In 2021, OCC’s Business Engineering & Strategy team created its Process Improvement of the Year Awards to recognize outstanding work in designing and implementing process improvement concepts that help make OCC more effective and efficient. One of 2021’s winners, Betty Ragan, submitted an entry for the awards unaware of the major impact it would have on her career.
Betty Ragan, Associate Principal, Business Engineering & Strategy
“We created the Process Improvement of the Year award to recognize some of the amazing efforts that are going on all around us,” said Bill Raczyk, Executive Director, Business Engineering & Strategy at OCC. “The award helps spotlight innovative approaches to increasing business process efficiency by leveraging technology, which we hope will inspire colleagues across OCC.”
Betty’s project involved migrating a highly manual process into an application that uses automation to reduce the work needed to complete the task. In total the project saved her team 140 hours per year. Using this application not only automated the process itself but also the creation of an audit trail, which had previously been a manual process. Winning one of the top spots in the Process Improvement of the Year Awards not only helped get Betty’s project across the finish line, but also helped spark a new passion for her. “Personally speaking, it was significant as a career development milestone as it launched me onto a new career path at OCC.”
Betty has been at OCC for over five years, with four years spent in Credit Risk Management. However, in November – a year after winning her Process Improvement of the Year Award - she officially transferred to the Business Engineering & Strategy team.
“There’s so much opportunity to implement process improvement concepts,” she said. “Thoughtful process automation can help you and your team manage highly manual tasks and make the best use of available time and resources.”
Bill added, “OCC employees are continuously challenging existing processes and asking, ‘how can we make this faster, more cost-effective or more efficient?’ Our team is actively supporting colleagues’ ideas for process improvements across OCC through specific awareness efforts and training, so we can help provide tools and techniques to those who are not sure where to start.”
“Personally speaking, it was significant as a career development milestone as it launched me onto a new career path at OCC.”
—Betty Ragan
Betty noted that she was empowered to pursue a lateral career move through that training and OCC’s organizational development programs. “I took part in OCC’s inaugural Six Sigma Green Belt class in 2021,” she noted. “In 2022, I achieved three milestones with OCC’s support: earning a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Dallas as well as the Certified Business Strategist and Certified Leading Ethical Change badges.”
OCC is committed to providing colleagues with the support and recognition needed to motivate, develop, and retain top talent while achieving success together. Learn more about how OCC supports career development, and view all available career opportunities.