3 useful ways to break silos and improve business growth

3 useful ways to break silos and improve business growth

Silos are an organic response to the demands of business growth; they develop expertise, accountability and identity within the corporate context, and get jobs done.

So why do nearly half (42%) of C-level executives at larger businesses prioritise getting rid of them? And why do the vast majority of executives who rely on silos say they have a negative effect?

The modern truth is that in our super-fast data economy, collaboration is key, so we need to break silos. Why? Because silos are slow. Dividing responsibility into channels pushes up competition between teams, increases bureaucracy and ultimately hamstrings collaboration, damaging the health of the company as a whole.

With new technologies, new systems and mentalities are needed, geared to enable a connected world of business. But it’s all too easy for silos to get in the way.

Information falling between the gaps

Be they physical departments, different software platforms or procedures, people within silos have to work to make sure those on the outside know what’s going on, so teams move forward together. At least, that’s the idea.

In reality, updates fail to reach other departments and information falls between the gaps. Inefficient communication prevents collaboration, which can lead to siloed teams operating in ignorance of what’s going on elsewhere in an organisation, and to devastating effect.

In her book The Silo Effect, anthropologist and Financial Times journalist Gillian Tett describes how Sony was felled by the corrosive effect of “siloisation”.

At the height of its power, the multinational tech firm was reorganised into sub-companies. This drove efficiencies and profit as the 1990s dawned but further down the line, the silo-ridden Sony had its collaboration and innovation killed off by internal competition. The more mobile and innovative Apple seized the initiative and the rest is history.

Siloisation can blind a company, making it very difficult for managers to obtain a detailed and accurate picture of corporate strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. For 81% of 1,100 marketers surveyed by consumer credit reporting agency Experian, the problem was achieving a “truly holistic understanding of customers”.

Real-time integration of customer data was held up as a chief concern for 54% of respondents, while almost half blamed the difficulty of integrating various data sources. Accessing information across the organisation was also cited as a key problem by nearly half of those surveyed. Each of these problems are exacerbated by the presence of organisational silos.

Silos lead to business struggles

If silos are disruptive to organisational collaboration, then the silo mentality is insidious, allowing assumptions to develop unchallenged and nurturing trends that dictate how we behave, work and make decisions.

It was the root of inefficient collaboration as described by more than two thirds of 500 HR leaders surveyed by people development provider Koreo. Inadequate training programmes are also to blame – staff courses focused solely on developing talent within the remit of the current role.

Far fewer programmes were geared towards supporting cultures that develop innovation and social impact, partnership and cross-sector working, and systems thinking – facets of business that are vital for collaboration-built success in modern markets.

This mentality was behind the financial crisis of 2007/08, when UBS managers’ assumptions about their financial models’ ability to forecast risk led to $30bn being wiped off mortgage-backed securities in the space of two years.

“Ideas matter, and economists were all using the same ideas… they were sitting in the same mental silo,” Gillian states.

Getting your leadership team on board will help to break silos

Time to break silos

In his book Silos, Politics And Turf Wars, management expert Patrick Lencioni says: “Silos rise up not because of what executives are doing purposefully but rather because of what they are failing to do: provide themselves and their employees with a compelling context for working together.”

It is therefore incumbent upon business owners to create an environment that compels both bosses and employees to work together. Here are three ways to escape silos in your business:

1. Get the leadership team on board

If you want to break down silos in your business, your leadership team needs to lead the way. It needs to create a vision that trickles down to your managers and employees and encourages collaboration.

So start by making sure your leadership team buys into the change and ties this in with any long-term goals your company has.

By changing the mentality of the business and everyone within it, you will be able to empower people to work together for the benefit of the company. And by providing that level of trust across all employees, your business will reap the rewards.

2. Implement cloud technology

If you’re not using one already, switch to a cloud financials solution for your business, where disparate applications, workloads and communications channels once held by in-house servers are instead hosted in a remote data centre in the cloud.

You will be able to say goodbye to the days of sending files between silos via email, while long digital paper trails and missed communications will be a thing of the past.

