What's NewS Issue 5 May 1996
cbs organization
5
agement teams will be more responsible
|jor their own people and planning for
their development will be longer-term. As
I said, offering people career perspective is
really essential if you want to be successful
as an organization.'
CORE COMPETENCES
Goudsmit sees this type of perspective as
particularly important for the international
network. 'When Rabobank starts up
somewhere new, recruiting good people
can be difficult. Our name means little in
many countries. So you have to have
something tangible to offer. For example,
that we have offices around the world and
that we will be able to train them on the
job in a nearby branch office. It tends to be
easier to attract highly-paid professionals
from the market, but people of that calibre
are not the whole story. You also need
people at other levels. On the job training
is certainly very useful and effective. But
we should now also be looking at our
specific training needs. Now we have had
our strategy discussion, we know where
we want to go. Once you know that, you
also know the quality of organization you
want to be, and what you need to be good
at to achieve it. Then you translate that
into what is known as core organizational
competences - what makes corporate
banking successful; what makes us
successful in private banking, and so on.
That allows you to develop job profiles, to
define the competences people in those
jobs need. And it also allows you to start
thinking seriously about career planning.'
GROWING YOUR OWN
While Goudsmit acknowledges the
advantages of handling business expansion
through what he calls 'opportunistic or
external recruitment', he is an even
stronger advocate of growing your own. 'If
you really want to be successful as an
organization,' he argues, 'if you really
want to have a stronger organization in
five years, then you have to translate your
business strategy into human resources
strategy. Obviously, you can go head-
hunting. But that isn't always the answer.
You can then end up with existing people
in the organization who are frustrated
because they haven't been given the
opportunity to grow, to move up.
Ultimately, that won't lead to the type of
successful organization we want to be. So
LOOPBAAN
ONTWIKKELING
De verwachte snelle groei
van het CBB in de
komende jaren noodzaakt tot een adequate
personeelsplanning. Niet alleen op
managementniveau in Nederland, maar
wereldwijd en op diverse niveau's.
Flip Goudsmit en Pieter van Gent geven aan,
dat regelmatig geïnventariseerd zal worden
wat de ambitiesprofessionele en
management vaardigheden van de
medewerkers zijn. Daarom zal alleen extern
personeel worden aangetrokken als binnen
de bank de gevraagde capaciteiten niet
beschikbaar zijn. Belangrijk in dit plan is dat
je zelf kunt aangeven naar welke functie je
toe denkt te kunnen groeien.
you should be thinking about how you can
develop your existing people to meet the
challenges of tomorrow and the day after
tomorrow. Achieving that goal is an
integral part of our plan. If we succeed,
then not only the bank will gain, but also
the individuals who are the bank.'
future outlook and as an
organization being open and frank
about the future.They are investing
their lives, their efforts in CBS. We
owe them a serious development
plan - not least because we want to
retain good people for the
organization.'
PERSONAL PROPERTY
Van Gent has developed a series of
tools for use by line management in
putting this structure in place.'What
people can expect in the future is a
so-called potential and
developmental appraisal.You can
compare this to an evaluation. But it
actually goes much further in the
sense that it looks ahead. Individuals will be
asked to work up a self-assessment overview
which they can then discuss with their
manager,This is a personal document covering
aspects like ideas on career, type of work
preferred, what the person concerned thinks is
his or her strong side, etc. It will be used in the
appraisal, but will also remain the personal
property of the Rabobanker concerned.'
GRAND REVIEW
te concept behind the appraisal is that both
the employee and the manager develop it
together.'Besides the self-assessment, there are
also two other tools. One is an inventory of the
persons management skills and/or
Pieter van Gent
competences.The other is a survey of
professional skills.These three elements are
brought together in the personal Management
Development interview which will then explore
the person's potential and ambitions and what
should be done to develop and realize them.'
Once CBSers have been through their "grand
review"the insights gained are organized into
an accessible form for the responsible manager.
This will create an overview at branch, but also
at regional and international levefof the
potential and ambitions within the
organization.'If you chartthe skills you have
inhouse and set out a developmental plan for
each employee,'Van Gent explains,
'then you're not only using your
human resources to best
advantage,you're also building
succession or replenishment plans.'
OPEN AND FRANK
Can CBSers expect their "grand
review" some time soon? 'We've
already started,' says Van Gent. The
first self-assessment questionnaires
have already been sent out to the
top 100 people in CBS worldwide.
These general managers will have
their appraisal during their next
visit to Utrecht.The reason we have
started "at the top"is because we
believe that someone who has
been interviewed themselves will be stimul-
ated to continue the whole process for their
own people. In Utrecht,for example, some
corporate banking reviews will begin in the
next couple of weeks. Internationally, our Brazil
branch has already offered to host a Latin
American pilot project. But whatever the date,
time and place of the review, I think the most
important thing for staff to remember is that
they should try to be as clear as possible. If you
feel you could be a future Henk Visser, then say
so. Our reponse should be: let's see what we
can do to help you achieve that. Basically, my
message to staff is: speak up and teil us where
you want to go.'
