Rapid Results Works to Save a Company Money and Improve Service

A property assessment company responsible for 4.5 million properties needed to save money and improve service. Teams achieved audacious goals in a short time and the process was replicated to ensure the success of a company-wide expansion.

Improving Financial Performance

An organization responsible for assessing and classifying all 4.5 million properties in a Canadian province needed to quickly reduce costs to address a significant budget shortfall. Leadership also wanted to improve service delivered to taxpayers and municipalities.

Launching Rapid Results Projects

Schaffer Associates facilitated a meeting of the Executive Management Group during which several potential improvement areas were identified. We helped leadership select the two areas of highest impact: Land Severances and Condominium Assessments.

The organization launched two Rapid Results projects. The Severances team aimed to increase processing throughput by 50% in one field office in 100 days. The Condo team set a 100-day goal of processing 10 condo plans in in the capital in under 30 days (the average cycle time was around 600 days).

From Budget Shortfall to $1.3MM Financial Savings Per Year

Both teams exceeded their goals. The Severances team achieved throughput gains of 175%. The Condo team processed the plans in 27 days.

We launched Phase 2 to validate that these results were replicable in other field offices and to plan for organization-wide rollout (e.g., developing new job descriptions, training materials, communication strategies, workforce planning analyses, etc.). The results of Phase 2 confirmed the benefits delivered by the new processes. The anticipated financial savings are around $1.3MM per year. In addition, condo owners will receive their tax bills in a timelier manner, which will lead to higher levels of satisfaction. And our client was better able to comply with legislation.