Download standard bank card division copy for final approval

STANDARD BANK CARD DIVISION
Name of Organisation: Standard Bank Card Division
Size of Organisation: 1 300 people
Sector: Financial Services
Location: Johannesburg
The Organisation
Standard Bank is a South African based financial services company with a global
presence. The bank operates in 17 African countries and 21 countries in other
continents, including key financial centres in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
Standard Bank Card Division employs approx 1300 people, who provide card services,
including marketing, IT, the processing of applications, the issuing of cards and
customer services to cardholders. There is also a Merchant Services operation, whose
activities include the selling of credit card terminals to outlets such as retailers. With the
exception of a small number of Merchant Services staff based in KwaZulu Natal and in
the Western and Eastern Cape, all Card Division staff are located in Johannesburg,
either at the Bank’s headquarters in Simmonds Street, or at the Card Processing Centre
(CPC), where the most of the Call Centre staff are based.
Standard Bank’s vision is based on three pillars:



“We are committed to making a real difference to financial services in South
Africa and other emerging markets”
“We will ensure long-term sustainability by harmonising the needs of our
customers, our people and our shareholders and by being relevant to the
societies in which we operate”
“We will only succeed if we are able to attract, retain, develop and deploy teams
of people with energy, passion and skills.”
Company values include: serving our customers, growing our people, delivering to our
shareholders, being proactive and working in teams, guarding against arrogance,
respecting each other and upholding the highest levels of integrity.
Standard Bank Card Division would like to be seen as an employer of choice. Guiding
principles include being recognised for: quality of leadership and management,
exceptional HR practices, serving as a benchmark for people management practices,
performance management practices, and people recognition.
Standard Bank Card Division: Director, Mike Olsen, describes Standard Bank Card
Division’s culture as “harmonious” and “facilitative”. “We have an open, transparent and
participative management style. However, because of our different business units, our
culture is somewhat fragmented, but it is sufficiently compatible for us to achieve what
we need to achieve,” he explains.
The division’s culture is based on Team Commandments and a Zero Tolerance Policy.
The Team Commandments are, essentially, guiding principles to ensure that teamwork
is understood and practiced. The Zero Tolerance Policy is a team orientation which the
division introduced four years ago. “The policy is about what we won’t tolerate in our
business. People can feel comfortable, because they know that everyone has to abide
by the same standards,” Olsen remarks. Since its implementation, IR interventions have
declined to virtually zero.
The Zero Tolerance Policy includes a zero tolerance for: underperformance, underdelivery and non-delivery; poor leadership, poor management, especially poor people
management; hidden political and personal agendas; excuses; poor quality;
dysfunctional business relationships; mediocrity; poor customer service; integrity
violations; anything less than the absolute truth; abdication and arrogance.
The Challenge
Standard Bank Card Division wanted to implement Investors in People because the
organisation was trying to leverage and nurture people, promote idea sharing, create a
culture of empowerment and improve its business. “We believed Investors in People
would vest the right culture and competence in our business,” Olsen reveals.
He believes people are an organisation’s primary lever: “Without people, you have
nothing. You need to create a culture and an environment where people feel valued and
part of ‘the family’. They need to feel they are adding value to the business and they
need to feel nurtured and rewarded.”
HR Consultant: Card Division and BarclayCard: Davi Moodley, adds: “When we decided
to implement Investors in People, we did not brand the initiative because our people
management strategy is around best practice. We recognised however, that what we
wanted to achieve, and what Investors in People wanted to achieve, were one and the
same thing. We were speaking the same language.”
Olsen advises organisations to “pull out the bits and pieces from Investors in People and
put this together with what they are trying to achieve”. “Investors in People is not a
mandated step 1 followed by step 2 approach. You need to look at what Investors in
People stands for in all twelve categories, where your business is in its life cycle, and
where your people are. If you start and end with Investors in People you will end with a
less than optimal solution. We have applied the standard in a way that resonates with
our business,” he informs.
The Strategy
Standard Bank Card Division was assessed by Investors in People UK in 2003. The
division met 8 of the 12 standards, missing the other four, on “minimal grounds”. “The
assessment confirmed that we were already on the right track. We had visible leadership
from the top and our management style was one of openness. Our people were
definitely seen as key to our business success, and our staff knew exactly what they
needed to do in terms of the divisions’ goals.
“The assessment revealed, however, that we needed to focus more on evaluating our
training. Learning and development had already been identified as a ‘hot button’ in our
climate survey a month earlier. Our staff felt that while they had the necessary skills and
competencies to do the job, there was something that was preventing them from
learning and growing. We focused on this area immediately.
“The assessment also revealed that we needed to hone in on inconsistencies in our
management style, particularly at supervisory level,” Moodley explains.
Quarterly performance reviews and monthly one-on-one discussions were introduced.
These measures, together with the introduction of the Quality Assurance Team in CPC,
have increased the amount of feedback that people receive and managers are now
more actively engaged, on a more consistent basis, in supporting the development of
their people. A rigorous assessment and selection process has been introduced for
managers and for team leaders in the CPC to ensure that the right people manage staff.
Olsen adds: “The initial assessment also revealed that we were still too top-down in our
approach. We turned that around immediately. We formed groups of junior staff and
asked them how we could improve the business, and empowered them to assist with the
required changes.”
Emanating from its first assessment, Standard Bank Card Division implemented
Departmental Action Plans. These were driven by Area Heads. Quarterly Focus Groups
were held around things that the bank was doing, the progress that had already been
made, and the “burning issues” at the time.