By working in the cloud, all work-relevant items will be accessible in one central online system, leading to a clearer-cut business environment.

With everyone working from a single database, your company’s information can be updated in real time by all authorised personnel through a secure login. And that means farewell to any confusion over which department holds the most current version of a document, while multiple copies of the same items will be no more.

By using a cloud-hosted network, your employees can work from any location with an internet connection and at any time. This flexibility will increase employee well-being and productivity, and will help to boost your company’s retention rates. It will also be attractive to new hires when you’re recruiting.

On the tech side, server space is paid for on demand, while the IT infrastructure is maintained and continually optimised by the provider. This scalable, cost-effective arrangement relieves financial and technical pressures on your business, allowing you to redirect resources towards growth.

Perhaps most importantly of all, cloud technology means your data is securely backed up, while safety is bolstered because information is held remotely, not on specific devices. If hardware is stolen or compromised in some way, your information still remains safe and out of reach of unauthorised parties in the cloud.

3. Incentivise your staff

Offer incentives to your employees to encourage them to work outside of their silos. Once such way to push the collaboration message is by using gamification.

Get your employees earning points and winning prizes for successfully reaching their workload goals, collaborating with others and completing tasks, answering questions or performing other activities.

Firms playing it right can increase total activity by more than 20%, which all helps to shape investigative and creative behaviours that support the accomplishment of business outcomes.

Benefits for your business data

As silo walls become transparent, you can keep an overarching eye on business data and delegate tasks accordingly; employees can progress independently and within teams while being fully aware of the status of other teams’ projects.

With all parties singing from the same hymn sheet, cooperation grows, allowing departments to align their operations with overall business goals.

Many organisations are still experiencing far-reaching problems that stem from silo working, despite our awareness of the damage being done.

But cloud technology represents the start of understanding organisations as “networks of people” and is a cornerstone to nurturing talent through collaboration at every level.

In such a climate, business leaders are liberated to take on a more social form of leadership within a fully connected business. The cloud becomes the final piece of the corporate jigsaw, so bosses and employees can see the big picture for now and years to come.

DEFINING THE HUMAN AGE: A DIGITAL AND ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Emerging technologies have significantly transformed customer engagement in recent years, from the rise of mobilereducing face-to-face communication, to artificial intelligence (AI) driving innovation across a range of sectors.

But it’s not just brands that have harnessed advances in technology—consumers have too. Whether choosing to shop online rather than in-store or engaging with a chatbot, consumers now expect to be able to interact with brands digitally.

To retain customers in this digital shift, brands must improve their operations in order to capitalise on the vast amounts of data and connectivity now at their disposal, to offer more personalised engagements.

A new report from Verint has examined the future of customer engagement, analysing today’s trends and exploring how these will shape customer engagement by 2030. It shows that customer retention has fallen by 16% in the last 3 years (from 61% in 2015 to 51% this year alone). Businesses face this challenge in conjunction with the rise of the more discerning consumer, for whom ethics and trust are becoming more important in their purchasing decisions.

The rise of the ethical consumer

The research shows that a company’s ethics are a major deciding factor when choosing to engage with an organisation; almost half (49%) of respondents are likely to switch providers for ethical reasons. Much of this can be attributed to the rise of “fake news” and scandals, which have taken a toll on brands in recent years; 40% of consumers trust fewer brands than they did in 2016.

With retention rates falling sharply across all age groups, it’s important that brands adopt the highest ethical standards. Failure to do so will ultimately hurt their customer retention rates.

The results for consumers aged 18-25 indicate cause for concern, as this demographic will become an even more vital and influential audience for organisations in 2030. Just 30% of customers aged 18-25 have been with their service providers for more than three years. To succeed into the future, companies have to be honest and transparent, both key qualities that must come through in every element of the customer experience.

Striking the digital balance in the human age

The rise of new technology will continue to influence how customers engage with brands. However, the research revealed that consumers do not want this thirst for digital innovation to come at the cost of the human touch in their service. More than three quarters (76%) of respondents said that they want human contact to remain part of customer service. And only 46% of consumers worldwide want organisations to use technology to predict preferences and deliver an experience that matches their interests or buying patterns.

