building strong foundations and we’ve done a great job.
  • In 2022, there are big challenges ahead

- The big banks are way ahead of us in their transformations. They’ve got deeper pockets and they can make money in more ways than we can. They’re also the price setters, so we need to be wary.
- The ask of businesses to keep up with tech is massive, as are rising expectations. Customers expect the Amazon experience everywhere they go.
- And not forgetting that we’re all a bit run down after 18 months of Covid and such a busy year.

  • All these challenges boil down to one thing. The urgency to transform fast is greater than ever.
  • This means our year 2 blueprint theme is “Transform faster and smarter (and that’s all of us)”. This is about ramping up our transformation delivery.
  • And, if we do that in 2022, we’ll set ourselves up brilliantly for Year 3 when we’re aiming “To make YBS the first choice” - for customers, brokers and colleagues.

SLIDE 18 – KEY MESSAGES FOR 2022Y

So, let’s now look ahead to 2022, starting with 3 key messages:
  • A really important message today is that the Blueprint we launched last year remains the same. It’s working and we’re keeping it!
  • Second, we won’t be flip-flopping. Mortgages is a big focus. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to take our eye off Savings or Commercial lending. All parts are important.
  • And the final message is around the 2022 theme “faster and smarter”
  • Because of the market context we really do need to go faster on many things.
  • But equally we absolutely don’t want people to fall over. So yes, we’ll be moving faster, but we need to make sure we’re all caring for ourselves too.
  • Continuing to improve systems, and equipping colleagues will help, as will an increased focus on our Behaviours.
  • 2022 shouldn’t be a slog. 2022 should be a smart.
  • Underpinning all of this is great teamwork.
  • All of us, aligned and working together.
  • So, we’re now going to look at our 2022 priorities in more detail.

SLIDE 19 “SAVINGS REBOOTED”

  • So, let’s turn first to Savings Rebooted. 
  • 2021 was all around making it easy and compelling for customers to buy savings products from us.
  • For 2022 the biggest focus will be on what happens after customers buy from us.
  • And that’s really important… because as a customer if you have an amazing experience once you buy from us… you are more likely to stay and recommend us too.
  • So, we’re summarising our 2022 savings focus as an “Excellent end-to-end offering” and there are five action areas that we’re aiming for...

SLIDE 20 – KEY ACTION AREAS

  • (1) “Whole journey digitised”.
    • Currently, customers who have a fixed rate savings product with us, can’t log on and manage their maturity online, they have to call us. 
    • Another customer bugbear is password resets - people don’t want to call to reset a digital service. So, we’re sorting those.
  • (2) Faster and safer Payments. At the moment we say we have fast payments, but they still take 24 hours!
    • Payment times on current accounts are literally seconds nowadays and people want that with their savings too, so we’re working on that.
  • (3) “Even Easier Account Opening” - this is about getting to a place where customers get access to their new account within 24 hours.
    • We want to provide the same simplified process we have for digital across all channels…and to do this we’re hoping to launch our new digital account opening process and ID & Verification system. We’ll share more info on this when we can.
  • (4) Next is providing ‘More Rewards for Loyalty’ 
    • This year we increased our rates for those customers who’d been with us for a certain length of time…but next year we want to be even more focussed about it.
    • Research shows that the average UK saver needs £17,500 to feel financially secure.
    • And for a lot of people, that is a lot of money. So, we’re looking at what we can do to help customers build up their savings over time, ensuring that we are passing back to members in a more purposeful way.
  • (5) And finally, ‘Propositions that build a savings habit’.
    • We currently have a Christmas saver and we’ve got a prize draw product coming in January where we’re giving people the chance to win a prize of having their bills paid for a month as an incentive to start saving. We’ll share more info on this when we can.
    • We’re also looking at what we call ‘tiering’ which is paying a higher interest rate on lower balances to encourage customers to kickstart their savings habit.  
  • So, in summary we’re definitely not taking our eye off savings!
  • My big ask is that we continue having those fantastic savings conversations and focus on the moments which really do make the biggest difference.

SLIDE 21 – PURPOSEFUL ANALYTICS

  • So, let’s now take a look at what’s in store for Purposeful Analytics in 2022…

SLIDE 22 – 2022 PURPOSEFUL ANALYTICS FOCUS


  • We’re going to trade hard and put our new analytics tools to work with real purpose.  And a big - but not the only focus - is going to be strengthening our mortgage business.

