4
The main point is that
we begin to establish
systems where customers
have an impact on the
decision-making within
the bank 9
Bouke de Vries:
Employee involvement
Internal Liability (Cross-Guarantee System)
'What went wrong and what can we do about it?' And we
have to regain that trust - even if we have less explaining
to do than some of our peers."
Mertens agrees, noting that having a strong relationship
with your customer makes entering into dialogue that much
easier. "Talking to customers is about explaining what the
bank can do to improve situations - and that's one of the
cooperative's great strengths. We know our customers and,
in business practices, we work hard to take care of them."
In order to impart such values to the customer, however,
you need to ensure employees understand them clearly.
Mertens recognises the difficulty in spreading the message
within an organisation as large, international and diverse
as Rabobank. 'There isn't enough awareness of our values,
even in the Netherlands. Staff are not completely sure about
the meaning of the organisation, or how it works, but it's
our job to change that."
One of the fïrst steps is selecting the right employees,
Mertens believes. "We need to make sure we select the
right people. And by that, I mean we need to look beyond
their skill set, and talk to them about their understanding
of the organisation as a whole, and their willingness
to work closely with customers, and for customers. My
department organises education programmes and
conferences to bring this awareness to life for local
employees and governors. Although this isn't fully in
place yet at Rabobank International level, we're working
on training programmes. I firmly believe that educating
international employees starts from having a strong belief
in the cooperative ideas."
Through their mutual financial association, various legal
entities within the Rabobank Group together make up a single
organisation. An internal liability relationship exists between
these legal entities. This relationship is formalised in an internal
'cross-guarantee' system, which stipulates that if a participating
institution has insufficiënt funds to meet its obligations towards
its creditors, the other participants must supplement that
institution's funds in order to enable it to fulfil those obligations.
Participating entities within the Rabobank Group are:
Rabobank Nederland (which indudes Rabobank
International)
The local Rabobanks
De Lage Landen International B.V.
De Lage Landen Financiering B.V.
De Lage Landen TradeFinance B.V.
De Lage Landen Financial Services B.V.
Schretlen Co. N.V.
Rabohypotheekbank N.V.
Raiffeisenhypotheekbank N.V.
The local Rabobanks are also parties to several compensation
agreements whereby shortfalls of local Rabobanks with respect
to equity, profitability, loan loss reserves and financing losses are
financed by charging all other local Rabobanks.
issue 20 THE WORD
