September
2020
5 TIPS TO HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR WORK PERFORMANCE
E D ITO R S ’ MESSAGE
Clover & Dayton
With everything going on, we’re ready for a transformation, and we hope you are too. The Digital Transformation Team has been hard at work and are about to disrupt the mortgage experience. The VM Foundation has been changing lives. And we have 5 tips for you that should change how you get things done at work for the better. So let’s shift gears and get going. Change is good! If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know at: VMCorporateAffairs@myvmgroup.com
CONTENTS
Page 2 5 Tips to Help You Improve Your Work Performance
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Level Up: VM Digital Transformation
VM Tidbits: VM Foundation
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5 TIPS TO HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR WORK PERFORMANCE
With the increased incidence of natural disasters, an unprecedented global pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout, it has certainly been an eventful year thus far. Nonetheless, we’re now used to hand washing and video conferencing, and many of us are adjusting to this new lifestyle and ways of interacting with our family, neighbours and co-workers. If social media posts are anything to go by, 2020 has also been a year filled with personal setbacks and unpredictability, as well as ups-anddowns. The good news is that how we respond to our circumstances, personally and professionally, is up to us. Now is the time to dig deep and pivot towards transformation and improvement Here are five small changes you can make a big difference in your performance:
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1. Focus on outcomes, not activities – Instead of a packed to-do list, make note of the outcomes you want to achieve. This is usually a shorter list than every single thing you need to do to make them happen. With your goals in sight you’ll figure out the steps to get there along the way. 2. Break up big tasks – When faced with a four-hour slog, it’s a good idea to break it up into more manageable pieces, maybe 30 mins each. Small breaks in between and you’ll be refreshed each time to keep going. 3. Plan meetings – Video calls can be an efficient way to keep teams running. They can also be a time suck. If it’s your meeting, have an agenda, if it’s not you should request one. Get there on time, come with notes and help keep it effective and efficient, whatever your role.
4. Eliminate interruptions – This is a toughie, but it’s very important. Big or small, anything that disrupts your workflow can break your concentration and ultimately cause project delays. Schedule two times during the day to check emails and messages and stick to it. 5. Learn your strengths and weaknesses – This involves some soul searching and would be helped by getting some input from co-workers. It might be difficult to hear what others think of us, but knowing where we’re most effective and where we can improve is an invaluable part of self-improvement.
Improving performance is more of a journey than a destination. There will always be things we could have done or could do better, but the important thing is to stay committed to doing our best. Remember, perfection is a myth, but excellence is a habit.
RESULTS FOCUSED: I KNOW and PASSIONATELY deliver the Key Results through ALL that I do. VM EXCEL: I PLAN and EXECUTE with excellence and efficiency, ahead of time and ahead of budget, always.
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LEVEL UP: VM DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION The New ‘VM Powered’ by Digital Transformation and the Disruptive Mortgage Experience (DME)
OUR ‘WHY’ VM currently receives 100 mortgage applications each month. Home ownership is the very foundation on which the Home of Financial Wellness is built. There is no escaping it – the Jamaican public, especially our Members, acknowledge this and appreciate us for it! Our purpose has earned us a great reputation and brings with it an enormous responsibility to fulfill.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL SHIFT Much time has passed since VM’s cofounders turned their vision into reality. Since then, VM has demonstrated an ability to evolve and has grown into the formidable Group of Companies it is now. Having entered the fourth industrial revolution, the world we now operate in is vastly different. With the advent of artificial intelligence, ‘automation’ has a new
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meaning. Locally, finance and telecoms firms have been integrating AI and cyberphysical systems into phone calls and live chat conversations. Some of the benefits include faster execution, greater convenience and the removal of tedious tasks from the work day of team members.
VM’S RESPONSE In 2018, VM commenced a transformation journey of which Digital Transformation is a big part. This Digital Transformation would seek to fundamentally change our business strategy so that prospective and existing Members interested in home ownership would experience VM in a totally different way, consistent with the environmental shift. At the core of the Digital Transformation is the introduction of technologies in our business environment to deliver increased or improved.
