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.