A major Canadian financial institution launched a multi-year strategy to optimize its physical footprint —reducing square footage across branches in response to digital banking trends. The infrastructure plan was well-defined and adequately funded. However, the workforce strategy lagged behind.

The directive was to reduce headcount through natural attrition, mainly targeting frontline roles that handled routine transactions such as account balance inquiries. The assumption was that staffing levels would naturally adjust as transactional volume declined. However, reductions occurred uniformly across branches without a clear human capital strategy, without regard for market-specific needs, evolving customer behaviour, or the optimal branch design.

Five years later, the bank faced significant misalignment. Some branches were overstaffed, while others were stretched thin. One critical issue: the population of business development directors declined more rapidly than frontline staff, weakening the bank’s growth engine—completely at odds with the original intent of the strategy.

We were engaged to investigate the gap between strategic vision and operational execution. Our focus was not only on corporate plans but also on how the changes were experienced locally—by staff and customers.

Using our integrated diagnostic framework, we conducted:

• 1. A workload vs. workforce analysis at the branch level
  2. A review of role evolution and workforce trends over the five years
  3. Identification of gaps between transactional and advisory staffing
  4. Stakeholder workshops to uncover operational pain points
  5. Scenario planning, modelling the long-term impact of maintaining the status quo
  6. A "branch of the future" design exercise to compare current workforce allocation with ideal models—highlighting gaps by geography and role

This comprehensive assessment helped reconnect business strategy with frontline execution, turning a fragmented transformation into an aligned one.

Within two years, the organization course-corrected through a targeted mitigation plan that provided clear hiring guidelines and workforce strategy directives. Key results included:

• A rebalanced workforce aligned with actual branch traffic and business potential
• A proactive talent management system to monitor attrition risk and future hiring needs, especially for critical advisory roles
• The organization re-entered growth mode in several key markets, which prompted a shift in workforce planning from optimization to strategic investment—ensuring the right talent was in place to support business development and customer engagement