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Barclays mobile app gives voice to branch staff

DaveShepherdhasbeenworkingforBarclaysfor25yearsandhasneverseenanythinglikeit.TheHeadofFrontline
Help(https://www.linkedin.com/pub/daveshepherd/2b/643/358)atthethirdlargestUKbankistalkingaboutthechangethat
followedtheintroductionoftheirmobileintranet18monthsago.TheBarclaysmobileapp,MyZone,wasbornoutofa
FutureLeadersdevelopmentday.Webuiltitfundamentallytopushinformationtocolleagues,remembersShepherd.
Butithasturnedintosomethingcompletelydifferent.Employeesarenotinterestedininfowepushtothem.Theywant
infothattheycanpullfromeachother.
Listeningandexperimenting
Afteraslowuptakeinitially,Shepherdandhisteamwent
aroundandaskedcolleagueshowtheywantedtousethe
app.ThisleadtotheinclusionofMySite,aspacethatstaff
usestoexpresstheirviews,postquestionsandanswer
queries.TheappisdevelopedinhousebyBarclaysoffshore
ITteaminPune,India.Wehavebecomesoefficientnowin
ourdevelopmentoftheapp,wecanallowourselvesto
experimentwithwhatourcolleagueswant.Ifafeature
doesntwork,itsnottheendoftheworld,saysShepherd.
ButMySiteturnedouttobetheappsbiggestattraction.Itis
largelyusedamongthe16,000employeesworkinginthe
banksbranches.Theydonothaveemailandtheirsole
commschannelsusedtobetheintranetandlinemanagers
briefings.Itsanurbanmyththatifyougivecashiersan
interactivecommsvehicle,theywilljustignorethecustomer,
DavidHamilton,HeadofFrontlineHelpOperations.Wehave
provedthatitdoesnthappen.
Adifferentbusinessprocess
Employeesinbranchesareusingtheapptouploadvideos
showingcolleaguesthebestwaytoserveacustomer,toask
questionsaboutaproductortoaddressqueriestoeach
other.Forexample,theteamresponsibleforKnowYour
CustomerorKYC,theprocessusedbythebanktoprevent
moneylaunderingandterroristfinancing,haduntilrecently
beenusingahotdesk.InMarch,itswitchedfromphonesto
theappandisnowusingMySiteasitscorebusinessprocess.
Laptopsvsmobile
MySitewentliveinAugust2013.Adoptionhasreachedadailyaverageof2,000to3,000uniqueuserswithpeaksof
10,000forparticularareas.Theheaviesttrafficisusuallybetween8:00and9:00inthemorningwhenpeopleare
commutingtowork,duringthelunchbreakandintheevening.SigningontoyourlaptoptoaccessyourMySitefeedisa
thingofthepast,pickingupyourmobilephonetolookatyournewsfeedwhilewatchingthetelevisionatnightis
somethingquitedifferent,remarksShepherd.
WhileMySiteismainlyusedforcorebusinessactivitiesandhascommunitiessetupmostlyaroundworkprocesses,
employeesalsouseittodiscusstheirpassions.ItfeaturesaphotographyclubaswellasonecreatedbyITtodiscuss
technologyandethicalhacking.
Makingitsecure
Securityoftheappisprovidedbyafrontdoorfivedigitpin,thesameauthenticationprocessusedforBarclaysonline
customers.Itishardwiredintothebanksjoinersandleaversprocess.Everytimeastaffmemberlogsin,thesystem
checksiftheyarestillemployedbythebank.
ThinkBYOD
TheappwasatfirstcreatedforBYOD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_your_own_device).Wehavenotpushedit,peoplehave
beendownloadingitoutoftheirownvolition,saysBenParsons,HeadofColleagueEngagement.Itwaslatermade
availablealsoviathe8,000iPADsBarclaysintroducedintoitsbrancheslastyear.TheseweremeanttobeusedApple
store(http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304563104576364071955678908)styletohelpcustomerschecktheir
accountbalance,bookanappointmentoraskaquestion.Thebiggestchallengewehadwasthatpeopledidnotknow
howtoswitchonaniPAD,remembersParsons.Twomonthslatertheywouldstillhaveitintheirdrawer.
Digitallyempowered
EnterBarclaysDigitalEagles(https://twitter.com/Digitaleagles),agroupofstaffmemberswhohavebeentrainedinallthings
digitalandtravelfrombranchtobranch.Whatwehavedoneissimplygivingthemabadgeandtellingthem:Youare
empoweredtotalkdigitaltocolleaguesandcustomers.
Thecampaignisgainingmomentum.ThebankwillgoliveinthreeweekswithaseriesofadstopubliciseitsDigital
Eagles.Fourmillion,overathirdofBarclayscustomerbase,arealreadyusingdigitalbanking.Thebankhasalso
partneredwiththecharityAgeUK(http://www.ageuk.org.uk/)toencourageseniorcitizenstocomeintothebranchandlearn
howtousetheinternet.The5,000DigitalEaglesdontjustadviseononlinebanking,theycanalsohelpcustomers
contactlonglostgrandnephewsonSkype,asthisvideo(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ProV32AYlpY)shows.
Gettingclosertothecustomer
Barclaysmobileintranethasbeencontributingsubstantiallytotheadoptionofdigitalbankingamongcustomers.Useof
onlinebankingwentupby238%sincetheappwasintroducedin2013.Employeesfeelmoreconfidenttotalkto

