International: focus on food and agri
Greater focus at subsidiaries
Employees make the difference
Better customer service, reduced costs
Rabobank wants to continue to grow and develop as a cooperative. The rationale behind
Rabobank is the same as its primary objective: to help customers achieve their ambitions.
The service model for clients has been further adapted to enable the local Rabobanks to
respond effectively to the specific and changing needs of clients. The number of actions in
processes has been reduced and the throughput time of processes has been shortened.
As a result, processes have sped up and are now less costly. This streamlining process is part
of a programme that a large number of local Rabobanks implemented in 2010 or will be
implementing in 2011.
Rabobank International will focus more on the core activities of Rabobank Group. In the
Netherlands, this means supporting the Group's ambition to become the biggest and leading
business bank in the country. Elsewhere, Rabobank International will focus more on the food
and agri sector. In order to provide top quality products and services, professional, superior
product platforms and infrastructures are required. The challenges and opportunities our
clients face are becoming more and more complex, and it is therefore vital that we offer
a wide range of solutions. The Global Financial Markets department focuses primarily on
client-related activities and liquidity management. In its activities outside the Netherlands,
Rabobank Foundation will concentrate mostly on countries where Rabobank International
and/or Rabo Development already have a presence.
The subsidiaries will also focus increasingly on helping Rabobank Group achieve its core
objectives, specifically becoming the Dutch all-finance market leader and developing its
profile as the leading food and agri bank. Making full use of specialist areas of expertise
and achieving healthy returns are other important roles that will continue to be fulfilled by
subsidiaries and associates.
In order to achieve its strategic ambitions, Rabobank Group needs talented, healthy and
committed employees. Based on the view that the skills and competencies of employees
make the difference, Rabobank makes group-wide investments in training and developing its
workforce. A Vision of Learning and Development was formulated in 2009. This vision, which
helps employees in their dealings with customers, was broadly promoted to different target
groups within the organisation in 2010. Furthermore, a special programme was introduced
to resolve succession issues at senior and executive level. The purpose is also to facilitate the
flow of staff among group entities and to promote internal mobility. Such programmes are
currently also being developed for middle management.
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Strategy