Employees Rabobank Group is in the middle of a change process. The local Rabobanks and Rabobank Nederland are going through a period of radical transformation. In addition to the many mergers among the local banks, the banks are adjusting their distribution and office formulas to the changing client needs and markets. In turn, Rabobank Nederland initiated a reorganisation, Operation Service, aimed at responding more effectively to the service needs of a reduced number of large, professional banks. Inevitably, all this has consequences for the employees. Operation Service No forced redundancies 25 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2004 Employees In view of these many changes, Rabobank reviewed its human resources policy in 2004. The outcome was formulated in the document entitled 'People make the bank'. It describes the most important requirements our staff must fulfil: customer focus, team players and result-driven. To meet these requirements, expertise is essential. Working at Rabobank means being an expert in your field and investing in your skills by means of training courses, knowledge sharing and mutual coaching. Managers must be seen as passionate entrepreneurs. They have fervour, are natural inspirators and motivators and enable their staff to score. In order to achieve all this, Rabobank's human resources policy is founded on three pillars: performance, development and pleasure at work. Performance is necessary in order to work together to achieve the ambitions of both the bank and its clients. Sustained performance requires personal development in both knowledge and behaviour. And employees who enjoy their work, who derive pleasure from working for clients and who have good relationships with their colleagues and managers perform better and stay healthy longer, both physically and mentally. The growing size and professionalism of the local Rabobanks has major consequences for the support provided by Rabobank Nederland and for the employees involved. Under the name Operation Service, a mapping exercise was performed in the year under review in order to establish how the central organisation's alignment with the local banks could be improved. This has resulted in a new organisational structure, which was implemented as of 1 January 2005 and which closely aligns with the structure at the local banks. Operation Service will yield EUR 200 million in cost reductions, resulting from enhanced efficiency at Rabobank Nederland and an expected staff reduction of 1,200 FTEs. In the context of the operation, a total of sixty areas for improvement were identified. These included reducing the activity overlap, reducing the administrative charges, limiting the number and/or scope of projects, centralisation of activities and outsourcing services such as catering and mail delivery. The improvements must be achieved by 2006. For the local Rabobanks, Operation Service means lower costs, better service and greater support transparency. Staff reductions at Rabobank Nederland as a result of Operation Service will be achieved by natural turnover, by not extending temporary contracts, by terminating contracts with third parties and through early retirement. There will be no forced redundancies, nor are large numbers of surplus staff expected. Of the planned reduction of 1,200 FTEs at Rabobank Nederland, 400 had already been cut by the end of 2004. A further 600 jobs will go in 2005, partly through the outsour cing of catering and post room activities. As part of this outsourcing, most of the employees involved will move together with their activities to the new employer. In cases where this move results in a drop in financial remuneration for the employees, they will be entitled to a temporary supplemental arrangement. The other 200 job positions will disappear in the course of 2006.

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

Annual Reports Rabobank | 2004 | | pagina 25