SLIDE 23 – 2022 PURPOSEFUL ANALYTICS FOCUS

  • We’ll be driving value in a tough market by creating more purpose-led products; to help underserved customers with their Real-Life needs.
  • At the moment we reject quite a few mortgage customers because they fail our credit checks. 
  • But with our new pricing tools we’ll be able to quantify the likely returns and losses for these customers.
  • So next year, we’re planning to accept far more people and help them find a place to call home.
  • The products will be higher margin, but fairly priced for the risk, so we’ll make a bit more return as a business… which we can then pass back to our savers - a win-win!
  • And we’re also going to launch a mortgage product called Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor.
  • In simple terms if a customer can’t quite afford the house they want, we will allow people to have a guarantor – say a relative – who’ll have joint responsibility for payments if needed… but won’t own the property. 

SLIDE 24 - ANALYTICS TO HELP TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE


  • And finally, we want to use analytics to help tackle climate change.
  • Next year will be about understanding the challenge.
  • But in the future, we want to look to support customers on managing any risks, things like allowing a bit of extra lending for eco-related home improvements.
  • So, to sum up… Purposeful Analytics is turning into our secret weapon, a big competitive advantage.

PART THREE

SLIDE 25 – PROPERLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Our final two priorities now - Properly Personal Experience and Unbelievably Easy & Efficient - and in many ways, they work together in harmony.
  • One way to think about Properly Personal Experience is that the customer personally chooses which channel experience they want.
  • So, to use a music analogy - instead of a face-to-face gig, they can come to one of our branches or agencies…
  • Instead of requesting a song through a radio DJ, they can call our expert telephony colleagues...
  • And instead of building a Spotify playlist, they can use our YBS app…
  • And because we’re YBS… it’s a warm and unique experience regardless of which they choose.

SLIDE 26 – UNBELIEVABLY EASY & EFFICIENT

  • And what about Unbelievably Easy and Efficient?
  • Well think of this like the backstage magic to make the personal experience happen.
  • In music terms that would be the lighting or the sound desk. 
  • For YBS it’s the laptops, the tools, the systems, the knowledge and so on.
  • All working together seamlessly to deliver a great customer experience.

SLIDE 27 – PROPERLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

  • So, if that’s how the two priorities work together, let’s look at our 2022 plans…starting with Properly Personal Experience.

SLIDE 28 – BUILDING A MARKET SWEET SPOT


  • PPE is an opportunity to create a real sweet spot for YBS. Of course, a Properly Personal experience can be about face to face, human contact.
  • But it’s also about replicating that same warm, personal experience across all of our channels. 
  • Our digital competitors often force customers to do everything online which not everyone appreciates.
  • So, you can see why if we get PPE right, it will set us apart from our competition.
  • We’re not promising Amazon style personalisation here, but we will start to see some elements of tailoring during 2022.
  • So, if that’s the direction of travel - the main theme we’re working towards is providing “Interactions that feel unique and personal”.

SLIDE 29 – PPE SUMMARY


Next year we’ve got the following areas within PPE:
  • First, we’ll provide more personalised communications to our customers and brokers.
  • If we’re honest…at the moment our communications are mainly one size fits all.
  • But in the future, we’ll use data to send personalised communications explaining which products might help a customer achieve their dreams.
  • The tone of voice will be true Yorkshire - friendly and straightforward with a touch of emotion in there too to really connect with people.
  • More self-serve and value-add activities.
  • This second PPE focus could be a game changer…we want to digitally enable as many simple tasks such as password resets and balance checks as possible. And if we make it simple enough… then we expect that most customer will choose to self-serve.
  • But… there’s an important point to emphasise here…and that is personal choice.
  • If a customer doesn’t want to self-serve or doesn’t have the knowledge or tools to do so, then they can still call us or pop to see us in branch/agency.
  • Not many other FS organisations offer that personal choice – so this will be a big differentiator for YBS.
  • And then there’s our two retail initiatives to help keep face to face thriving.
  • The test and learn culture in our retail network is really exciting. It’s about making the face-to-face experience feel different to other providers and having really great conversations with our customers.
  • From a PPE perspective the two big ones in 2022 will be:
    • “A Proper warm welcome”.
  • We're going to make it a real “thing”, particularly for those customers who have joined us online. We’re going to call people up, say hello and welcome them to YBS. A pure digital player wouldn’t do that.
  • And the second one is about having access to real people. We're calling it our “Savings pitstop”. We'll sit down with our customers; we’ll get to know them and understand what their needs are. We won’t be making recommendations, but we’ll help them to make an informed choice on the product that is right for them. And providing the pilot is validated, we’ll be rolling this out at scale next year.

