The human face of re‐engineering in financial services

Managers are increasingly using the term “business process re‐engineering” to rationalise and describe a variety of innovations, irrespective of their content. Programmes of re‐engineering have been designed simply as a means to cut costs; one of the major costs being that of people. The neglect of people in the design of re‐engineering programmes has resulted in “operational” managers being forced to address issues such as low staff morale, poor job satisfaction and high levels of stress after a new structure or system has been put in place. This has resulted in attempts to improve communication and promote a consultative and open style of management. Job rotation, enlargement and enrichment have also been targets for improvement, and a greater emphasis has been placed on teamworking. An emerging phenomenon, which we feel is conducive to teamworking, is that of management involving employees in a discussion of service quality and what it means to work in their respective organisations. Critically, following these discussions, management must attempt to address the issues raised by employees.