Jakarta
commitment
2 International
Hungary - details
make all the
differente
Kick-off Italian
style
Sydney
celebrates
The signed mission statement
already hangs in the Budapest
office's reception where the
three-person team will see it
every day and be reminded of
what they aim to achieve in
Hungary. lts location also
means dients know what the
bank is about and can monitor
its commitment to improved
quality and service.
'We're such a small operation,'
says GM Henk Leliveld, 'we de-
cided to organize something that
suited our situation. We hired a
conference room in the business
complex here and before our
partners arrived for the dinner
we'd arranged at a new Indian
restaurant in the city, we
watched the video and then got
down to discussing what we
could do to improve quality.'
Henk, Dominique and Eszter
focused on detail. All agreed
that's where you have to start.
Leliveld: 'What we talked about
was, say, speeding up our res
ponse to phone calls from
clients. We all know how it goes
- you come in and there's a mes
sage on your desk. Instead of cal-
ling back right away, you put it
off. We all decided that had to
change.' Another point was ad-
mitting mistakes. 'If you make a
mistake,' Leliveld continues,
'whether it concerns a cliënt or a
co-worker, then admit it. Don't
make excuses. Call them, apolo-
gise, try to compensate any nega-
tive consequences as quickly as
possible, and do everything in
your power to limit the damage.'
According to the three Raboban-
kers in Budapest, their discus
sion wasn't anything dramatic,
just small details, but every little
bit helps to improve the quality
of service to clients.
ISSUE 34/17 OCTOBER 1994
A new symbol, a new house-style, a new approach
based on tried and tested values - this was the feeling of
the staff of the bank's Indonesian joint ventures,
Rabobank Duta and Rabo Finance, after they committed
themselves to the mission statement. Operations
manager Victor den Hoedt reports.
Staffin Indonesia confirm their support for the mission
statement.
At 6pm local time, the whole staff was gathered at the new Fi
nancial Club in the heart of Jakarta's business centre. We had
hired space on the 28th floor and kicked off to a magnificent
view over the rapidly expanding city of over eight million
people, where construction seems to be ongoing 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. You couldn't help feeling Jakarta was
actually getting ready for Rabobank's new approach.
Although we were impressed by the video, and were interest-
ed to hear what a Dutch cliënt expects from CBS as a whole,
most staff were looking forward to the local part of the even-
ing. We had invited Dr Siswanto Sudomo, director of Prima
Comexindo, one of the most respected and innovative com-
panies in Indonesia. This man is razor-sharp and we knew we
weren't going to be in for an easy time. Active in agri and
commodity trade, he made crystal dear what his company ex-
pected from Rabobank, and he pulled no punches. Quality
and tailor-made solutions for problems, competitive pricing,
creativity, mutual understanding and a long-term relation-
ship were only part of it. He also needs us to respond and act
quickly and, last but not least, to show him we are a flexible
and highly efficiënt worldwide network. This is a cliënt who
offers challenging and ever-changing deals, good profits and
who will only be satisfied when he gets the best out of his part
nership with Rabobank.
Here in Jakarta, we see our job as making sure he gets it and
that the same applies to each and every one of our clients.
There's a real sense of commitment here at the bank and
people are thrilled to have our mission defined so clearly. All
we've got to do now is get on with it.
The 15 staff at Rabofin Italia
got together for a lunch
presentation, inviting Gerrit
Schipper of De Lage Landen in
Turin as their combined
internal and external cliënt.
There's still a lingering hint of
paint in Rabofin's brand new
premises and according to staff,
the new house-style and logo
have been specially designed to
coincide with their move and up
grading to branch office. 'Only
joking, of course,' laughs Rober-
to de Cardona, 'but it is timely.'
Rabofin opted to have the kick-
off meeting at lunch time be-
cause in Milan business hours are
until 19.30, and they didn't want
the phones left unmanned. Invit
ing an external corporate cliënt
wouldn'thave been appropriate
as the new offices are not quite
ready, but DLL's Schipper was
willing to make the trip to Milan
to talk to staff. 'Although DLL is
part of the Rabobank group,'
says De Cardona, 'it is treated as
an external cliënt. So Gerrit
Schipper's input was very useful
for us.' Schipper outlined his ex-
perience with Rabofin and other
Italian banks, confirming that
the Milan staff were doing a good
job, as far as DLL is concerned.
'But,' adds De Cardona, 'we can
always do better.'
The kick-off meeting had special
significance for the Sydney office
as staff awaited the outcome of
negotiations to acquire the Pri-
mary Industry Bank of Australia.
This take-over will give Rabo
bank a solid foothold in a region
where food and agribusiness is a
major growth market. PIBA be-
came part of Rabobank officially
on October 5.
