Meet the Simplify Consultant:
In a series of interviews, we will introduce you to the consultants from the Simplify Consulting team. Today we meet one of our wealth consultants to find out more about them, their background and the work they are fulfilling at our busy consultancy.
Today’s spotlight is on Natasha Birchall, a Wealth Consultant at Simplify Consulting. Natasha started her career in Financial Services over 13 years ago and joined the Business Analysis team at Simplify in September 2021.
What do you do at Simplify?
As a Consultant in our Business Analysis team, I predominantly work with clients to investigate and understand their problems and put forward achievable recommendations to drive improvements in their operational teams and provide excellent customer outcomes. I’ll also work with clients to implement business changes and ensure their teams are operationally ready.
What’s your past experience?
I come from an operational area within Life, Investments and Pensions which helps me understand well the problems most of our clients face in busy operational areas where change is always happening. My last role was within Pensions and Annuities which is my area of expertise today and after this I moved into an analyst role where I gained both Business Analysis and Project Management experience, supporting the delivery of operational and regulatory change.
What’s a common challenge that you deal with when working on engagements?
Platforms and/or Product Providers often will feel the symptoms of operational problems which may be in the form of exceeded SLAs, long call wait times and an increase in complaints, and the challenge is that they don’t have the analysis or reporting to pinpoint why this is happening.
We’ve carried out several exercises for our clients where we’ve unearthed the root cause of operational issues. A recent example is when a team of us at Simplify carried out Time & Motion Studies on a client’s teams to explore how the resource was being used and what inefficiencies were present. We then put forward clear recommendations of what changes needed to occur to become a Best in Class Platform/Provider. To help our clients take changes forward, we provide a high-level action plan so they know what next steps they should take and where to focus their attention first.
What’s it’s been like working at Simplify?
Working for a busy and fast-paced Consultancy has accelerated my professional growth and has been incredibly rewarding. I continue to learn new skills all the time and expand my knowledge across the Wealth industry. The Simplify team is so supportive and collaboration is key!
Adding value through the work we do for our clients and delivering good outcomes for their customers is what makes my job as a Consultant so rewarding. I also find the most value is added when things are kept simple; we’re clear and specific about what needs to be done and don’t over-complicate things!
And finally, what do you enjoy outside of work?
Outside of work I’m very family orientated and love spending time with my nearest and dearest and going to the gym or running. Living in Bournemouth, my ideal Saturday is the morning Park Run, a coffee and beach walk, and a cocktail or 3 in the evening!
Stay tuned for more insight to the Simplify team.
Let us know how we can help you by getting in touch today using info@simplifyconsulting.co.uk
Practitioners, Proportionate, Professional. Simplify Consulting. It’s what we do.
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