Striking the balance between embracing new digital technologies, while maintaining the highly valued human element of customer service, will be vital. The research revealed that consumers preferred digital channels—such as online accounts—for more day-to-day activities, such as making a payment or transferring money (46%), making a change to account details (41%) and making a purchase or signing up for a service (32%). These functions were also where mobile apps are most used. That preference shifts to speaking to a human when the matter is urgent or when a customer wants to make a complaint.

There’s no question that digital innovation will shape customer engagement in the coming years. And while technology will continue to drive this—whether that’s via chatbots, biometric verification or social media, to name a few—customer relationships will still be built upon technology-assisted human service.

To be successful, businesses will need to be transparent with the customer data and digital services they provide, building trust and an ethical brand. They also need to offer the right mix of digital and interpersonal engagement options to provide speed and convenience, along with more detailed, human-touch service where needed.

Businesses that can achieve this will likely thrive in the human age of 2030.

WOMEN OF ENGHOUSE: SANDRA CRAWFORD

WOMEN OF ENGHOUSE: SANDRA CRAWFORD

Tell us about your history with Enghouse Interactive?

I came to Enghouse via the Telrex acquisition in 2010  so my total tenure is now 10 years!  I’ve held multiple roles sales, business development, sales management, strategic alliances (specifically Microsoft), and now in 2018 a new challenge with our overall partner strategy and expansion.

What is your favorite part of your job?

That’s easy,  my Enghouse family!  I love the people I work with. Working with our partners and customers is fulfilling also and goes hand in hand with creating meaningful relationships in every aspect of my job.

What is the most gratifying part of your job?

I love to help people solve challenges. From an internal perspective to an outside customer facing role. I help a lot with process improvement and efficiency while supporting the sales team including finding ways to resolve challenges within the sales cycle while working with other departments.

What’s on the horizon in the world of strategic partnerships?

Enghouse is constantly evolving and we’re looking to focus on our strategic partner alliances and continue to build on our Microsoft offering. It’s the year of the partner!

How have you seen Enghouse evolve since you’ve been part of the team? I’ve watched the company grow up right before my eyes.  I’ve watched the brand become more professional and well respected in the industry. It’s exciting to be recognized for our skyrocketed challenger status in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. A milestone for Enghouse was our user conference, Engage last year. It was great to get our customers and partners in 1 room together to discuss the future and the future is bright at Enghouse!

Tell us 3 fun facts about you!

1. On a recent trip to Arizona I learned that I love guacamole. (Thanks to the author of this blog post!)
2. I also love, love, LOVE to travel the world and be immersed in other cultures.  Growing up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (suburb of Tulsa) was wonderful but I really had no idea how other people lived. I’m fascinated with large cities, architecture, ancient ruins, and Earth’s natural wonders.
3. I love designing landscapes!  I will add new gardens every year and help friends and neighbors with theirs. I recently moved to Texas so I have a clean slate for Spring. My family likes to eat organic when possible so we also grown our own herbs and vegetables.  I’ve become an evangelist for Mel Bartholomew’s “Square Foot Gardening” (look it up!!) – anyone can feel free to call me about it and we can chat for hours!

How to prevent your business from falling victim to fraud

When it comes to information security, protecting our personal and financial information from fraud is usually one of the highest priorities for businesses and individuals alike.

After all, it’s no coincidence that more than half (54%) of FTSE 350 companies list the risk of cyber-attacks as their number one concern.

What’s more, for organisations that are entrusted with consumers’ personal data, a data breach could mean more than financial losses – it could mean the loss of trust between the business and their client base, trust that can be extremely difficult to regain.

Unfortunately, the truth is that there are many ways for businesses to fall victim to fraud.

Research shows that criminals are increasingly relying upon compromised personal and financial information to carry out their fraudulent activity, and businesses need to be aware of the ever-more sophisticated tricks fraudsters engage in to con their employees into divulging sensitive company information (such as phishing scams, supplier impersonation and data hacking).

