The Intermediary – December 2025 - Flipbook - Page 16
RESIDENTIAL
Opinion
True transformation:
Staying relevant in a
changing market
B
uilding societies
are operating in a
market that looks very
different from the one
they were created for.
Member expectations
are rising, digital-first competitors are
growing (fast), regulatory demands
are increasing and the cost of running
legacy systems continues to climb.
Staying relevant requires more than
upgrading technology. It requires
building an organisation that can
adapt, learn and deliver change.
This raises an important question:
what is transformation, really?
For most, it is oen equated with
adopting the latest technology or
launching a new digital platform.
While these initiatives maer, they
frequently fall short of delivering the
value expected. True transformation
is about building an environment to
enable and sustain change in every
part of the organisation.
The building societies that succeed
recognise transformation is not a oneoff event, but a tool woven into the
fabric of the organisation. Enabling
change starts with challenging
established ways of working.
Many building societies are shaped
by a culture of caution and consensus.
While this mindset supports risk
management, it can slow progress.
Too oen, it results in a paern of ‘the
answer is no, what is the question?’,
making it harder to try new
approaches or consider alternatives.
To move forward, building societies
must dismantle structural, cultural,
and procedural barriers. This means
creating an environment where
experimentation is encouraged,
learning is shared, and fast failures are
seen as a step towards improvement.
At deploy12, we see societies
with the ambition to change, but
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The Intermediary | December 2025
without the organisational mindset.
Closing that gap is where true
transformation happens.
Learning must be at the heart of
this. Societies that thrive are those that
become learning organisations, places
where feedback is actively sought,
lessons from successes and failures are
understood and acted upon.
Aracting the right talent
in a competitive market can be
challenging. Real investment in
development, mentoring, and crossfunctional collaboration helps build
the skills and mindsets needed to drive
change from within. Oen, the future
transformation leaders are already
inside the organisation.
Leadership matters
Successful change requires more than
sponsorship from the top; it requires
leaders who muck in, empower teams,
and create psychological safety so
people feel able to contribute ideas,
challenge assumptions and take
ownership. When staff are engaged
and invested, resistance gives way to
momentum.
Yet, culture and leadership alone
are not enough. Process discipline is
equally vital. Building societies need
clear frameworks for prioritising,
sequencing, and delivering change
initiatives. Transparent governance
and the courage to stop or adapt
projects that are not delivering value
are essential. This ensures resources
are directed where they have the
greatest impact and change is delivered
at a sustainable pace.
Technology does play a role, but it
must be adopted with realism. Many
societies rely on legacy systems that
are deeply embedded and critical
to day-to-day operations. Taking a
pragmatic approach to stabilise what
exists, decouple where feasible and
CHRIS WILSON
is CTO at deploy12
phase in new capabilities allows
societies to modernise without
compromising service or trust.
Another lever oen overlooked is
collaboration. In a sector where scale
can be a constraint, collaboration can
be a powerful enabler. By working
together, building societies can
share resources to accelerate their
transformation journey.
The benefits are clear: reduced
costs, access to broader expertise,
and the ability to deliver change at
scale. Of course, collaboration brings
challenges – contractual complexity,
differing commercial priorities,
logistical coordination – but these can
be overcome with the right approach.
The societies that will lead the
sector into the future understand that
transformation is not about tools,
but about building organisational
resilience and muscle to enable and
deliver change repeatedly.
This requires a shi in mindset:
from seeing transformation as a
technology upgrade to viewing it
as a fundamental change in how
the organisation learns, adapts,
and grows. It means investing as
much energy in creating the right
environment for change as in
selecting the next system or solution.
If one thing is clear from deploy12’s
work in the sector, it is that for
building societies to secure their
future, they must move beyond the
question of which tools to adopt and
focus relentlessly on enabling change
at every level. By doing so, they can
remain relevant, resilient, and ready
to meet the evolving needs of their
members for years to come. ●
