Organisational and financial implications
Strengthening the cooperative identity
High-quality policy for HRM
Sustainability
Ambitious financial targets
17 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2005
Strategy: Plotting a course into the future
Rabobank Group's strategic ambitions have been embedded in a
cooperative, high-quality and sustainability-driven organisation.
The cooperative is and remains Rabobank's cornerstone. The local
cooperative Rabobanks and their central cooperative Rabobank
Nederland, which is also the holding company of the Group's subsidiaries,
are and will continue to be managed in accordance with the cooperative
model. Over the past years, Rabobank has succeeded in strengthening
its cooperative identity and one of the results has been a large number
of new members of the local Rabobanks. Further development of active
member engagement is crucial to a permanent license to operate of
the local cooperative. In the coming years, the cooperative's distinct
character will be emphasised further, both internally and externally.
The quality of our people is of paramount importance to the strategy.
The priority in HRM policy is to secure the required calibre of talented,
highly educated staff and managers.
Rabobank aims at building on its leading position in sustainability and
corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is working towards more CSR
criteria in all banking operations, more sustainable financial products
such as green financing and green investments, and more deeply
embedding sustainable development in its operations.
Rabobank Group maintains the following financial targets:
- Annual net profit growth of at least 12.0%;
- Tier I ratio at least 10.0 per annum;
- Return on equity of at least 10.0% per annum.
It is along these strategic lines that Rabobank Group believes it can
provide optimum services to its clients both at home and abroad while
maintaining its sound financial ratios and remaining a good and attractive
employer. Thus, Rabobank Group can advantageously position itself for
the possible consolidation cycle in the European financial sector in the
medium-long term.