Vinod Baker 

 Our Challenge 

 I work in an operational environment ; the purpose of our business unit is to ensure the circulation   of money . Our staffs ’ primary job is to handle the monies that is coming into the bank ( deposits )   and the monies that is leaving the bank ’s premises and transported to clients ’ premises   ( withdrawals ) . Dealing with clients ’ money is an important job however quite stressful for our   staff . All our clients rely on our service offerings for them to continue with their business . 

 The staff morale and motivation is not at a desirable level for optimal productivity . Our challenge   is to change how our employees feel about working for this business unit . To create an   environment that employees find pleasant and a place that encourages growth and learning .   Furthermore , we want our staff to feel motivated and encouraged to improve how they work .   Having motivated and determined staff will have a positive implication on our productivity .   Therefore , as part of our People Program we need initiatives that assist in changing how our   people feel about their work . We also need initiatives that are cost efficient . 

 Our Selection 

 We started our design thinking journey by using multiple tools such as : interviews and personas   to understand why our employees came to work and how they felt at work . More importantly we   wanted to find out how we can make their lives better and what is important for them . Majority of   our people work an 8 - hour shift , this means that they spend more time at work with colleagues   than they do with their families . Hence it is important that we improve this environment . 

 The team and I are now at a phase where we would like to test our hypothesis and assumption   by running small experiments and prototypes , learning launches . The objective is to see how   employees react and receive the new and different offerings made available to them . The   purpose of learning launches is to test a hypothesis and then to learn and improve on the   offerings and solutions . 

 Application 

 Firstly , we simultaneously interviewed our staff and had them complete a survey . The purpose   of this was to gather data to understand what matters for our employees and to answer the “ what   is ? ” question in design thinking . Out of the data we were able to create personas and identified   themes by using mind maps . 

 One of the themes that derived from the data was that : our staff felt there was little opportunities   for growth and development . 

 For the Learning launch we introduced Learning Bytes , which is an online learning and tutoring   platform and is a form of virtual learning . From the data gathered there was other themes that   came out , which we thought would be great focus points and learning topics which we could   teach the staff through the virtual learning platform . 

 For example , employees had a concern with time management . Therefore , we scheduled a   learning session to cover this topic . Then we looked for a staff member in our business unit who   could build and deliver a course on time management . It was important to get the right individual   who had the qualification and the practice to facilitate the learning sessions . Therefore , we had   a senior project manager deliver the course as time management is a critical component of   project management . 

 Some of the other learning topics that we scheduled for the upcoming weeks came about merely   because of the environment . The environment we are working in is very complex and has many   changes , our team leaders often prepares the staff for these changes . Hence , we included a   change management learning session . 

 The flight plan for our learning launch : 

 1 . We will schedule a learner bytes every second week for the next four months ( that means 

 we will have approximately 7 learning sessions ) 

 2 . For every session we will take roll call of the staff attending these sessions . We will 

 monitor this as well , this will be a great indicator if staff find these Learner Byte   worthwhile . 

 3 . After each session employees will provide feedback of the Learner bytes session . This 

 will help us to improve the interaction in these sessions . 

 4 . After the four months we will conduct a survey again with staff . The reason for this is to 

 see how employees felt about these sessions and where we need to improve if we decide   to continue with these sessions . 

 Insight 

 It is funny how one thinks they know what is important to an employee . After all we , ourselves   are employees . It scary how one can miss the plot because we make decisions based on   assumptions . What design thinking allowed us to do was to build hypotheses from data and then   test these hypotheses before creating and implementing a solution . For example , what matters   for one person was career progression and for another was financial stability . 

 By answering the four basic questions through the design thinking process , we were   able to see   what the problem was , that majority of the staff felt like just a number and that there is no room   for growth and development . We were then able to brainstorm different solutions to make   employees feel like there is opportunities to learn and grow . 

 Approach 

 Some lessons learned from design thinking was not to build solutions based off assumptions . At   the bank we often have “ great ideas ” that is going to improve operations . As a result , we go off   a tangent ; drafting business cases and jumping ahead to complete solution design . Then we   discover that we were boiling the ocean , by designing a solution that customer do n’t really need   and will just complicate the lives of our staff . 

