BUILDING A ROADMAP FOR CULTURAL CHANGE: UNION BANK OF NIGERIA CASE STUDY

Sally Ollett and Jen Saunders, Mercer

THE CHALLENGE

The Lagos-based Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) is one of the country’s major banks. UBN was operating in a difficult and competitive environment and had a new leadership team in place following a recent capitalisation, so in 2013 it engaged Mercer to urgently transform its hierarchical and risk-averse culture to become faster paced, more dynamic, and more proactive.

Through a combination of onsite meetings and remote working, Mercer has supported UBN’s change agenda in three principal stages, beginning with an assessment of existing staff. The next stage involved embarking on a two-phase culture-change programme that would help the bank assess its current position, define where it wanted to be in the future, and reach that final destination as seamlessly as possible by following a comprehensive

roadmap for transition.

THE PLAN

Stage 1: Staff Assessment

Evaluating UBN’s workforce was an essential first step in helping the bank operate leaner and more effectively, particularly as it needed to reduce staff numbers. UBN was also concerned that too many of its staff did not have writing, reasoning, and analytic skills to the requisite standard, and therefore gauging the level of those skills would help identify poor performers. To that end, Mercer, in conjunction with Saville Consulting, conducted a company-wide skills audit, and more than 4,000 staff (excluding senior managers) took a battery of online ability tests in June and July 2013.

Analysis of the results showed that although the bank had many lower-ability staff, according to norms (older incumbents were shown to be struggling considerably, regardless of seniority), there were nevertheless pockets of strong talent, particularly among younger, more talented recent arrivals. As a result of the assessment exercise, UBN tightened its recruitment criteria to bring on board higher-calibre staff and to ensure that all new recruits had the appropriate basic skills. The results of the analysis were also used as one of the inputs for the bank’s redundancy programme, conducted in two waves across 2013 and 2014.

Stage 2, Phase 1: Culture Change — Analysis and Planning

Following the assessment and streamlining of the UBN workforce, Mercer shifted its focus to facilitating cultural change within the bank — the ultimate goal of which was to build a performance-driven, results-focused mindset.

To begin this process, Mercer ran a number of diagnostics across the entire bank — from employment engagement surveys to focus groups and an executive culture audit with the senior management team — in order to pin down exactly what the existing culture was, and what the “ideal” future way of working might be.

The results showed an organisation in transition. UBN’s workforce appeared to be split across generational lines with the appetite for change stronger among the newer employees, who were frustrated by (among other things) the bank’s slow pace, inflexible hierarchy, and lack of initiative. Frustration was felt most keenly with regards to key issues such as communication, performance management, training and development, and reward. At a leadership level, the

need for a fresh approach was also identified; interviews with senior managers indicated that improving employee attitude, empowerment, and communication were high on their wishlists.

These valuable insights were put to good use at a workshop in which UBN’s leaders were able to define a new cultural vision for the bank and the five core values that would underpin it: accountability, efficiency, customer focus, initiative, and respect. Mercer then helped to set up a programme to drive that cultural change, defining in the process a number of priority levers that would facilitate the new mindset, including communication, performance management and rewards, and building capability.

ACTION

Stage 3, Phase 2: Culture Change — Delivery

Once the key change levers had been identified, Mercer assisted in the set-up and delivery of these levers. For example, a culture transformation team was suggested to help embed the new programme across the business, and a network of “Change Champions” was recommended to lead the day-to-day transition agenda.

As in all change-management scenarios, getting the message across to the entire workforce effectively is vital. With an eye on this issue, Mercer designed a communications roadshow to further engage UBN’s staff in the new culture and trained facilitators to run it. That roadshow was followed up by regular progress updates and “quick wins” — such as guest tellering programmes and customer service seminars — in order to support momentum and underline UBN’s commitment to change.

PROGRESS TO DATE

UBN’s ‘Achieve More’ programme was launched in June 2014, with three principal goals: to change the Bank’s culture; to change its brand reputation among customers; and to improve the organisation’s financial performance.

Initial progress has been positive. Within the first three months alone, the Change Champion network was up and running, comprised of fully-trained representatives from all of the Bank’s operating regions, all of whom are now actively engaging with colleagues in their roles as ambassadors of the new culture.

The roadshows discussed above have proven to be a popular way of explaining the Bank’s new values and ways of working, and these values have now also been officially folded into performance evaluations. All leaders have undertaken a Hogan ‘derailers’ values assessment and have received coaching on the most appropriate leadership style for the new culture.

Anecdotal feedback suggests that employees have responded well to the overall intent of UBN’s new approach, but progress will be measured in late 2014 via a number of ‘pulse checks’. A follow-up engagement survey is planned for the first quarter of 2015.

While UBN has undergone a radical transformation across a number of dimensions over the past year – following the staff evaluations and exits noted above, for example, the average age of the workforce dropped by 10 years in just twelve months – it is hoped that the ‘Achieve More’ initiative will help the Bank thrive now and in the future.

Copyright 2014 Mercer LLC. All rights reserved.

Sally is the Project Lead for the work and is a Principal in Mercer’s Talent Group based in London, UK.

Jen is a Senior Associate also based in Mercer’s Talent Group in London.

If you have any questions for the authors or are interested to find out more please contact Sally.Ollett@mercer.com or Jen.Saunders@mercer.com.