Though Member-obsessed, the Digital Transformation has not been all about Members. For the VM Team much has been felt that will also continue in the future: New roles have been created, allowing team Members the opportunity to grow professionally. Additional technologies provided that have had the effect of improving our work lives Microsoft 365 platform has changed the way team members operate, for example allowing us greater collaboration: Remotely: whether you are in the 40% of our team working from home or you stay connected and access emails from your mobile phone while on the go Socially: a fun space in Yammer where we can celebrate each other for great service we give to our internal team or external Members or share innovations and ideas that benefit the organization as a team: Teams gives us that space where we can
engage and share files, make posts and wikis for learning and development as a one on one conversation. Skype (being phased out) gives us that space where we can have direct engagement without the need for a desk phone Smart iABM deployment that sees branch teams counting less cash and instead focusing on other value-added tasks whilst our Members touch us digitally in making deposits at the ABM’s. Facilitation of key initiatives and events that recognize and empower team members which would have otherwise been difficult (if not impossible) to support in the COVID19 pandemic: I Am VM Awards Financial Education Series Setting the trend locally with two (2) hybrid Annual General Meetings » VMBS » VMIL Digital Townhall Meetings Let’s Talk Series
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For some time, the sentiment among team members has been that ‘VM just too slow’….we are now responding with a framework that has speed as its focus: AGILE. With speed being a key priority of agile, we will now improve the way we operate and shift the mentioned perception. THE DISRUPTIVE MORTGAGE EXPERIENCE (DME): Staying true to our purpose, the Digital Transformation Team is taking a crack at overhauling the mortgage experience. This particular initiative is significant because it incorporates a new approach to work that will propel the New VM. ‘Agile’1 is an iterative approach to projects that delivers results in small, but consumable, increments instead of working for a long
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time toward one big launch. For some time, the sentiment among team members has been that “VM tek long eeh” or “wi just too slow”. With the Agile framework, we will change that perception by changing how we operate. Accordingly, the Disruptive Mortgage Experience (DME) and the VM Wealth Client Management portal are being delivered within a relatively short time – in November! The DME will see our Members having the ability to request, receive pre-approval and subsequent approval all without coming
Agile, Design Thinking (inclusive of Customer Journey Mapping), Digital Transformation, data analysis
into the branch. Members. Our Members will be able to experience: Convenience throughout the application process The ability to apply whenever and wherever – no constraints of branch opening hours and the associated commute Better communication and visibility on the status of their application in the processing journey Guided navigation on the portal with tooltips and milestone updates via email alerts Faster turnaround on the mortgage The benefits of a better mortgage process in the turnaround time As it relates to the VM Team, if you play a role in mortgage application support, you are likely to experience the positive effects of a re-engineered mortgage process: Accountability for fewer stalled applications
Less tedious Member queries More efficient use of time For agile delivery to fulfil its mandate of faster delivery, the DME solution at onset will be released in a ‘minimum viable’ state. This approach allows a product to reach customers more quickly so that feedback can be received earlier for future integration into an even richer application. That being said, the VM team can look out for a minimum viable DME product this November, brought to you by the Program Management and Digital Transformation teams. Our net promoter score and cost-toincome ratio will stand to benefit in the not too distant future as the DME is continuously improved within our Agile Lab.
Tarik Munroe Enterprise Change Lead Group Corporate Affairs & Communication
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VM TIDBITS: VM FOUNDATION
DONATION TO CRYSTAL CLARKE’S CHILDREN After viewing Crystal Clarke’s heartbreaking plea for help in the media, the VM Foundation and VM Group Business Process Improvement Team collaborated to assist the mother of eight with back-toschool items for her kids. Check out the photo from the official handover.
Crystal Clarke (2nd left), mother of eight, being presented with back-to-school items by Regina Owen (left), Programme Administrator, VM Foundation, Jodiann Darby (2nd right), Business Analyst and Sandra Davis Lewis, Senior Business Analyst (right), Victoria Mutual.
DONATION TO ELSIE BEMAND GIRLS’ HOME The VM Foundation teamed up with our Corporate Office, Group Sales Effectiveness and Strategic Investments Units to donate sanitisation items to the Elsie Bemand Girls’ Home. The Home is currently home to 12 young ladies, aged 13–17 years.
From left: Keisha Love, Caregiver; Tiffany-Joy Smith, VM Financial Business Analyst, Group Sales Effectiveness; Regina Owen, Programme Administrator, VM Foundation; Courtney Campbell, VM Group President and CEO; Adrian Sterling, Strategic Investment Analyst, Corporate Office; Venita Walker, Manager, Elsie Bemand Girls’ Home; Carleen Small, Assistant House Mother, Elsie Bemand Girls’ Home; Natasha Reid, Executive Assistant, Corporate Office and Noel Minott, Driver.
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Courtney Campbell (left), Group President and CEO, does an elbow bump with Venita Walker, Manager, Elsie Bemand Girls’ Home.
Courtney Campbell (left) and Natasha Reid (right), unpacking donations to the Elsie Bemand Girls’ Home with Venita Walker (centre), Manager of the Home.
HAND-OVER OF HANDWASHING STATIONS TO SPANISH TOWN PRIMARY A donation of hygiene handwashing stations to assist the Spanish Town Primary School with their readiness for the new COVID-19 protocols was presented by The VM Foundation. to start the new school term. Our camera captured two sharable moments from the hand-over:
Sasha-Gay Wright-Wilson, Branch Manager ( 2nd right), VMBS Spanish Town shows young Kai Jackson, how to hash his hands, while Verona Thomas (left), Vice Principal, Shift B, Spanish Town Primary School and Patrice Bingham, Senior Financial Service Specialist, VMBS Spanish Town looks on during the official hand-over of handwashing stations.
Sasha-Gay Wright-Wilson (right) Branch Manager, VMBS Spanish Town does an elbow bump with Verona Thomas (left), Vice Principal, Shift B, Spanish Town Primary School during the official hand-over of the handwashing stations.
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