Criminals specialising in invoice fraud, for example, will often be more aware of the details of the relationship between customer and company or company and supplier than the employee they are dealing with.

They may know when regular payments are due and for how much, and be able to convincingly talk their way around unsuspecting staff members.

To mitigate the risk of your employees falling foul of fraudulent activity, it’s important to employ a culture of security and training – and to test their knowledge on a regular basis.

Keeping awareness and confidence levels high is the most effective way to safeguard against data security threats and eliminate user errors.

To minimise the risk of fraudulent activity, don’t share your passwords

Internal fraud threats

Did you know the biggest threat to your organisation’s data security can often be your own employees? Attacks targeting payment information for example, such as false invoicing or unsecured payment pages, are often specifically designed to exploit knowledge gaps in your employees’ experience and their confidence levels.

Furthermore, although they seem like simple mistakes to make, some of the most common attacks can occur because of things such as weak or reused passwords, phishing emails or texts, and improper internet or email use – such as clicking on unknown links or accessing unauthorised websites.

As well as web-savvy employees and strong password skills, things to look out for when considering how secure your organisation really is include your office space, particularly documents and devices.

If your employees’ desks look cluttered, filing cabinets are left unlocked and company laptops, mobile phones or USBs are left lying around, this points to a much bigger issue than just a messy office.

Bear in mind that once a hacker has physical possession of a sensitive document or device, it’s only a matter of time before they gain access to more.

It’s also important to monitor employee access to data in your organisation. This is because it’s far more secure to grant access to a database of sensitive information on a “need to know” basis rather than to everyone in the company, for example.

Data should also be regularly updated, cleaned and screened so information that’s no longer necessary to keep is not accessible. Additionally, employees should not be emailing themselves copies of files or spreadsheets to work on from home.

Using personal email in this way is one more unnecessary risk and it’s important for all organisations to have a clear remote working policy. Utilising cloud accounting software, for example if they needed to check financials, could help to combat that, allowing your employees to access their work documents on any device – be it a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone – while at home.

Regular training of your staff to keep them aware of fraud and how to stay safe should be a priority for your business

Training to stay safe from fraud

Michael Cobb, founder and managing director of Cobweb Applications, notes that an effective training programme “has to make it clear that information security is an integral part of everyone’s job with ownership, responsibility and accountability for risk made obvious in policies and job descriptions”.

In other words, while up-to-date security software is vital, it will be of little use if your employees aren’t properly trained to use it and aren’t empowered to make their own judgment calls.

All too often, staff simply aren’t aware of their central role in maintaining data security and this can only be addressed with training and development opportunities.

It’s equally important for training to be given regularly, so technological and legislative advances are communicated to members of staff, and to keep awareness levels at their highest.

Along with more intensive data protection training, it’s advisable that all employees undertake regular awareness training in everyday internet use. It should cover the likes of phishing attacks, setting a secure password, using email and browsing the internet safely, and how to use social media responsibly.

Finally, if your business accepts card payments, you need to be aware of your responsibilities when it comes to PCI DSS compliance, and make necessary arrangements for your finance staff to be trained up on it.

As always in matters of compliance and fraud, prevention is better than the cure.

VERINT ENGAGE18: HOLDING TRUE TO THE “SHAKE HANDS” TRADITION

VERINT ENGAGE18: HOLDING TRUE TO THE “SHAKE HANDS” TRADITION

Engage 18: On The Inside

Shaking hands might be one of the universal acts of the human experience that, for some, appears to have faded off into “things old folks” did back in the day.

The tradition of shaking hands has roots that date back to the 5th century B.C. and was once considered a symbol of peace during wartime.

Shaking hands is a simple gesture that brings two individuals together and allows collaboration, listening, learning and connecting to occur.

You're probably wondering how shaking hands is related to the Verint Engage18: Global Customer Conference being held May 14 -17, in Dallas, Texas. It's simple, really. At Engage 18, more than 1,200 attendees will have the opportunity to collaborate, listen, learn and connect at more than 70 different conference sessions.

So attendees will, in fact, shake hands.

