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White Papers: Transforming business through the power of trust 

Trust, or integrity, is a key driver of engagement which is also a key driver of business performance. Capital One and Barclays, two major players in financial services – a sector not currently blessed with a high reputation for trust – talked about how they use this critical organisational value to drive their businesses forward at a Great Place to Work® recent event. Their practical experiences were supported by insight and data from the Great Place to Work® database.

Karen Bowes, Capital One

A necessary but painful process of downsizing within Capital One in 2009 had left a demotivated and demoralised workforce which didn’t trust the company. Senior management embarked on a change programme which started with the premise ‘ what business are we in, do we want to be in?’ The answer was not ‘credit cards’ or ‘financial services’ but ‘to make customers’ lives better’. This simple objective challenged their old ways of thinking and doing business and has, over the years, raised trust, engagement and profit levels.

For success, you need:

A compelling purpose

  • Connect everyone to your goal
  • Be customer obsessed
  • Engage your people as you want them to engage your customers

A winning culture

  • Hire slowly – but be prepared to let people go quickly if they’re not working out
  • Nurture through great development
  • Trust your people
  • Say thank you!

Inspirational leadership

  •  From the heart…be vulnerable
  • Communicatewhat you know, when you know it
  • Be Fun & Open
  • Trust first – don’t wait for it to be earned

resilient environment

  • Hold onto your leadership compass
  • Create a resilient environment
  • Build a coaching culture

Dave Ridley, SouthWest Airlines

Don’t aspire to be a Chief Executive Officer – be a Chief Encouragement Officer

Lee Hewett, Barclays 
Making Barclays the ‘Go to’ Bank

Levels of trust in the Barclays brand have suffered dramatically in recent years. A root and branch review of the bank’s practices and culture has led to a new set of values that have been implemented throughout the business.

This lead to the Transform Programme in February 2013, a comprehensive plan to strengthen the bank by changing what they do and how they do it. Changes in culture have been driven from the top, by new Group CEO Anthony Jenkins. As part of the Transform Programme, a single cross-business purpose was agreed and 5 core values that underpin it. The purpose: ‘To help people achieve their ambitions in the right way’.

The 5 values are:

  • Respect
  • Integrity
  • Service
  • Excellence
  • Stewardship

All 150,000 employees globally took part in a ‘3 day conversation’ designed to get staff views and feedback. Communications then had to make the scale of the bank’s intentions clear – things really had to change. More than 1,500 value leaders were recruited to act as ambassadors for the values. All 150,000 employees globally went on a values training course and this course is now part of the induction for all new joiners. Barclays have also designed and implemented a single group-wide leadership curriculum that is a vital component of the commitment to develop people across Barclays. The values play a big part in how individual and business performance is measured and rewarded.

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