3 minute read
Business Operations
The Business Operations team provides IT, HR operations, Office & Facilities management, Finance and Support for the whole organisation.
Lots of work has been happening behind the scenes, what has that meant for your team?
Our team ensures the wider organisation can do their work. In 2023 we oversaw significant changes to streamline and simplify our Business Information Management (BIM) systems. For example, after relying on desktop cloud storage for many years, we achieved our goal of transitioning to local cloud storage and other desktop solutions.
This includes moving our files to SharePoint and Teams, which changed how our wider team works. Therefore, we provided training for colleagues to make the most of the new systems. Not only will this improve consistent communications with colleagues and stakeholders, but by automating and updating our systems our colleagues can spend more time connecting with, gathering insights from, and adding value to our community.
We also made further improvements to our systems. We worked with an IT supplier to improve our financial reporting processes, reducing the amount of manual labour involved and making room for future improvements. Together with Marketing & Communications, we also integrated our email newsletters with our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which will make it easier for us to keep track of communications, and we will have the option for exploiting other features going forward.
What work did you do that the wider community will benefit from most?
We made some big improvements to our process for approving risk assessments for the community. Our approval process involved many iterations and were taking an average of 150 days to finalise, which was creating a backlog. Scheme and Customer Services managed to improve the efficiency of this process, especially the time it took before processing feedback. BIM facilitated our colleagues with a system that supports their process which is beneficial to their work and also had a positive effect on the lead time. Together we reduced the lead time to 70 days on average – cutting the lead time in half. This is a huge improvement and will significantly benefit the community.
What more did you do to set up for the future?
We want to ensure we are making the most of technology in how we collaborate with our community. In 2023 we established an IT User Group, made of CBs and partners from our subcommittees. This group, who begin their work in 2024, will be looking at how we can better use IT to support the community, such as through developments to our portal and databases, how we can support the future of auditing, and how new developments like AI and blockchain can add value to the community.
More time for connecting, gathering insights and adding value to our community
