OP-Pohjola develops its innovation operations
OP-Pohjola aims to develop its financial service offerings and expertise to make them more comprehensive. Service packages can extend across old segment boundaries, as the experience of combining banking and insurance services has shown. The company is actively – and with an open mind – looking for new ideas.
“We want to showcase and develop our employees’ ideas communally because the best ideas and innovations can be found in organizational interfaces through doing things together,” describes Kirsi Saarikko, Development manager at OP-Pohjola.
Innovation operations – a source of inspiration and commitment
More than 400 ideas were generated at OP in six months. The company employs innovation coaches who encourage and challenge people who come up with the ideas to develop them further. Employees have been enthusiastic about bringing up with ideas and commenting those of others.
“We selected Eureka because it was a complete, advanced tool and could be implemented quickly. Additionally, the technical aspect met the tight requirements of the financial world,” notes Saarikko.
Tieto’s innovation operations management tool Eureka is not only about collecting ideas but about having people from different parts of the organization communicate and throw ideas around together. The social aspect is currently a key theme in corporate software.
“Eureka contains a lot of features and functionalities familiar from social media, so no training was required. It is an easy-to-use and stable system that functions very smoothly,” Saarikko observes.
The challenge
OP-Pohjola wanted to showcase its employees’ ideas. Ideas used to be stored in each unit’s own files and could not be developed together across organizational boundaries. The company is keen to innovate new, surprising products and services for its customers through communally processed ideas.
The solution
OP-Pohjola selected Tieto’s innovation operations management tool Eureka because it was an advanced, complete tool that could be implemented in a few months.
Added value
Eureka is used to generate ideas, spar and further develop ideas on a communal basis across organizational boundaries. However, the tool is not only about collecting ideas but about having people from different parts of the organization communicate and throw ideas around together. This open-for-all approach has been welcomed by all and is a source of inspiration and commitment.
About OP-Pohjola
OP-Pohjola is the biggest financial group in Finland. It offers its customers the most comprehensive and varied range of banking, investment and insurance services in the country. OP-Pohjola Group is made up of over 200 member cooperative banks and OP-Pohjola Group Central Cooperative, which they own, including its subsidiaries and closely related companies. Pohjola Bank plc and OP-Services ltd are the Central Cooperative’s most significant subsidiaries. The Group’s businesses are divided into three segments: banking, life insurance, and accident insurance.
Contact for further information: Antti Seppälä, Program Manager, +358 50 301 8725, antti.seppala(a)tieto.com