Global
Operations Support
6
administration
WHAT'S NewS Issue 2 February 1998
The formation of a Global Operations Support (GOS) department
at head office level is one of the key features in the newly-
unveiled Administration Strategy Paper. A meeting with Victor
Cuyckens, a new member of the Rabobank International team,
who will manage the GOS unit.
might arise in the international network.
That is not to say that GOS will actually
execute all of these activities: on the
contrary. It will work in conjunction with
one or several other units. These might
include, for example, Network
Development and Support (NDS),
Control, Global IT, and Human
Resources. The overall goal, however, is to
synergize our available resources, to avoid
duplication of effort, and to insure that
the best skills and knowledge are applied
to the given problem at hand.
QUALITY CONTROL
We have all heard the term 'a federation of
islands' in reference to our earlier
organizational incarnation: our
development in recent years, while
controlled, nevertheless gave rise to
relatively autonomous administrative
structures, control environments, IT
systems, staff levels and so forth. Now, of
course, the push is underway to weave our
expanding network into a single fabric
that is held together by common strands
that include the use of common IT
standards, agreed quality levels, and a
consistent and high degree of global
quality control. To realize these aims, we
will need a centralized Planning and
Control function and a method of
accurately monitoring performance. This
means more clearly-defined operational
business plans, progress scorecards and
business reviews, office visits, audits, etc.
Projects need to be monitored on an
ongoing basis in terms of their time and
budgetary demands. We also need to
develop tools to minimize operational
risk. GOS will introducé a 'balanced score
card' system for measuring the efficiency
and success of our planning, control, and
process management.
HOME BASE
In the field of Project Managementit is
important to remember that many - if not
most - ongoing projects involve several
Victor Cuyckens: '..ears very much open to
input from colleagues in the offices.
Cuyckens says his ears are still very much
open to input from colleagues in the
offices. The best implementation of the
GOS mandate should be a joint effort.
Nevertheless, he rightly describes this is a
time when the bank is confronting a
number of profound challenges
simultaneously - and he is convinced that
the inspired management of our financial
and human resources will be decisive to
the success of our overall strategy. GOS
will handle the key operational and
organizational support functions for
Rabobank International and its Global
Management Team Administration
(GMA), as described in our last months'
OVERALL GOAL
GOS's responsibilities therefore include a
wide variety of activities regarding the
planning and control cycle, project and
process management, the management of
knowledge and human resources, and the
overcoming of one-off 'office exceeding'
administrative challenges wherever they
departments within the Rabobank
network. For networking to succeed, we M
need a centralized and stable platform - a
management hub that routes available
resources in the most efficiënt way. Thus,
Global Operations will provide a home
base for project managers and it will set
the standards that they are expected to
meet. It will also conduct quality checks
on a regular basis. A third significant issue
is Process Management. It is, after all, the
administrative processes that frame the
work flow of any given project. There are
a wide variety of processes now in use and
GOS has been charged with the important
task of implementing common standards
that can help enhance their efficiency and
effectiveness.
TROUBLE SHOOTERS
A fourth interesting initiative is the
formation of Flying Squads that can be
dispatched to solve any regional
challenges that require additional staff or
expert assistance. The idea is to insure
that skilied staff are available at all tinies
to respond to extraordinary challenges -
be they an office reorganization,
temporary office management, or the
resolution of one-off concerns raised by
regulators. GOS will also be expected to
address any concerns raised by the Dutch
central bank, or other international
regulatory bodies, with regard to back
office performance, as well as the overall
issue of the uniformity of our information
systems.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
A more abstract but nevertheless highly
important issue is that of Knowledge
Management. The Customer Focus
Strategy identifies knowledge as a central
factor in our competitive success. It will
be the job of the GOS to develop a
conceptual framework for knowledge
management, and also to promote the
exchange of information in the area of
administration, within the network.
And finally, since the banks' greatest asset
is its staff, GOS will be expected to
contribute in the setting of appropriate
standards and staff requirements within
the network.
Before coming to Rabobank, Cuyckens
was employed by a major French bank
that overexpanded and then was forced to
pay the price: a radical retrenchment. 'I
have seen first hand what can happen - it
is not a pretty picture. But the advantage
of having lived through such an
experience is that it teaches you lessons
that you will never forget: lessons that we
can use here to successfully build out our
network and our strategie specialization.'
