'With good Communications
we can feel we're a
member of the family'
Kano
band Issue 7/September 21, 1990
The Rabobank Group is steadily opening up more and more offices
woridwide. Among other things, this positive deveiopment means
more contacts between people and offices. Between the offices
outside the Netherlands and the head office in the Netherlands.
And between the offices themselves. That takes place in every
possible way. An interview with Ben Wentrup of the Foreign Of
fices Department, one of the people who has many international
contacts himseif and travels and communicates widely as a result.
Internationallywe must
talk to each other
in one language'
m
ip B JT e are under tremendous pres-
Mjij sure when it comes to visiting
W W the foreign offices. We still
have only a small staff and the number of
offices is increasing. As a result, we have to
keep the trips as short as possible. We
manage to do that by using the weekends,
then you can get over the jet lag.' Afew days
after the interview, Wentrup is flying to the
Far East. 'I'm flying to Hong Kong on Friday
evening. I need the weekend there to make
up for the time difference. On Monday and
Tuesday l'll be working in Hong Kong. In the
evening I fly on to Jakarta where I will work
until Friday evening. Then I board a plane
again immediately and am back in the Nether
lands on Saturday morning. After the week
end, I have my first appointment in Utrecht
in the morning.'
Electronic mail Wentrup's colleagues
in the Foreign Offices Department travel a
lottoo. 'Fortunately, there are several poss
ible ways to communicate with the people in
the foreign offices. Telephoning, writing,
faxing, audio-visuals and, of course, Rabo-
band International. A new method is work
ing with electronic mail. Information is sent
via computers. Butan 'electronic threshold'
still has to be crossed to get the equipment
working. Since every office is individually au-
tomated, that sometimes creates problems
at first. Apart from this, it is a good means
of communication. The document that
comes out of the machine is of excellent
quality and can be photocopied immediate
ly. That's not the case with faxing.'
Woridwide Wentrup foresees good op-
portunities for electronic mail. 'In the test
phase now in progress we use electronic
mail to send credit reports. Because of the
good quality these are easy to read, so that
decision-making can take place quickly and
much more efficiently. New York and Singa
pore are already using the system. London,
Antwerp and the other offices will soon fol-
low. When we operate with electronic mail
woridwide, the offices can also use it to
communicate with each other.'
English The Foreign Offices Department
believes that communication between the
foreign offices must be in English. That still
does not happen in every situation, which is
a source of problems. Wentrup: 'Of course,
there is often a Dutchman in the office
abroad, but the subject matter frequently re-
Wentrup (centre): We try to create a mutual
bond.On left, Oet Bakker of the Paris branch and,
right, Anton Nillesen, the new man in Hong Kong.
lates to other departments. Then the docu
ment would have to be translated there and
that is not the intention. Internationally, we
must speak to each other in one language.
In the Netherlands, a great deal of atten-
tion is now being paid to language
courses. If an operational department abroad
phones Utrecht the communication must be
in English. If it is not, that can lead to delays
in solving problems and the next thing we
have is dissatisfied customers.'
Meetings Using one language is only
one of the ways to ensure good communi
cation. Structured consultation is also
necessary to enable the managers of the
foreign offices to be kept well informed. 'In
meetings, we try to bring the disciplines
from the various foreign offices into contact
with their counterparts in Utrecht', Wentrup
explains. 'In that way, we create a mutual
bond. In addition, the managers can getto
know the people in the head office and
each other. Once you've been togetherfairly
frequently, you could also occasionally or-
ganize such a meeting at one of the foreign
offices, we thought. But there is no need for
this. The managers themselves think it is
more important to meet each other at the
head office.'
Regularity In principle, the branch man
agers come to the Netherlands twice a
year. Once around the time of the Group's
annual meeting. This is combined with the
general managers' meeting. 'Conversely,
we in the Foreign Offices Department are at
the offices abroad twice a year', says Wen
trup. 'Once at the time when the business
plans are being discussed. That takes place in
September, October. There we go through the
plans with the management team very thor-
oughly. This ensures that they find their busi
ness plans clearly reflected in the total divi-
sional plan. It's useful to note the comments
they make. Our foreign business has gradual-
ly grown to maturity. The performance goals
are now playing an increasingly important part.'
More managers' meetings In addition
to the general managers, the other man
agers also hold meetings with support from
the Foreign Offices Department. The oper
ational managers come together once a year.
That takes place in cooperation with Oper-
ations Department and Money Transfer De
partment. The treasury managers organize
their meetings in consultation with Financial
Markets, while the private bankers will have
discussions with each other in consultation
with the Rabo Merchant Bank. Activities are
currently being developed in cooperation
with the Corporate Customers Division
aimed at bringing the agribusiness account
managers together. Wentrup: The policy is
to sell agribusiness financing woridwide. If
you want to do that, you have to discuss
things thoroughly with the account man
agers. You must decide on the resources to
use together with them. After all, they have
to carry out the policy.'
Cooperation 'Let's say the operational
managers have a problem with their admin-
istration. Then they can easily talk about it
here either during or in connection with a
meeting', Wentrup explains. 'The software
packages are the same everywhere. We are
currently switching over to new computers
and that creates conversion problems. At a
given moment, you see who has most ex-
perience with that. In the event of a conver
sion at another office, one of these people
can be brought in to help. The London oper-
ations manager is currently in Hong Kongto
help out for a few days. This works fantasti-
cally. It will soon be happening in Paris and
Antwerp. Then they will certainly know
where to find each other again.'
Member of the family 'We always orga
nize a number of activities around a meet
ing, such as a visit to local banks and typi-
cal agribusinesses. There's also an introduc-
tion to the people in the division. That gen-
erates a pattern of communication which
makes them feel they're members of the
family. True, they're far away, but in fact
they're active in the concept of the organiza-
tion. We are trying to improve the relation-
ships between head office and the offices
abroad and to make it clear that we are a
cooperative bank with an agricultural origin.
You can communicate effectively business-
wise, but there's more to it than that.'
