Decision Rights: Who Can Say Yes to the Customer?

The hidden cost of "I need to ask my manager"#

A customer asks for a goodwill gesture after a billing error, more time to pay, an exception on a supporting document. The adviser often knows what the right answer is, but is not allowed to give it. They promise a call back, pass the request on, and the file waits in the manager's queue.

For the customer, this means a second call, then a third. For the organisation, it means repeat contacts, extra workload for managers and, eventually, complaints. A measure of first-contact resolution that ignores what the adviser is allowed to decide mostly measures the limits of their mandate.

What a decision right contains#

Thresholds and amounts belong to each organisation. They follow from its risk appetite, its margin and its regulatory obligations, not from an imported model.

Building the matrix in six steps#

1. List the real decisions. Start from the escalations, complaints and requests for exceptions of the last three to six months, not from an organisation chart.
2. Measure the current time. For each frequent decision, note the time between the customer's request and the answer, and the number of people involved.
3. Rank by frequency and stakes. Frequent, low-stakes decisions are delegated first; rare, high-stakes decisions stay at the higher level.
4. Set thresholds and criteria with senior management. Each delegation is approved in writing, with its limit and its conditions.
5. Equip the teams. Information available in the tool, a reason to enter, examples of borderline cases, and short training focused on these decisions.
6. Check and revise. Monthly sample, review of contested decisions, adjustment of thresholds after three months.

Decisions that are not delegated#

Some decisions remain outside any delegation, however frequent they are:

• those that involve a legal obligation, for example the decision to report a suspicion under anti-money laundering rules, which follows its own internal procedure;
• those that concern individuals' rights over their data, handled according to the procedure laid down by Law 09-08;
• those that set a precedent for the whole customer base or change a commercial policy.

For these decisions, the aim is not to delegate but to speed up: a clear route, a named owner and a stated response time.

The case of regulated sectors#

In banking, Bank Al-Maghrib Circular No. 10/W/16 requires a substantive response to a complaint within 40 working days. This deadline is a ceiling, not a target. A complaint often concerns a simple decision that could have been taken at first contact if the decision right had existed. Delegating these decisions reduces the volume reaching the complaints department and, further down the line, banking mediation.

Delegation must nevertheless remain compatible with the procedures required by the supervisor. It is designed with the compliance function, not against it.

Pitfalls to avoid#

• Delegating without a threshold. Unlimited autonomy worries teams as much as senior management, and it ends up being withdrawn at the first incident.
• Setting thresholds without information. An adviser who cannot see the customer's history cannot apply a criterion such as "first incident".
• Changing the rules without saying so. A matrix the teams do not know about does not exist.
• Penalising the first mistake. A decision taken within the framework and contested afterwards is an opportunity to adjust the criteria, not a fault.
• Forgetting incentives. If individual targets penalise every gesture granted, the decision right will go unused.

What changes in practice#

A well-built delegation matrix produces measurable effects: fewer escalations to managers, faster answers, fewer repeat contacts, and managers who spend their time on difficult cases rather than routine approvals. Tracking these effects naturally fits into the KAPER Cadence, where the week's contested decisions are examined as learning cases.

Your checklist#

• The list of the twenty most frequent decisions, drawn from escalations and complaints.
• The current time taken by each one.
• A written matrix: decision, holder, threshold, criteria, record, information, control.
• Approval by senior management and an opinion from the compliance function.
• The necessary information accessible in the teams' tool.
• A sample-based check every month.
• A review of thresholds after three months.