The Challenge
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) helps people get back on track by protecting them when authorised financial services firms fail. Since their launch in 2001, they have come to the aid of millions of people and paid out billions in compensation.
With the support of WIMTBGF? they outlined an ambitious vision for the 2020s: Prepare, Protect, Promote and Prevent.
FSCS launched this new strategy in November 2018 and recognised that to deliver it, they needed to continue to transform systems, processes, and people.
To bring this to life, they wanted to develop an approach that would help their employees to not only understand their connection to their customers, strategy and core purpose, but feel excited about it too! It’s one thing seeing how they contribute to organisational success, but FSCS wanted people to be continuously motivated by that and the difference they can personally make. Key measures were put in place around increasing employee engagement and excitement and equipping leaders with the right skills to drive performance.
This challenge became of even more importance given the context of the pandemic. As COVID-19 took hold their customers needed them more than ever, and many people across the world found themselves facing previously unimaginable situations. In this context, ensuring a firm connection to FSCS’s core purpose became even more vital.
To bring this to life, FSCS wanted to develop an approach that would help their employees to not only understand their connection to their customers, strategy and core purpose, but feel excited about it too!
The Solution
Throughout the pandemic, FSCS took several key steps to ensure that despite physical distance, employees still feel connected and engaged. We partnered with FSCS to help keep them focused on their purpose. This involved the following steps:
Step 1: Clarity of Direction – Crazy Goal Workshop
The first part of our partnership was to help FSCS form their strategic Crazy Goal – this was a 2-day engagement with their executive team to craft the strategy and direction around the question “Wouldn’t it be amazing if…?”. Within those 2 days together we identified 4 supporting metric areas with some clear initiatives. From the great open conversations on the day, this was developed into a template strategy. Through subsequent quarterly momentum and coaching sessions this supported the development of actions as an Exec team to help that strategy come to fruition.
Step 2a: Driving The Ambition – a High-Performance Teams Programme:
Throughout 2019 we then worked with FSCS to deliver a High Performing Teams Programme to all employees. This programme focused on developing how their teams worked together in pursuit of their goals and helping to truly connect their people with the purpose and strategy of the organisation. Early in the pandemic, we discussed particular challenges of how FSCS could maintain this focus and continue to deliver against their wider goals. The programme was designed around 3 key principles:
Ensuring that their team leaders were crystal clear on their key priorities for the coming year
Helping managers to align and engage their teams to the ultimate goal and motivate them for the journey ahead
Equipping each individual team member with a toolkit of simple, effective habits and techniques they could apply every day to transform performance
Step 2b – Pandemic Programme Extension to Provide Extra Support
Together, we decided to deliver a further series of virtual workshops to help their teams collaborate in the new virtual landscape. As a result, we extended our High Performance-Teams programme to include three additional virtual workshops per team; identifying key priorities to focus on during the pandemic, refreshing approaches on collaborating in the new virtual landscape, and maintaining a strong focus on wellbeing alongside achievement – even during the toughest of times.
Dealing with change
Performance under pressure (including wellbeing)
Risk and decision-making
Balancing the now and the future
Step 3: Aligning and Engaging the Exec Level with Leaders and Managers – Running the Business Programme
We are currently building on this success by focusing on developing FSCS’s new Senior Leadership Community – reflecting a mutually shared accountability for successful delivery of their strategy alongside regular activities.
These activities include workshops for the full group, 1-2-1 coaching sessions, smaller sub-groups focusing on key challenges… and even a final team-building experience (coming in May 2022) structured around an Olympic-style rowing experience!
The Benefits (so far!)
Putting purpose, meaning and their customers at the heart of everything FSCS does continues to have a positive impact on their work as an organisation, and on employee experience.
In 2020, FSCS’s approach has helped them to deliver some of their best-ever operational performance figures to date: customer satisfaction of 84%; an average claims quality score of 98%; response time to customer complaints in an average of just six days – well ahead of their 20-day target; answered 89% of phone calls within one minute and answered 93% of webchats also within one minute. In 2020 they made 36,981 decisions on claims, paying out £406.5m to help people get back on track.
From their recent People Survey, they’ve seen extremely positive scores in relation to purpose and meaningful work, with some key measures from this listed below:
Working at the FSCS allows me to make a positive difference – 87% average score
I am inspired by the mission and purpose of the organisation – 89% average score
I know how my specific role contributes to the success of this organisation – 90% average score
I am excited about where this organisation is going – 86% average score
I feel proud to work for the organisation – 91% average score
Our organisational culture could be described as a positive and healthy one – 87% average score
I believe this company is a caring and inclusive employer – 91% average score
This demonstrates that FSCS have created a strong connection to purpose, sustaining this throughout the pandemic. We are incredibly proud that we have played a part in FSCS’s journey of progression and look forward to what their people will achieve in the future.
