Performance Management Framework: International Asset Management Group
This case study illustrates how White Room Associates successfully developed an effective performance management framework to link the organisation’s activities with the Group / Business Strategy. The assignment included the design of a reporting pack to the Board and CEO, as well as the automation of key management / reporting process.
The Australian arm of a leading global asset management group had developed a strategy to grow the local business profitably by exploring new channels while launching alternative investment products. The existing performance management system (to the Board and the CEO) was not comprehensive in collating the different critical factors that would drive the business strategy. In addition, the process was highly manual, using a large number of Excel spreadsheets to present critical financial information.
The key stages in the project that enabled a successful implementation were:
- Interpretation of the new strategy in three easy to understand key phrases
- Creation of functional “Value Driver Trees” that helped the organisation to identify the critical value dimensions required to track and control the various functions. This encompassed all core business activities including: Business Portfolio, Reputation, Marketing, Organisation, Operations, Finance
- A 360 degree diagnosis of the organisation (based on the Value Driver Tree analysis) was carried out to understand what the client was measuring currently and what they should be measuring
- Developing both qualitative and quantitative KPIs, to measure the relevant critical factors
- Designing a comprehensive and cascading reporting packs for the Board and CEO with the KPIs presented in a powerful and easy-to-read format
White Room Associates Performance Management Framework
One of the many challenges that the project experienced was the data integrity and the lack of adequate information from the organisation to populate the KPIs, i.e. profitability by channel, etc., Also, as a consequence of our structured interview process, we identified frustration amongst employees on the various manual workarounds that curtailed their productivity. As a result, a series of smaller satellite projects were initiated to address these productivity issues. White Room Associates worked closely with all the business units in understanding their business needs and streamlining their reporting requirements.
The project significantly improved the reporting capability of the client, while improving productivity and enhancing growth potential and business transparency from the Board of the Directors downwards into the various BU.