13
WHAT'S NEWS Issue 11 December 1997
special
'Rabobank did its first
international transaction -
"omeone sent a Eurocheque
from Belgium to Holland.'
When the laughter subsided,
it was time for the serious
part of his message: 'While
we all accept the need for
Bnice Tozer
yOAA. lt4~OA/V~)
The Dutch financial daily, Het
Financieele Dagblad, appears
to be an avid reader of What's
NewS. A leaked copy of our
November issue meant they
could publish our investment
banking plans.
change and are all willing to
change, it is more than
acceptable to question what
will arguably be the most
important change in our
history.' And this most
important change is moving
far more rapidly than
Rabobank's traditional lenthe
festina - make haste slowly -
style. Along with an end to
personal kingdoms, we are
also seeing the true demise of
the pilared or divisional
underpinning thinking behind the
system is that it is more than an
appraisal tooi although it can be
used to assess individual
performance and to highlight
personal development needs. At
the same time, the so-called Role
Profile within the system provides
a key link between all aspects of
the PFF process.'Each and every
•asition within Rl will be allocated
generic Role Profile that
describes the role in terms of
three elements,'Goudsmit
explains. 'First are accountabilities,
the responsibilities and the
performance requirements
related to that specific role.Then
there are key performance
indicators which are specific
measures.The third is the general
and technical compentencies, ie.
the levels of knowledge, skills and
behaviour that are needed for
effective performance.'
CLEAR APPRAISALS
The above are clearly job specific
within the organization rather
than individual.The people side
^equally important and the
implementation of PFF will mean
international Rabobankers gain a
clear view on their personal near-
term roles allowing greater
focus because of that clarity.This
will be achieved through a
combination of the so-called
Annual Objectives (is self-
explanatory) of each individual
which are derived from the
broader relevant business plans
coupled to the accountabilities,
key perfomance indicators and
competencies.These will be
recorded in an annual
performance appraisal form
which will be the basis of
everyone's (yes,throughout the
organization, not just senior
management) annual review
process. 'Once the principles are
understood, we're convinced
people will be very happy with
PFF,'Goudsmit says.'This will be
the first time we have a
network-wide guide to how we
should work through a model
which is both comprehensive
and interlinked. Sure, we need
training in using the system.
That will begin very soon. From
the responses here in
Noordwijk, some offices will be
introducing it immediately,
others will opt for phased
introduction. But you can be
certain, it is coming.'
structure that once
characterized the wholesale
banking activities of
Rabobank. Not too long ago,
we had the 'divisions'
financial markets, corporate
finance, international, etc.
These have been integrated
and assimilated over the past
couple of years into an
organization with an identity
of its own: Rabobank
International. 'We're talking
now about a knowledge-
based bank,' commented
APFT's Bruce Tozer. 'It's no
longer just corporate banking,
or corporate finance or
investment banking.'
TRUST AND
RESPECT
Dennis Ziengs' comment
proved a natural end to the
open discussion by reminding
everyone that the cooperative
Dennis Ziengs
identity we're all so proud of
and its people focus had
been somewhat lacking in
our reception of the new
investment banking people:
'Isn't it time we received our
new colleagues with the
professional recognition and
respect they deserve?' he
asked. 'We talk about
whether we trust their ability
to deliver the products we
need. What about their trust
in us and in Rabobank?'
Mike Ice immediately came
back with: 'We know you
need products and we know
it appears to be taking time.
But let me assure you, when
we come, we'11 be coming
fast.'
On the 'retail' side,
we're talking here
institutional investors,
corporations, financial
institutions, our
member banks and
retail funds (Robeco),
pension funds,
insurance companies
and other product areas
of the bank. The
exchange side is self-
explanatory. All of these
activities and areas of
focus combine to create
GED's mission
statement: To establish
a global, unified
presence as niche player
for GED while
exploiting the unique
characteristics of
regions to extract
maximum profitability.
On offer will be both
structured (exotics,
equity swaps) and listed
(warrants, convertibles,
IPC's) products. The
range will be based on
customer need -
Eliazov's figures show
that almost half of
liability managers use
derivatives strategically
in spite of bad press in
recent years. Institutions
also use these products
for a broad variety of
reasons (see chart).
Immediate GED strategy
is to develop:
understanding of
customer strategies and
specific hedging needs
advanced product
capabilities and
systems
into service provider
and advisor
leverage opportunities
on Rabobank assets
including Triple-A
Marcus Orubb -
International equities
brokerage (IEB)
Also Grubb had clear-
cut aims and objectives.
This global niche player
is prominent in his wish
list along with customer
