Introduction: 

Recently, Capco embarked on an 18-month partnership journey with the product delivery function of a tier one asset manager to help them achieve greater scalability and business agility.   

The client engaged Capco to design and implement a modern delivery methodology to drive three-fold growth of assets under management.   

Why Capco?  

The Capco team blended elements of complementary agile frameworks, with pragmatic and applied psychology to embed a new approach of experimentation and continuous improvement. This was fully delivered through a new agile squad.  

Following a period of organizational restructure at the tier one asset manager, greater scale of delivery was needed to meet the firm’s market-committed growth target. Against a backdrop of post-merger efficiency savings programs and a reinvention of the operational framework, fast-paced outcomes were required.  

The traditional approach for achieving growth at the firm was recognised as ‘not scalable’ without additional headcount. The added complexity of involving over 30+ internal functions and third-party partners to deliver, also put the system under constant strain.  

How we did it:  

We knew we needed to provide a sustainable delivery model, with greater transparency, alignment, autonomy and focus on quality products that are cost-effective, safe, efficient and robust. Here’s how we did it:  

• Capco focused on the key value-adding drivers for delivery, across the end-to-end value chain, and the areas which had the biggest impact for scaling, i.e., key delivery roles, how they interact, and the framework for operating  
• We adapted popular ‘scaled agile’ models to build a new ‘tribe’ for delivery of products, with outcome focused ‘delivery squads’ and role-based ‘chapters’ to develop specialisms, replacing the traditional line management structure  
• Our approach was heavily influenced by behavioural psychology to build a lasting change that is believed in, not just consented to, being two-way, immersive, and focused on emotive ‘problem statements’  
• We implemented new ‘hand-offs’ and working arrangements with 30+ functions, to ‘bring them in the squads’, and be closer to the work where their value-adding skills have impact  
• We took a measured approach to scaling, going through a six-month trial of three squads (with unique focus and business contexts), then expanding in each delivery area until a full squad roll-out after nine months  
• We implemented new responsibilities, competency frameworks, performance management and formal job roles to the internal teams. These helped resource the new cross-functional squads, and solidify clear career progression and development  
• We made sure objectives and key results empirically measured business impact and informed the trajectory for completion on a quarterly basis
• Training was also key. With this in mind, the project was delivered at scale to give foundational understanding of agile, change principles, key tooling and approaches to work.  

What we delivered: 

• Scalability of the delivery pipeline, shown by 91 percent of FTEs delivering more projects at the same time, with 76 percent fewer issues post product launch  
• Customer focussed delivery, with the perception of commitment to customer satisfaction increasing by 38 percent, with a greater ability to respond to changing client requests, much faster, without adversely affecting quality  
• Standardised delivery approaches resulting in better allocation and productivity of resources, deployed to the right products, at the right time  
• Built a true leadership team with a clear vision resulting in a 68 percent increase in leadership confidence, 160 percent increase in clarity of strategic vision and achieving the highest company-wide scores for related categories, in annual staff survey  
• Continuous improvement culture with 94 percent continuous delivery and 86 percent employee wellbeing scores, in benchmarked objectives and key results.