Client background:

The client is a Fortune 500 not-for-profit financial services company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Appleton, Wisconsin. As a member-owned fraternal benefit society, it operates under a chapter system, providing insurance, banking, investment options and financial advice to nearly 2.3 million members.

The business challenge:

In 2019, the client was in the process of implementing One Plan, an enterprise transformation program focused on reshaping the business around the individual and establishing itself as a leader in financial advisory. This program, led by a newly designed transformation office, had identified 86 initiatives to be delivered over a three-year period across five dimensions: experience and innovation, brand and marketing, distribution and product management, organization and culture and foundations.

One year into the program’s implementation, the client was questioning the progress and effectiveness of the program, due to environmental challenges they were experiencing (the global pandemic and social unrest in related business geographies) and sought an independent firm for assessment and recommendations going forward.

The Baker Tilly Digital approach:

Current state assessment: Baker Tilly Digital’s review of the transformation office focused on stakeholder interviews, review of management processes, management office structure and program design. The client’s program governance methods were mapped against the Baker Tilly Digital project management office (PMO) Maturity Model, which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the competencies necessary to dependably manage large transformation programs. 21 competencies related to governance controls, portfolio definition, initiative prioritization, interdependency management, resource management, and value measurement were reviewed to understand competency and evidence of reliable application.

Future state recommendations: After completion of the assessment, Baker Tilly Digital established improvement themes and collaboratively defined the desired future state PMO maturity areas with the client’s leadership. Throughout this process, Baker Tilly defined future state goals and specific recommendations to achieve the desired maturity levels across each of the 21 competencies, as well as identified 16 prioritized recommendations, focused on addressing observed gaps in performance that were impeding the progress and resulting effectiveness of the program.

The business impact:

By engaging Baker Tilly Digital for their PMO assessment, the client was able to obtain a transparent, third-party assessment of current governance methods. During the year following the assessment, the client significantly developed the program and improved its governance and controls.

Desiring to validate progress and seek additional perspective on further opportunities to optimize its transformation program, in late 2021 the client requested Baker Tilly’s re-assessment of the program in its improved form. This assessment validated the application of improved governance and controls, identified ways to streamline governance and improved delivery efficiency through agile work constructs and a shift to product team models.