Reorganization of manpower
administration
In order to understand the big picture of Rabobank Intemational's (Rl) recent
administrative reshuffle, we spoke with Alain Younes, the French-born member of RI's
managing board who has assumed responsibility for the global restructuring of our
support and services arm.
Clarifying intentions
Global structures
Defining functions
Team effort
What sNewS Issue 5* May 1999
The aims of the restructuring, which is
subject to approval by the relevant
Works Council, are to become more
focused, effective, and disciplined in our
administrative approach, and to arrange
our activities along functional lines.
'Time-to-market has become a key
competitive issue on the world banking
fcecene,' observes Younes, who is RI's chief
Administrative officer (RI-CAO). 'To
make the most of our customer focus
strategy and ensure progress and success,
we have to more rapidly respond to
trends and short-lived opportunities. This
means developing more instantaneous
control over the network on a global
scale. Already, we're behind the curve
and unfortunately we're operating in a
catch-up mode.'
While agreeing that some scepticism about
change often initially prevails in any large
organization, Younes is keen to point out
that 'this is not an exercise in reducing
manpower. On the contrary: there is more
than enough for all of us to do, and this
plan is about making sure we do it more
fcfficiently. Of course, there's been a lot of
uncertainty in the air about our intentions.
I'm sure that once people understand what
we're doing, they'11 be relieved to have
some clarity of direction and appreciate
our fundamental rationale. We've worked
hard to get input from everyone con-
cerned.' 'Town Meetings' are being
organized with key managers and staffers
throughout the global administrative
apparatus to explain the motivations, the
decisions, and the implications of the plan
for each player in the network, as well as
to present the exact steps required for its
successful implementation.
However, Younes insists that the most
important aspect of his program is not so
nnuch the organizational shift as it is an
Pktempt to inspire a fundamental change in
style: 'We're trying to introducé a new
mode of operation that will minimize
operational risk, quicken our reaction
time, and generate globally unified
standards as well as reliable accounting,
control, and reporting systems. We are
really just grouping people together
according to their skills, tasks, and
Alain Younes on defining new roles
functions under a single global manage
ment. 'Administration's business partners
within RI are moving towards a function-
alized, global organizational structure, as
well as a global products and services
structure, reflecting a concurrent inter-
nationalization among clients and business
prospects in our key target sectors of food
and agribusiness (F&A), health care, and
financial institutions. It stands to reason
that administration must follow suit,
Younes explains.
Administration is to be divided into two
functional categories: (a) products/
services, and (b) support/staff. Strong
emphasis will be placed on creating a
balance between managerial centrali-
zation, both on a global and regional level,
as well as the definition of clear functional
roles. Regions will include Europe,
Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, the
Americas, and the Pacific; each will have a
regional CAO who reports directly to the
Rl-CAO on strategy as well as to the local
general manager on dailv affairs.
Individual CAOs working within the
cluster of offices will report to this
regional CAO. At the same time, our
administration will be organized along
functional lines, with regional function
managers who report to global function
managers (concerning strategy) and to the
regional CAO (for day-to-day affairs).
The specific functional lines will include:
Strategy Programme Management
(support/staff): developing global
projects, the sharing of expertise, and
geographical coordination of functions
Business Management Control
(support/staff): defining and managing
the process of budget and personnel
controls, assessing related performance,
evaluating risks and interfacing with
auditors and regulators
Human Resources (support/staff):
defining, managing, and facilitating
training, management development,
renumeration, recruitment, and hiring
Operations (products/services):
processing all products and day-to-day
control
IT Systems Development (products/
services): responsibility for the architec
ture, design, selection, development,
implementation, maintenance and
support of software applications
IT Infrastructure (products/services):
with identical responsibilities for the
technical or hardware infrastructure
Premises and Logistics (products/
services): implementing premises strategy
and management in all locations.
In practice, a single individual may well
perform several of these function-based
tasks - and the overall plan will lead to
little if any change in the existing number
of jobs. The global administration
management committee (AMC) have
already been largely defined, with Barbara
Carroll in operations, Bernie Adamson in
IT infrastructure, Erny Kahle in strategy
and program management, Victor
Cuyckens in business management and
control, and Mieke Groenewegen in
human resources.
