INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
Interview With Ms. Rajashree Nambiar,
CEO And ED, India Infoline Finance Limited
1. Are enterprises increasingly adopting the fail fast but fail forward, approach to their strategic initiatives? What has brought about this change?
Yes, surely. The world is changing, digital innovation is disrupting ways to do business, and the need to adapt progressively has never been stronger. The change is brought about by a combination of factors.
Firstly, technology driven innovation is driving change in customer behavior and transactional habits at a fast pace. In the context of financial services, a customer today expects competitive offers, on-the-move transaction convenience, minimal documentation and instant processing and financial service providers are already started re-engineering their processes. Failing to keep pace creates risk of losing market share to a new incumbent. On the other hand, there is an enormous upside of scaling up much faster while keeping costs at the same levels.
Secondly, many of today’s methods are previously untested, and faster implementation creates precious room for trial and learning in a fiercely competitive marketplace.
2. Is this approach working? What should enterprises be cautious about to ensure that this approach works?
The approach is working, in the sense that there is a huge emphasis on test-and-learn. However, one needs to be mindful of the amount of change management that is needed, and the impact it may have on people’s minds. Digitization has the potential to cause major changes in the job family mix, which will mean people will be pushed beyond comfort zones and be required to acquire new skills. At IIFL, we believe that change of this scale must be driven from the top and there is strong executive sponsorship. The management team has been consciously designed to have a right blend of the traditional and the contemporary.
3. Do you see any pattern in the sense that – should initiatives be of a certain type for this approach to work? Are some industries more prone to success with this approach than some others?
The necessity to experiment and learn is most pronounced in the retail business than anywhere else. Digitization will penetrate into areas which are transaction heavy – to create better processes and offer better customer experience.
4. It is commonly stated that the hardest part is to find the right people? Do you think it is true? How can enterprises find the right talent to execute?
The aspect of identifying the right talent becomes more important than ever, because the drivers of success in future are going to be different from those in the past. We look for fundamental qualities in our leaders – motivated, driven, passionate, adaptive. The selection may not necessary be driven by existing skill sets, but more based on the ability to work under new principles and helping others to do the same.
5. Can you share some personal experiences either at IIFL or elsewhere, where you experienced success with this approach?
At IIFL, we have implemented digital processes even to businesses which have traditionally not been digitally amenable, such as mortgages, SME loans, commercial vehicle loans and gold loans. At the same time, we have created a completely paperless personal loan proposition. We have a digital account opening module for all our products. More than 80% of gold loan business happens on tablets. Large part of collections and service is on tablets. We have revamped the website and launched the IIFL Finance app. We have set up Data Analytics division and made significant investments into enabling software and technology. We have enhanced the organisation structure with dedicated central functions replacing many teams nested within businesses. All of the above have been achieved in the last eighteen months. Increasing opex efficiency is a significant part of our long term profitability plan and the results of these initiatives are already reflecting in our financial results.