The first assessment also revealed that the division was not following up on learning and
development properly. To address this issue, a Learning and Development Plan was
developed for every employee within the division. Plans were tailored to specific jobs.
Performance management audits were also conducted.
High performing staff were identified via Quarterly Talent Identification Sessions, and a
coaching & mentoring kit was introduced. “The idea was to mentor and grow these
individuals to the next level,” Moodley reveals.
As the business evolved, it became necessary to implement a balanced score card.
“This has provided our performance measurement with structure and transparency.
When a business is broken (as ours was four years ago), it is all about your self respect
– let’s focus on the vision and do what needs to be done, for our self respect. However,
as you get better at it, people become more individualistic, and because individuals are
contributing more, you have to focus your business at a more detailed level and set
specific objectives for individuals and groups,” Olsen recounts.
The scorecard starts with the Director of the Card Division and it is cascaded to the other
departments. The head of Fraud for example, also has a scorecard for his department.
Around 55-65% of any departmental head’s scorecard is team orientated, and 35-45% is
based on the individual. The balanced score card has been cascaded through all the
departments and each department has a people management weighting of around 25%.
A minimum weighting of 20% for people management is the rule.
“The balanced score card has enabled us to provide people with focus. Since we have
introduced it, we have been able to empower people, measure them more effectively
and reward high performers more appropriately. Learning and development has been
placed into context and we have been able to look at the training that people have
attended. Our performance measurement is undoubtedly much more credible. The
balanced scorecard has certainly helped us to raise the bar,” Olsen recounts.
All employees have been provided with training in the performance appraisal process.
“The focus was on what the Card Division wanted to get right. We spoke about topical
things that weren’t working and needed to be work-shopped to find the right solution. It
was more about finding collective solutions than anything else,” he reveals.
Communicating with staff was nothing new for the organisation, however, Investors in
People taught the organisation to leverage communication even more. For the past three
years, Olsen has taken two days out of his diary every month to communicate what the
division is trying to achieve and provide a snapshot of progress to date against the
Divisional Goals.
“When we first introduced Forums three years ago, it was because our business was
broken. We mobilised everyone around our vision of needing to fix the business for our
own self respect. We have however, become far more focused on what we are trying to
achieve and we share our objectives with our employees all the time. We also provide
them with feedback on our financial performance and our service levels,” Olsen explains.
He says the bank has clear strategies to promote equality and diversity in the workplace
to support transformation, in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Sector
Charter. The division has an active Transformation Forum (EE Forum) comprised of
managers and general staff from all race groups. “Staff were encouraged to channel any
concerns they might have to management and the Transformation Forum. They were
told management had an open door policy. We were in their faces encouraging them to
come and talk to us. They soon realised we really had their interests at heart,” Olsen
reveals. People also speak highly of the diversity training that has helped them to
understand, for example, the norms and behaviours of other races and cultures.
Development processes apply to all.
Olsen believes an open door policy goes a long way to be seen to be communicating to
junior staff. “You will be surprised just how much it actually means to them to be told that
they can talk to you,” he remarks.
The division has also held Departmental Forums where different members from one
department are put into a room to discuss issues. “You obtain incredible mileage and
obtain tremendous insights into your business from this process,” he reveals.
Olsen says HR has been extremely facilitative throughout this process. “Our HR model
has evolved over the past few years. We are very cognisant of the fact that one cannot
create a happy working environment if your leave records, for example, are not up to
date,” he observes.
The Result
The Standard Bank Card Division was recognised as an Investor in People in October
2004. “The assessment confirmed that Standard Bank Card Division was a good
employer with clear strategies to aid learning. It also confirmed that the quarterly
meetings with staff were working well, that the division had a sharing culture, that it was
committed to transformation, and that employees received feedback. Investors in People
told us that our staff recognised that the division invested in their development. Special
mention was made of the bursaries that we make available to our staff.
“There was other evidence of the organisation’s commitment to the development of its
people. The Division’s strategies were fully in accordance with Standard Bank’s
overarching strategies including, for example, the performance management system
with annual and half-yearly reviews although, as previously described, most managers
conduct more frequent reviews than the minimum requirement.
“The assessment also confirmed that every employee has a performance management
file and knows exactly what is expected. It confirmed that staff are recognised for their
achievements on a monthly basis. Staff nominate one another for Bluestars for their
achievements in the areas of leadership, innovation and customer service and
teamwork. This incentive system is working very well. Nominees are eligible for anything
between 1-20 stars. Stars have a financial reward attached to them, which staff can
redeem for different prizes such as food vouchers and other household items,” Moodley
explains.
Investors in People
“It is important to recognise that once you are recognised as an Investor in People
organisation, you can never take your foot off the accelerator. Once you have tuned a
car to a certain level, you must maintain the car at that level. You always have to keep
working at it to make sure that that car stays in tune,” Olsen informs.
Since obtaining Investors in People recognition, he says staff are likely to say the
division has a learning and empowering culture. “Staff turnover is very low - in the region
of 2% per annum. IR issues are negligible. Absenteeism is not an issue and growth and
the bottom line are moving in the right direction. An ever increasing number of
employees want to participate in projects, and the results of our 2004 climate survey
indicate a 10% improvement across the board on the previous year,” he reveals.
Olsen says Investors in People is a very good tool to benchmark oneself against as the
organisation’s business model evolves. “It is not a recipe for success in isolation, but it
makes a really valuable contribution as you proceed to improve your business in
recognising and mobilising people in a way that benefits firstly the individual, and
secondly the organisation,” Olsen concludes.