Flip the Pyramid – Bottom-Up Pipeline for Ideas

Innovation doesn’t just come in a box or get delivered to overnight. Like a plant, it needs to be watered and fed so it can grow. Many organizations realize this, but the pipeline of ideas can get strangled, and ideas get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day business or, worse, have no place to go to be vetted and implemented. TruWest Credit Union recognized an untapped resource of innovation in the experience of the entire employee base. No one knows a business’s operational road blocks or opportunities to innovate like the individuals who are living them every day. 

In December 2018, TruWest launched a Reducing Friction initiative to seek out ideas to identify, prioritize and realize changes that could help increase efficiency, reduce expenses or improve the member experience. To carry out the Reducing Friction initiative, the credit union created a strategy team that was charged with developing and implementing an organization-wide program. Before the team could begin harvesting ideas from team members, they needed a platform that allowed anyone to submit an idea for review. An internally developed platform was built: Brilliance. 

Brilliance allows anyone in the organization to submit an innovative, cost-saving or member-experience improvement for review. The raw ideas are then assessed and evaluated by the Brilliance Squad, a team of diverse, experienced leaders representing all business units across the organization. The Squad meets once a week to discuss ideas brought forth and ask three questions: Does it save time? Does it save money? Does it improve the member experience? The highest-value ideas are presented monthly to the steering committee, which provides the final approval to implement any idea. 

The process works. Over the past two years, the Brilliance program has generated more than $2.5 million in savings for the credit union. 

But it wasn’t always a well-oiled machine. As with any new initiative, it needed someone with a vision to help nurture it past the idea stage. During the first year of the initiative, TruWest promoted Brilliance internally with raffles for employees who submitted ideas. The credit union also created a profit-sharing program for employees who identified cost-savings opportunities. These helped encourage idea submissions. To gain additional insight and create professional development opportunities, a Brilliance Advisor program was established. Employees could apply to join the Brilliance Squad for six-month terms. Advisors empower the Brilliance Squad to review more ideas, bring new voices to the decision-making table, and provide development opportunities for the employees. 

The Brilliance program isn’t just about one-time savings; it is designed to capture efficiencies that can be repeated, challenge established processes that are no longer in need, or bring innovations on board. One topic that was identified in 2020 was the need for printing and physical paper processes. TruWest offers members an option to have a debit card instantly issued to them in a branch. This is a great feature to give members quicker access to their funds, but with that came a cumbersome form the employee needed to complete. By asking, “Why?” the Brilliance Squad was able to look at the process and find a solution to eliminate the paper form and meet compliance requirements. This resulted in a faster member experience, saved more than 2,100 hours in staff labor a year, and saved more than $2,700 annually in physical costs. Just by removing one form. 

Another problem the Brilliance Squad tackled was the length of time it took to authenticate members when they call into the Contact Center. Through the Brilliance program, TruWest was able to launch a pilot partnership with Illuma Labs and introduce VoiceID. This artificial intelligence solution uses biometrics of a member’s voice print. This unique ID reduces authentication time by eliminating multiple questions being asked of the member when calling in to the Contact Center. In just the first phase of the pilot, the credit union has been able to reduce member authentication time by 60 seconds, saving time and improving the member experience. 

As the Reducing Friction initiative entered its third year in business, TruWest challenged the organization in February 2021 to submit departmental ideas. The goal was to continue to infuse ideas into the pipeline for review and perhaps find some quick wins along the way. Each team was asked to collaborate and submit a new idea to Brilliance that had the potential to save themselves, other teams or members time and/or money. On average, 16 ideas are submitted to Brilliance each month, but in February 2021 there were 89 ideas submitted with a potential to save the organization $647,000. 

After three years, Brilliance has not only become a large part of the credit union operations, it has helped weave a culture of finding and reducing friction into the fabric of the teams. 

Sarah Hancotte, TruWest Credit Union’s vice president of strategy, takes the lead on planning and executing the credit union’s initiatives to stay competitive in the marketplace. Hancotte leads the charge of the Brillance Squad, launched in 2018, a unique and resourceful team aimed at improving processes and asking, “Why?” Hancotte is passionate about community development, improving the lives of members and developing upcoming leaders.