HOW TO BUILD A SPEAK-UP CULTURE WITHIN FINANCIAL SERVICES
A Speak-up Culture is a healthy risk culture, one that is responsive, ethically compliant and commercially sustainable culture
LEADING WITH INTEGRITY
Challenge
Story
GROWING A SPEAK-UP CULTURE THROUGH COLLABORATION AND WISE DECISION MAKING
When faced with conduct risk, organisations, until recently have focussed on individuals rather than on organisational culture. However, recent research (and pressure from the regulators) have shown that an organisations’ culture -its norms, beliefs and values – significantly shapes the decisions that people make about risk.
Our work in building healthy risk cultures begins with an ONA to map the informal culture of the organisation. This enables us to identify it’s key cultural influencers as well as those people who are considered by others as positive risk role models. By comparing the alignment of these two groups we can ascertain local cultures/groups of possible negative influence and therefore conduct risk. Furthermore, a highly connected culture in which communication flows freely has transparency of behaviour and action so that conduct risk can be picked up more quickly.
Our CbD approach is unique to us. It draws on recent research in social psychology, moral psychology and behavioural economics to bring about a cultural shift through the key cultural influencers who are also positive risk role models. It also allows us to target interventions early and to provide people with the skills to address complex issues and wicked problems.
Doing
RESEARCH SAYS THAT WHEN FACED WITH A PROBLEM PEOPLE GO TO THEIR FRIEND (WHO MIGHT KNOW THE ANSWER) RATHER THAN TO AN EXPERT STRANGER WHO WOULD.
We mapped the informal culture across the global community of 2000 people using a Organisational Network Analysis. The question was a variation on our normal question – who people go to when they have a difficult decision to make. We also assessed their capability across all areas of the risk framework and added a question about who in the business they considered a positive risk role model.
This enabled us to:
- Assess the missing capabilities in dealing with new products and risk,
- Identify whether the current collaboration pattern across the organisation could deliver on strategy,
- Look for areas or potential risk in “local” disconnected cultures,
- Identify people perceived as cultural influencers but not risk role models,
- Identify people who were both positive risk role models and key cultural influencers and train them as Decision Advocates.
THE WORK
- Strategic.
- A strategic decision making dashboard tool was designed and delivered across the business.
- Re-alignment between the whole collaboration and organisational strategy was re-calibrated to address the ‘black holes’ in collaboration across the globe.
- Insight and Action Workshops were conducted with teams at multiple levels across the business to share results and design actions that would improve accountability and transparency.
- Continuous Improvement projects were identified and actions designed by groups of KCI’s
- Decision Advocate Forums – The positive risk role model/key influencers from across the business were brought together in WDM forums and trained them to be Decision Advocates. The Decision Advocates have a key role in getting buy-in and shaping and sustaining an WDM culture by supporting others in wise decision-making skills, therefore helping sustain an ethical culture in the business.
WHAT WAS ACHIEVED
- Design and introduction of strategic decision making dashboard online tool
- Increased the alignment of KCI’s and RRM’s
- Achieved 15% improvement in engagement and collaboration across Division
- Up-skilled 60 Decision Advocates
- 50% improvement in early reporting/discussion of risky conduct