 In future we will complete Learning Launches , as this will allow us to test our assumptions and   hypotheses . Conducting Learning Launches help organisation to build appropriate solution and   doing so while saving organisation from waste money and time . The challenge is to find cost   efficient ways to complete Learning Launches . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Vinod Baker
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Vinod Baker 

 Our Challenge 

 I work in an operational environment ; the purpose of our business unit is to ensure the circulation   of money . Our staffs ’ primary job is to handle the monies that is coming into the bank ( deposits )   and the monies that is leaving the bank ’s premises and transported to clients ’ premises   ( withdrawals ) . Dealing with clients ’ money is an important job however quite stressful for our   staff . All our clients rely on our service offerings for them to continue with their business . 

 The staff morale and motivation is not at a desirable level for optimal productivity . Our challenge   is to change how our employees feel about working for this business unit . To create an   environment that employees find pleasant and a place that encourages growth and learning .   Furthermore , we want our staff to feel motivated and encouraged to improve how they work .   Having motivated and determined staff will have a positive implication on our productivity .   Therefore , as part of our People Program we need initiatives that assist in changing how our   people feel about their work . We also need initiatives that are cost efficient . 

 Our Selection 

 We started our design thinking journey by using multiple tools such as : interviews and personas   to understand why our employees came to work and how they felt at work . More importantly we   wanted to find out how we can make their lives better and what is important for them . Majority of   our people work an 8 - hour shift , this means that they spend more time at work with colleagues   than they do with their families . Hence it is important that we improve this environment . 

 The team and I are now at a phase where we would like to test our hypothesis and assumption   by running small experiments and prototypes , learning launches . The objective is to see how   employees react and receive the new and different offerings made available to them . The   purpose of learning launches is to test a hypothesis and then to learn and improve on the   offerings and solutions . 

 Application 

 Firstly , we simultaneously interviewed our staff and had them complete a survey . The purpose   of this was to gather data to understand what matters for our employees and to answer the “ what   is ? ” question in design thinking . Out of the data we were able to create personas and identified   themes by using mind maps . 

 One of the themes that derived from the data was that : our staff felt there was little opportunities   for growth and development . 

 For the Learning launch we introduced Learning Bytes , which is an online learning and tutoring   platform and is a form of virtual learning . From the data gathered there was other themes that   came out , which we thought would be great focus points and learning topics which we could   teach the staff through the virtual learning platform . 

 For example , employees had a concern with time management . Therefore , we scheduled a   learning session to cover this topic . Then we looked for a staff member in our business unit who   could build and deliver a course on time management . It was important to get the right individual   who had the qualification and the practice to facilitate the learning sessions . Therefore , we had   a senior project manager deliver the course as time management is a critical component of   project management . 

 Some of the other learning topics that we scheduled for the upcoming weeks came about merely   because of the environment . The environment we are working in is very complex and has many   changes , our team leaders often prepares the staff for these changes . Hence , we included a   change management learning session . 

 The flight plan for our learning launch : 

 1 . We will schedule a learner bytes every second week for the next four months ( that means 

 we will have approximately 7 learning sessions ) 

 2 . For every session we will take roll call of the staff attending these sessions . We will 

 monitor this as well , this will be a great indicator if staff find these Learner Byte   worthwhile . 

 3 . After each session employees will provide feedback of the Learner bytes session . This 

 will help us to improve the interaction in these sessions . 

 4 . After the four months we will conduct a survey again with staff . The reason for this is to 

 see how employees felt about these sessions and where we need to improve if we decide   to continue with these sessions . 

 Insight 

 It is funny how one thinks they know what is important to an employee . After all we , ourselves   are employees . It scary how one can miss the plot because we make decisions based on   assumptions . What design thinking allowed us to do was to build hypotheses from data and then   test these hypotheses before creating and implementing a solution . For example , what matters   for one person was career progression and for another was financial stability . 

 By answering the four basic questions through the design thinking process , we were   able to see   what the problem was , that majority of the staff felt like just a number and that there is no room   for growth and development . We were then able to brainstorm different solutions to make   employees feel like there is opportunities to learn and grow . 

 Approach 

 Some lessons learned from design thinking was not to build solutions based off assumptions . At   the bank we often have “ great ideas ” that is going to improve operations . As a result , we go off   a tangent ; drafting business cases and jumping ahead to complete solution design . Then we   discover that we were boiling the ocean , by designing a solution that customer do n’t really need   and will just complicate the lives of our staff . 

 In future we will complete Learning Launches , as this will allow us to test our assumptions and   hypotheses . Conducting Learning Launches help organisation to build appropriate solution and   doing so while saving organisation from waste money and time . The challenge is to find cost   efficient ways to complete Learning Launches .
### Output: 