SLIDE 30 – UBELIEVABLY EASY AND EFFICIENT TITLE SLIDE

  • So, moving now to Unbelievably easy and efficient - the magic that happens behind the scenes to deliver that Properly personal experience.

SLIDE 31 - UNBELIEVABLY EASY & EFFICIENT - CURRENT REALITY



  • So, is YBS Unbelievably Easy and Efficient for colleagues at the moment? Well, we’re getting better, but we have a way to go yet… especially in our retail network.
  • We have too many hand offs because we’re not equipped with all the tools we need.
  • And for customers it’s getting better, but it can feel a bit clunky and there’s some frustration about not being able to do basic things online.
  • Last year we invested £18m in transformation. In 2022 we’re investing £23m and our key theme is “Way more automated and efficient” and we’re tackling this in 3 areas:

SLIDE 32 - ONLINE FIRST, HUMAN BRILLIANCE NEXT

  • The first is making it easier for colleagues to do more rewarding, value-add roles.
  • This is encouraging online first for basic things like password resets and balance checks.
  • Which then allows people to shine when it comes the higher value stuff like:
  • Discussing the most appropriate product for a customer’s needs
  • Helping with payment difficulties or handling a complaint

SLIDE 33 – SUPPORTING OUR PEOPLE

  • And we’re going to be investing in more expert, skilled and rewarding jobs as well. Unbelievably Easy and Efficient isn’t just about IT investment. It’s also about supporting our people.
  • In 2022, We’ll be investing in a knowledge management system for customer-facing colleagues.
  • Think of it like a Google search engine for any query that a customer might have; where you can get an answer in less than a second on how to deal with the enquiry.
  • We won’t complete the roll out next year - but in the second half of 2022, we aim to have as many telephony colleagues as possible testing the system and we’ll go from there.

SLIDE 34 – EFFICIENT FOUNDATIONS TO KEEP US FUTURE FIT

  • And finally, we’ve focused so far on the easy part of Unbelievably Easy and Efficient and there’s a reason for that - the easier things are…. the more we’ll grow.
  • This is about being future fit so that YBS thrives for our members and colleagues.
  • Some of the key foundational stuff we’ll be delivering in 2022 includes:
  • Further modernisation of our systems such as shaping our mobile mortgages app.
  • Rolling out our digital technology into our retail network and optimising our network of around 250 branches and agencies.
  • And starting to modernise how we’re organised. This is about having more flexible, agile structures not just the traditional hierarchy.
  • We could feel threatened by all of this. But… by prioritising learning we hope colleagues begin to feel future ready, whether they work for YBS in 5 years’ time or not.
  • And we want YBS to be future fit for future generations, too.

SLIDE 35 – SUMMING UP

  • So, to sum up our 2022 priorities.
  • Our 2022 theme is “Transform faster & smarter (and that’s all of us)”
  • Our four priorities remain the same…
  • We’ve been really clear on the 2022 focuses for each one given the market context…And we’ve got laser sharp focus on specific actions.
  • And while we’re driving our transformation, we’re also keeping a focus on current performance.
  • So that’s it – 2022 on a single page.
  • [Open conversation if you’re with your team: what do you think about our plans for 2022? What are you most excited about? Any worry beads?]

SLIDE 36 – WRAPPING UP

  • So, we’ve covered a lot in [this session / these sessions]. We’ve reflected on 2021 and looked forward to 2022, so I just wanted to close with something….

SLIDE 37 – ALL OF US

  • I wanted to finish by reflecting on the phrase - “All of us”
  • Sometimes it’s tempting to think of transformation as being just the job of the transformation team, but that way of thinking will only get us so far...for YBS this is already feeling like everyone’s transformation.
  • Imagine what will happen if all of us have that equal drive to land all these priorities next year.
  • All of us actively thinking about how we can make what we do unbelievably easy and efficient.
  • …how we can use data to make better decisions and challenging ourselves to fix the processes that are holding us back.
  • So, an “All of us” mindset is YBS’ (and our Senior Leadership Team’s) biggest ask from you today. We honestly believe that 2022 could be our best year yet.
  • So, thank you for listening today, but most of all thank YOU for 2021 so far...and for next year too.
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