RSS

customersaboutdigital.Theycanusetheirpersonalphonestogivethemademoofhowaproductworks,pointsout
Parsons.
Mobiletechnologyisredefiningcustomerproximity.Historically,therewasalwaysadeskoracomputerbetweencashier
andcustomerthatwouldactasabarrier.Now,acashiercansitnexttoacustomerandshowthemthescreenoftheir
phoneoriPAD.Youareliterallyclosertothecustomer,remarksHamilton.Barclayscurrentbranchstrategyisabout
havingitscashiersfrontofthehouse.Mobiledevicesandappslendthemselvesperfectlytothat.Youopenyourbody
up.Itsmorecollaborativeanddemonstrative,addsHamilton.
LesscorporateandmorelikeYouTube
Demosplayabigpartinthis.Barclayshasbeenencouragingitsstafftoproducetheirownanduploadthemon
MediaZone,adedicatedareawiththeMyZoneapp.WewantthesevideostobemorelikeYouTuberatherthanfullon
professional,saysParsons.
ItallstartedwhenShepherdsteamsentoutamessageviaMySiteaskinguserstotakepartinacompetitionandrecord
itonavideo.Theywereaskedtofindoutwhethercheckingthebalanceofanaccountandbookinganappointmentis
fasteronaPCoronaniPAD.iPADswonacrosstheboardandemployeesdevelopedatasteforvideo.Morethan800
videoshavebeensharedonMyZonesincelastyear.WeputoutamessageonMySiteandtellpeopleweneedavideo
toshowanewfunctionality.Wegetanaverageof10to15videosin,checkthemandchoosethebesttogoliveon
MyZone,explainsParsons.Theratioofcorporatetoemployeegeneratedvideocontentinthebankisnow10to90.

Twitterlessons
TheappisalsobeingusedtoeducateBarclaysstaffaboutTwitter.Weneedtoknowwhatpeoplesayaboutus.Ifwe
needtochangesomethingexternally,wehavetostartinternally,remarksParson.TheappfeaturesareadonlyTwitter
feedpreconfiguredbythebankwithitsfeeds(https://twitter.com/BarclaysOnline)aswellasthoseofcompetitors.Thishasbeen
afirstlogicalsteptomakepeopleunderstandthemicrobloggingsite.Shepherdsteamisnowencouragingstaffto
activelyparticipateinsocialengagementbothinternallyandexternally.
Flatteningtheorganization
Barclaysmobileplatformisalsochangingthebankswayoflookingatinternalcommunication.Employeesnowhave
theirownvehicle.Theydonthavetogothroughalengthyinternalcommsprocess.Theycanputmessagesoutfor
peopletocommentonandshare.Thisisrealengagementwithyourinternalcustomers,remarksHamilton.
Barclayscorporateintranethasseenadropinthenumberofusersandisincreasinglyturningintoabouncesitestaff
accesstogoontoMySite.Mobiletechnologyisalsoflatteningtheorganization.CashiershavebeenmessagingAshok
Vaswani(https://twitter.com/avvaswani),CEOforPersonalandCorporateBanking,directlywithideasforimprovingproducts.
Vaswani,whoisapassionatesupporteroftheplatformandaprolificMySiteblogger,answersregularly.Theapphas
becomeabydirectionalanddemocratictool,addsHamilton.
Beyondbusinessasusual
Shepherdsteamfeelsthatchangehasbeenexponentialinthepast18months.Thereisnosuchthingasbusinessas
usualintheorganizationanymore.ThechangecyclepromisedtogoonatBarclays.Thebankhasjustannounceditwill
cut19,000jobsby2016,9,000ofthemintheUK.However,thereisgoodnewsforonline.GroupChiefexecutiveAntony
Jenkins(http://www.barclays.com/aboutbarclays/leadershipteam/antonyjenkins.html)toldBBC(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk27328332)
recentlythatdigitaladvancementswillbeinstrumentalindeterminingthebanksfutureagenda.

comments
SubmittedbyMarcWright(/users/marcwright)on23May,201418:00.
1380+readsinanafternoonwowthisisapopularstory!
SubmittedbyJohnson(/users/johnson)on21April,201619:55.
Hi
SubmittedbyJohnson(/users/johnson)on21April,201619:56.
Hi

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