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The business issue
The leadership team was creating the internet arm of a large and traditional bank. They had hired a young, enthusiastic and highly skilled team, who were now becoming restless and confused by mixed messages about what they had joined – a traditional bank or an internet trail blazer. The danger that frustrated key staff would now leave was very real.
What we discovered
By talking to every member of staff, through candid, group discussions, we were able to identify what they loved and hated about their new employer. We discovered the contradictions between what they believed they had signed up to, and the reality of their daily work life. We also talked to the leadership team to understand their aims.
To get to grips with the less tangible aspects of the staff’s aspirations, we asked them to create drawings of what they wanted work at the bank to look and feel like; many drew their ideal office environment.
What we did next
Armed with the rich data we had collected we were able to recommend short and long term measures that the leadership team could take to create a living, robust and relevant employer brand. From speed of decision making to formality of communication, a comprehensive action plan to rescue ‘the employer brand’, and make the promise a reality, was launched.
We also spotted an opportunity to use the drawings into which the staff had put so much emotion and effort: these were presented to the office design company which had been engaged to design the interior of the fledgling company’s new offices.
The outcome
As the leadership team settled into their new offices, it was clear that their initiative to stand back and look at what they were doing, and nip any problems in the bud, had paid off. There was a tangible new energy and commitment amongst the staff who, when asked, felt that the internet bank was back on track to being the employer they thought they had joined. As a bonus they were also delighted to see the influence of their ideas reflected in the office design.