Bradesco Lean Digital and Cultural Transformation-Transforming customers in fans

Cristina Pinna, IT Director, Banco Bradesco

Motivation for change

Can you imagine how to make a digital transformation in an organization with more than 79 years, almost 90 thousand employees, and more than 48 thousand points of attendance? Certainly, a big challenge! Bradesco, one of the top Brazilian banks with more than 74 million customers, excels in this achievement. To support its digital strategy, based on digital innovation, platforms, and Open Finance, focusing on customers and their feedback, Bradesco realized that it would be necessary to transform how the organization delivered solutions. It started a cultural transformation to better understand customer needs, prototype, test, and experiment with solutions to deliver value in an agile way. The initiative shows the importance of continuous learning and development, overlooking opportunities to reinvent the business.

Changes in work models and mindset

The initiative permeates the entire organization and aims for cultural transformation to drive digital acceleration using agile methodologies, autonomous and multidisciplinary teams working together – business units, CX, data, and IT experts, focusing on MVPs (Minimum Viable Products), allowing quick responses to the customer's needs, through Lean philosophy. Technology is an enabler; people are protagonists. A culture that develops engaged people for the same purpose, keeping the focus on customers.

Bradesco started its journey transformation with collaborative work, developing and empowering people, creating agile teams focused on customer's journeys and with necessary abilities (IT, business, compliance, UX, data). They are called "villages," and each is responsible for specific themes/services, such as Mobile, Investments, CRM, Credit offers, etc. The model was intensified, expanded, and consolidated with the creation of new 'villages' orchestrated by the 'Lean Office' team.

The Lean Office promotes Lean Digital transformation program, tracking its maturity, disseminating lean methods across the organization, focusing on value creation for customers with established objectives (OKR), and measuring the satisfaction of people involved in the process – employees and customers.

The journey

Bradesco established a long-term view based on lean digital fundamentals, divided into 4 phases:

● Preparation (2018): initial implementation of the model, creation of first agile teams (2 villages), methods and processes identification.

● Structure (2019): program governance and organization definition, creation of Lean Office team, and expansion to new business initiatives (4 villages). Defined Lean leadership and established a high-level engagement with senior leadership, defined new roles and responsibilities.

● Multiplication and escalation (2020/2021): model and processes definition, acceleration in new participants (20 villages), spreading the culture, methods and continuous improvement, DevSecOps, and agility in scale.

Transformation and consolidation (2022):  new conceptual model  "front  to  back"

Transformation, developing platforms and business ecosystems (24 villages).

Customer Journey orients internal structure changes organization and governance disseminate strategic objectives and goals.

Results

Some results that can be measured:

● 24 villages in operation with 469 squads, focused on different businesses: wholesale, CRM, high income, open finance, mobile, branches, and so on;

● More than 4.000 employees and external collaborators working in current villages;

● 80% of the bank's portfolio initiatives are delivered in an agile way;

● Millions of Brazilian reais (R$) were invested in agile teams, with almost 100,000 total training hours;

● Leadtime takes about three months, from the idea conception until solution deployment. That represents almost 40% improvement;

● Value delivered in continuous cycles based on customer feedback;

● Recognition of The Banker magazine, in the Digital Innovation Awards 2022, as the winner

in "Digital Transformation" – a global award.

Some successful cases:

● CRM – 102% increase in active interactions via digital channels and a 59% increase in the potential interactions with customers, with contextual offers to customers, i.e., offering a personal credit when there is no money in the current account;

◦ Brain – real-time credit offers to revolutionize the credit experience. The model decides 98.5% of mass proposals and shows an increase of 40% in credit approval through digital channels using Machine Learning, AI, and advanced analytics.

The Cultural Change

There is no digital transformation without cultural and personal transformation. One important achievement is engaging people in a more open and inclusive communication with continuous feedback, empowering people. Some other results are:

●Developing people in their behavioral and technological skills. The skills needed today are more focused on collaboration, curiosity, ability to interpret scenarios, adaptability, self-management of knowledge, growth mindset, and continuous learning;

● Breaking down barriers by joining employees from different areas and skills, encouraging collaboration and team commitment;

◦CEO and Executive board sponsorship – business units engagement was crucial for success and speed in implementation;

◦ Delivering value mindset with more quality in less time, understanding in depth the real customers' needs;

● Increasing team satisfaction, more engaged and active in a model that demands greater accountability and allows transparency to discuss problems;

● Collaboration and more horizontal leadership with less hierarchical roles. Leadership plays an essential role in culture change and needs to challenge the team while allowing autonomy.

All that together impacts customers satisfaction: retail customers' NPS increased 14p.p, and NPS for cards and investments solutions grew up 17p.p. and 16 p.p, respectively, from 4Q20 to 2Q22. Besides that, nowadays, 98% of all transactions are done by digital channels, showing that customers migrated from physical channels to digital platforms. That shows Bradesco is living an internal and great transformation that directly impacts the customers – in quality, velocity, and innovation way - transforming customers into fans.

Agile

Retail

Machine Learning