By Cherry Ann Mabansag and Mary Katelyn Jarina
On June 14th, the 47th Floor of UnionBank Plaza buzzed with excitement as City Savings Bank launched their very own Super Ditch Program (SDP), an initiative of the Aboitiz Group to empower team members to voice out their ideas about processes and practices that should be eliminated or reviewed.
City Savings Bank, a subsidiary of UnionBank, piloted the SDP for the Officer Development Program (ODP) Batch 2 cohort, designed to ignite their innovative thinking and deepen collaboration among its middle managers. Organized by the CitySavings Human Resources team, the event brought together participants from cross-functional teams to learn, share, and equip them with Design Thinking as one of the tools to help them with their capstone project hinging on the Super Ditch Program.
The morning session began with introducing the Design Thinking (DT) process and the tools for identifying problems and crafting solutions focusing on the first 3 steps of DT: Empathize, Define, and Ideate. Participants first agreed on a process or practice that they will ditch and then identified a persona relative to this. Empathy mapping as a tool was used to understand more the sentiments of their defined persona which helped them Define their problem statement as the second step of DT. The morning session wrapped up with ideation, where participants brainstormed potential solutions.
The afternoon session continued with Step 4 – Prototyping as a product of their ideation process. Some focused on streamlining approval processes, and there were team members who gave attention to eliminating redundant steps and improving offboarding experience. These ideas will undergo further evaluation, and those with the greatest impact and highest feasibility will be implemented by the teams involved in the ODP.
Part of Step 5 in DT is for the participants to Test their prototypes through a presentation and feedback was given on the viability, feasibility, and desirability of their ideas.
“The Super Ditch Program is an eye opener on the things that could be removed to achieve a more efficient and effective process. By implementing this, we’ll create a competitive advantage through significant process improvements. The Officer’s Development Program (ODP) is not just a program, it’s an opportunity to cultivate leaders that will elevate the bank to the next level.”
—Ma. Virginia Ariñas, Compliance Officer – General
A retrospective was conducted with the aim to get real time feedback on how to improve the succeeding SDP bank wide roll out.
“‘Simple is good.’ This is our mantra at City Savings Bank. How do we embody this principle in the Super Ditch Program? How do we make things both simple and good? The Program challenges us, as ODP trainees, to streamline our processes by eliminating non-value-adding activities. This ODP initiative aims not only to transform its trainees but also to enhance the efficiency of the units they belong to.”
—Angela Gaspar, Enterprise Risk Business Partner
The day concluded with an inspiring message from CitySavings President, Manuel G. Santiago Jr. on what it really means to innovate. He talked about how most times, a lot of people confuse automation with innovation, when they are not always the same. Innovation means finding new ways of doing things BETTER, CHEAPER, FASTER and preferably breakthrough. He ended by congratulating the Super Ditch participants, and offered that he would be open for any consultations they might have for their capstone ideas.
The pilot run of the Super Ditch Program at City Savings Bank not only imparted valuable knowledge but also fostered A+10 behaviors and sparked ideas that will further drive transformation within the business unit. Participants left with actionable items and a fresh perspective on their processes. What an incredible start to something transformative!
CitySavings is aiming to continue with these sessions to ensure that innovation and embracing simplicity, working smarter, and being open to ideas are running through their DNA.