Each attendee will have the opportunity to shake hands with the worldwide Verint community that includes some of the brightest minds in the industry. Visionaries who inspire, and practitioners who achieve. Amazing stories will be shared. Bold ideas will be catalysts for future product innovation and transformation.

All of this from a simple tradition called a handshake.

For more information on the Verint Engage18: Global Customer Conference, click here.

Here’s how to regain financial control of your business

Here’s how to regain financial control of your 

business

As a business owner, there’s no doubt that you are aware of how important accounting departments and financial intelligence are when it comes to the overall health of your firm. Having financial control is key.

But the development that modern enterprise demands – and the excitement and change that comes with it – can hide a lingering danger: times of growth cause accounting needs to increase and the pressure to perform skyrockets.

This is because you’ll require accurate financial insight to make key business decisions if you are to take full advantage of opportunities as and when they appear.

For this top-level visibility to be achieved, it is imperative that your accounts and finance teams have the tools and flexibility befitting of the fast-paced, always-on digital era. Only then can your people in charge of the figures dovetail with all other facets of the business and collaborate effectively as growth occurs.

However, it’s also true that today industries have access to unprecedented levels of financial software designed specifically to bring clarity, simplicity and efficiency to accounting departments.

So why are so many medium-sized businesses still being held back by slow transactions, inflexible systems, poor communication and fogged knowledge, therefore leading to a lack of financial control?

Using old data will see your business struggle to keep up

Business decisions made on old data

The way in which financial data is shared directly impacts upon communication and effective collaboration, and this in turn has a huge influence over how effectively your business runs.

An events company might use a software platform to compare revenue streams against costs to create financial forecasts. Meanwhile, that same firm’s staff might communicate and take care of clients on a different application.

This application might work well for specific teams but it’s an independent entity. Any changes in client requirements or amendments to the value of contracts being delivered take place away from the eyes of those in control of the finances.

In such a disjointed climate, any potential cost increases have to be updated on one platform, communicated to the accounts department and factored into processes on another platform.

In practice, it means multiple workers are dealing with the duplicates of the same critical data. Spread this culture across a growing organisation and it’s easy to understand how business processes become restricted; collaboration is frustrated and the door is thrown wide open to errors that cost money.

At the sharp end, this disorganised culture leads to business decisions being executed based on obscured, old or slow data. It’s the tip of an iceberg of corporate inefficiency that’s guaranteed to have titanic implications on competitive cutting edge. Thankfully, life doesn’t have to be this way.

How cloud financial software can help

When your business was smaller, you could get away with using multiple products. But as your organisations grows, you need a solution that’s fit for purpose in the digital age.

By using cloud financial software, your executives can take back financial control of your firm’s proceedings to gain absolute clarity, wherever and whenever it’s needed.

This strength finds root in the centralisation of all customer data at a single online location, where it can be integrated with all other business functions.

Better use of your critical data

Cloud technology streamlines your business by taking the complexities associated with disjoined environments out of the equation; instead, critical data is fused to your financials, so your executives are always one click away from the whole picture.

Unprecedented insight is generated through connected metrics that inform at speeds you simply can’t achieve when reliant on traditional business infrastructures.

For example, sustainable growth revenues can be analysed against quotations or ratio of leads to orders, which in turn can be tracked to produce sales forecasts of unprecedented detail with minimum confusion or fuss.

In the same way, your managers can swiftly pinpoint priority accounts, clients that are at risk and business opportunities – and this means any potential pitfalls are identified and rectified with minimum disruption.

Having access to the right data will give you the financial control you need

Use necessary data when it’s needed

In the real world, this efficiency of information means your executives can get the data they require, whether a major decision is about to take place or if a quick snapshot of your figures is needed prior to a board meeting.

The insight is there in a reader-friendly format, in whatever quantity is needed, and without the need for a salesperson or financial guru to be at your side to help with the analysis.

While other managers lose precious hours fumbling to track financial data through any number of disparate apps, cloud-based accounting solutions save time and energy, allowing your executives to have a much clearer grasp of how their day will pan out.

