Westpac plans a fresh campaign to lift productivity and cut costs across its business - an initiative that may add to costs rather than cut them in the short term.At an investor briefing, in connection with its trading update for the June quarter, Gail Kelly, the bank's managing director, said that "another step up in productivity" was needed.The plans are preliminary at this stage, and Kelly said management would outline the program and its financial impact when the bank reports its full-year profit in late October.Kelly said the bank aimed to "re-align head office and administration costs", and seek ways to "improve the productivity of operational areas".Outsourcing, including offshoring of work, is an option. The bank dropped a moratorium on offshoring several months ago - a decision that has since affected around 100 jobs in accounting and reconciliation processes.Kelly said that there would be "some uplift in expenses associated with this work". She also noted that the bank's costs would be higher in the current half thanks to the re-introduction of the Bank of Melbourne brand and the takeover by BT Investment Management of Hambro.When he was asked by one analyst whether cost growth in the fourth quarter would exceed revenue growth, Phil Coffey, the bank's chief financial officer, said, "I'm trying to avoid giving guidance here."Our focus in on core earnings growth - that's what our group's always got in mind."