ComBank-StrEdge Advisory collaborate for BPR project

S. Renganathan

Sanath Manatunge

Janaka Epasinghe

Sumedha Wijesekera

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC recently completed a three-year Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project with StrEdge Advisory, the business consultancy arm of StrEdge Group of Companies. 
Covering the entire branch network of Commercial Bank, comprising 268 branches across the country, the project included reviewing of processes within the branch network, redesigning of job descriptions and implementation of the same.
Further, this exercise covered a process review of the import and export departments and included review and redesigning of the Card Centre and credit card recoveries processes. 
The branch review covered processes related to assets and liability products and pawning. The BPR project also reviewed operations and centralized functions. The implementation of solutions was driven by a steering committee which consisted of both bank and StrEdge team members.
With the customer at the heart of the transformation, Commercial Bank-StrEdge collaboration has added value to the quality of deliverables by the BPR project. 
“Right technology is imperative here, as customers want a quality service with least time spent on processes and  StrEdge was able to strengthen the platforms of the Bank further,” Managing Director/Group CEO of Commercial Bank of Ceylon, S. Renganathan remarks. 
Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID pandemic and the lockdown that followed, both teams adapted to new norms and implemented identified solutions, which was yet another feat. The active participation within the implementation supported by highly engaging steering committee structures was headed by Chief Operating Officer, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Sanath Manatunge who played a key role by facilitating the Bank to steer through change management and project management challenges. The support and the inputs provided by the members of the corporate management of the Bank also was a key factor in the success of the project.
As a home-grown consultancy firm catering to multiple industries covering tri-dimensional elements of ‘people-process and technology’, StrEdge was instrumental in creating the required space to identify the imparities in the key functional areas and provide the right solutions to Sri Lanka’s largest private bank.
“Although we are essentially a local consultancy team, we benchmark ourselves with the best global practices to meet local needs. Our high levels of understanding of the banking industry from both Sri Lankan and global perspectives, coupled with strong connections made towards all levels within the Bank
enabled us to drive a BPR project of this scale successfully, going beyond an assignment of traditional consultancy. While it is important to have global best practices in place, the ‘cultural-sensitivity’ cannot be undermined,” says the CEO, StrEdge Advisory and Director, StrEdge Group of Companies, Sumedha Wijesekera. 
“StrEdge team’s focus was to create value to the end customer to see Commercial Bank as the ‘Best place to bank with’ and for its employees to see the bank as the ‘Best place to work’. To realize this, it was important that customer-engaging functions, centralized processing functions and closure of the processes were all interconnected. The approach from a ‘people, process and technology’ perspective which is fundamental to all StrEdge-driven ventures, was crucial for the success of the project,” notes Director, StrEdge of Group of Companies Janaka Epasinghe.