Accelerating WOWs in Social Commerce
What does it take for one to become the most innovative?
In many instances, it takes a journey to discover and validate ideas to create experiences that radically improve the way we live, work, and play. Recognising that the best ideas come from uniting people with different backgrounds, expertise, and mindsets, DBS launched several cohort-based accelerators for employees to come together and experiment with journeys that exceed customer and employee expectations.
To get an insider look at what goes on behind the scenes in these programmes, we sat down with Yan Jie, a serial participant of DBS’ innovation challenges and one of the project leads for the recent cycle of this year’s WOW Accelerator.
Read on to get insights on what it takes to create an experience that WOWs!
Hi Yan Jie! You are participating in the current cycle of the WOW accelerator. Can you share with us your experience and how does this differ from your day-to-day responsibilities?
Yan Jie: WOW Accelerator itself has been very different from my day-to-day job as a relationship manager for SME customers. As a relationship manager, my role revolves around working with SMEs in Singapore to achieve their business needs while balancing out the bank’s credit risk — which is very structured.
On the other hand, the WOW accelerator programme is run a little bit like a startup and is very fast-paced. Ideas change all the time as the team pivots from one focus to another. Hence, everybody on the team must evolve as the project goes along.
The accelerator programme also required us to work on our WOW projects on top of our day-to-day responsibilities. Every project member must find the time and personal capacity to drive the project along to see results. It does take a group of dedicated and driven employees to make such projects happen.
When that does fall into place, the project becomes very exciting.
The idea which I am working on for the WOW accelerator was the winning idea from the New Avenues for New Revenues competition held by the Institution Banking Group. The concept which involves targeting microbusinesses stemmed from my interactions with home-based businesses due to Covid-19. After sharing my idea at the competition, it was then placed into the WOW Accelerator to see how the idea could be further evolved.
Sounds exciting! We understand that you are also the project lead for your WOW accelerator project. Can you share with us your experience and any challenges you’ve faced thus far?
Yan Jie: At DBS, ideas and potential projects can come from the ground up. The bank has been supportive in promoting ideas from every level. Having said that, I was placed as the project lead as the idea originated from me. Hence, I would have the most resonance with the objectives of the project.
One key challenge I faced was managing projects and teams, which differ significantly from my day-to-day role. I have always been a team contributor where the work I put out is within my control. However, as a project manager, I’ve had to learn to let go and trust my team to put their utmost effort into the project.
That being said, the experience provided me with exposure to senior management and managing teams, which is an experience that not many employees will have.
It sounds like a steep learning curve to manage.
Yan Jie: As my manager said, I will have to stretch myself and it was definitely a stretch.
You also participated in various internal innovation challenges at DBS. How did you get started, and what was it like participating in these challenges?
Yan Jie: These challenges provided me with an avenue to draw from my personal experiences as a customer of the bank and make banking a better experience for everyone. I liked these challenges because they were open to all DBS employees, no matter their seniority.
These challenges were further designed for employees to express their ideas creatively without judging the difficulty of the execution. I have seen ideas on the platform that would have been ridiculously hard to materialise, but employees were not deterred from putting them up.
This is why I enjoy participating in these challenges.
You mentioned bringing in your perspective as a customer of the bank. How did this support your ideas and were there any other inspirations?
Yan Jie: My idea stemmed from a mix of my interest and self-reflection during the early stages of the pandemic. I’ve seen some of my friends receiving very bad pay cuts from their companies, while others were let go or given unpaid leave by their companies during the circuit breaker period. These eventually led to a little bit of personal financial planning via the DBS NAV planner.
However, I quickly realised that the NAV planner did not factor in financial conditions beyond our control, such as unemployment or sickness. That led to this idea of simulating these uncontrollable factors for better public education. I felt that having an interactive NAV planner would be easily understandable by the masses from the get-go.
It seems that you have many ideas and have experimented with a variety of things! What are some tips you can share with your fellow peers looking to innovate and experiment?
Yan Jie: DBS has built a corporate culture that enables everyone to be an innovator. Since day one, the bank has been insistent on improving customer journeys, being customer-obsessed, and using its 4D journey and framework resources.
Similarly, employees should draw upon their experience as customers of the bank and have that genuine heart toward continuous improvement. Voice out on the things you are passionate about. Often, niche groups and ideas will eventually balloon into something.
Having gone through various innovation journeys, what ways do you think can further drive innovation throughout the bank?
Yan Jie: DBS has paved the road for innovation by providing the tools, resources, and opportunities for employees. That final step to drive innovation throughout the bank boils down to employees to muster the courage and take that step forward.
Sometimes your idea might be criticised — as will other people’s ideas — but it’s not that your idea is bad; it’s just that sometimes certain ideas are a better fit for the bank’s strategies.
Time and again, people tend to hold back their ideas because they are afraid of criticism. I will say, do not be.
Designed to push DBS projects to the next level, the WOW accelerator is a three-month programme designed to unite selected DBS talents to address the challenges faced by the various business units in the bank. Launched by DBS Innovation, the WOW accelerator is part of DBS’ Innovation framework in delivering solutions that create exceptional customer journeys and experiences.
