Employability and vitality
Policy on expertise
Long-term employability
adequately. In addition, 63 new managers attended the 'HR-in-de-lijn' workshop, where they
learned about Rabobank's HR and management development policy and HR Zelfbediening
(the computer platform for HR tasks) as well as the role they play in respect to this.
For local Rabobanks, continuing education courses were offered to members of the local
Management Teams and Supervisory Committees. The top 100 managers at Rabobank
International's wholesale banking business followed a programme on leadership,
empowerment and mobility provided by Harvard Business School. At Rabobank International
Rural Retail Banking, 16 current and future leaders followed the talent development
programme to become ambassadors of the bank's culture and values. A professional
development curriculum has been developed for employees, and this will be launched in 2013.
2012 saw the expertise and professional skills of employees come under increasing pressure,
in such forms as Treating Customers Fairly, customer integrity and developments surrounding
transparency in fees. All this placed great demands on the quality of management, and this
in turn also required a great deal of the professionalism, involvement and commitment of
employees.
Investments continued to be made in developing the knowledge and professional skills of
employees in 2012. Rabobank believes it is crucial to continue to promote a favourable
learning climate and to offer employees sufficient development opportunities so that they
can continue to grow in terms of both professional knowledge and competencies. To this end,
the bank provides training facilities for specific target groups, such as talented employees,
managers, members of the Supervisory Board and Supervisory Committees and professionals.
Training is provided in the form of e-learning, classroom-based learning and workshops,
among other things. The Learning Portal, which was upgraded in 2012, gives managers and
employees the possibility of monitoring the progress they make in the area of learning and
their level of expertise.
The bank's policy on expertise, as dictated by internal rules and external rules and regulations,
was simplified in 2012. As part of this, a clear distinction was made between statutory
educational requirements and what Rabobank expects employees to know and be able to do
from a professional perspective, which are what Rabobank calls professional skills.
In 2012, statutory and regulatory developments meant that employees had to put a great
deal of effort into training and education. In the first quarter of the year, the spotlight was on
customer integrity training ensuing from the Dutch Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
(Prevention) Act. The training was designed to update the knowledge and skills of employees,
in accordance with the requirements laid down by law, so that employees are equipped to
organise files and keep them in order. At the end of March, over 40,000 examinations were sat
by employees of local Rabobanks, Rabobank Nederland and Rabobank International. In the
second and third quarters of 2012, many employees at local Rabobanks received training as
part of the new Mortgage Advice Framework. During the fourth quarter, transparent fees
were at the centre of attention. In addition, the theme of Treating Customers Fairly was
integrated more explicitly into existing training courses. From the perspective of the Dutch
Financial Supervision Act, training efforts related chiefly to pension insurance qualification.
Ensuring long-term employability is a shared responsibility. Employees work with their
managers to ensure that they remain employable. The process starts with dialogue, and
various tools can be used to support it. The virtual career portal, which had over 11,500 new
users in 2012, enables employees to take the initiative and ownership. Many employees of
Rabobank Nederland, Rabobank International and the local Rabobanks have become
conversant with this virtual career information and tools facility since it was introduced in
2010, with the local Rabobanks accounting for the great majority of users. Almost 14,000
career tests were taken in 2012. Employees can use the self-insight they gain to complete
their own PDP (personal development plan) or to prepare for their individual development
interview. In 2012, approximately 150 managers and team leaders followed courses to
improve their ability to conduct such interviews. In addition to obtaining individual career
advice, employees can also take courses that focus on employability. In this context, older
employees received special attention in 2012.
79 Employees