Get financial control and you’re free to build your business

Finally, using cloud financial software is about freedom. It means your organisation’s mainframe is accessible at any time, from any place – and therein lies the difference.

This dexterity is fundamental to running and growing your business in the way you want to in the 21st century and it means you are equipped to go way beyond customer expectations.

4 WAYS THE VERINT ENGAGE18 CONFERENCE SESSIONS WILL BE LIKE YOUR PERFECT RESTAURANT

Engage18: On The Inside

The perfect restaurant. Most of us have that one restaurant that we love. That one restaurant that has become our go-to. We may have labeled it as such based on the range of food selections that it has, the quality of service that it provides, or its overall atmosphere.

Whatever the reason, we view that restaurant as perfect. It has everything we want or need for a great meal.

The Verint Engage18: Global Customer Conference sessions have been expertly tailored to deliver the very same elements as your perfect restaurant. How so? Read on.

(1)    Varied Menu Choices: Engage18 will take place May 14-17, in Dallas, Texas, and will be jam-packed with over 70 conference sessions that will take over 1,200 attendees on a journey of listening, learning, connecting and of course, fun.

(2)     Quality of Selections: Sessions at Engage18 will be focused on delivering quality content that provides knowledge, tips and solutions that can help attendees craft their roadmap to customer and employee engagement success.

(3)    Conference Atmosphere: Conference sessions will be filled with excitement, yet, will also provide an atmosphere of actionable learning, engaging networking, and inspiration-driven roadmaps and solutions that will spearhead future product releases.

(4)    The Dessert: Perhaps the one thing that makes your favorite restaurant your favorite restaurant is the dessert. So, what's on the "dessert" menu of Engage 18? Glad you asked. The conference is slated to showcase musicians, comedians and even a great way for attendees to give back to the community.

The takeaway: Just like going to your favorite restaurant satisfies your wants and needs, so it will go for each Engage18 conference session. Each session will have what you want or need to have a great and engaging time.

Bon Appétit!

Want to learn more about the Verint Engage18 Global Customer Conference? Click here.

AUTOMATION IN BANK SURVEILLANCE AND FRAUD

AUTOMATION IN BANK SURVEILLANCE AND FRAUD

Although we're seeing an increase in its use and function, the term automation is not an entirely new concept.

It is an evolving process that adapts as technology develops; it started with data and application integration, moved to rules-based process automation, and now has manifested into analytic insights that drive actions and tasks. The term is defined as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to automate functions previously performed by humans.

Advances in AI have helped to increase the value of automation, allowing the use of natural language processing, machine learning and vision analytics. Machines can now mimic cognitive functions associated with human minds in order to understand context, needs, emotions and actions. Automation provides innovative opportunities to a variety of markets—autonomous vehicles, healthcare and factories to name a few—and its valuable role in securing financial institutions is no exception.

Any process that can be automated contributes to a cost-effective, proactive security approach. The bank and credit union security teams can dedicate their time and effort to more relevant tasks since automation allows for certain operations to be completed on their own and in a timely manner. For example, automated camera verification enables users to save on hours of manual validation every year. Additionally, automated firmware uploads ensure that security cameras and NVRs are up-to-date with the latest version released, reducing the risk of a cybersecurity event.

Combining AI and video also creates a powerful tool when it comes to investigating and deterring fraud. As threats become more complex and their implications more severe, automation must be used to improve overall security and increase response time. Investigators can automatically identify when a known fraudster has entered a branch or series of branches, identifying a higher value of fraud loss and improving the likelihood of prosecution by law enforcement.

In the case of other security incidents, such as a break-in or an armed robber, instant notification is necessary to react as soon as possible and mitigate the threat. Automation in security centers facilitates automatic alerts that meet multiple criteria—and within evidence centers, this can drastically lower the investigation time.

The future of automation is bright, as financial organizations will continually innovate and modernize their security processes to address today's changing risk environment. The possibilities automation presents and its use in various applications will only increase and continue to work alongside security professionals to strengthen surveillance technology and elevate fraud investigations.

Learn how Verint can help your bank automate its security and investigative functions.