Employees
HR in transition
The Rabobank is faced with a 'new reality' and it is up to the employees and
managers of the domestic retail banking division to adapt to and integrate
the resulting changes into the company. At the same time, our people are
themselves also deeply affected by the changes, which were brought about
by the financial and economic crises of the past few years, along with
changing customer behaviour, slower revenue growth and greater pressure
resulting from legislation and regulations. In order to be able to support the
bank throughout these changes, an HR Transition Team was established in
early 2013 as part of the Vision 2016 programme.
In 2013, this team focused on managing the reduction in the number of
employees, subduing employment benefits and reinforcing our company
culture, our identity as a cooperative organisation, and the professionalism
of our people. Rabobank initiated a large-scale workforce reduction at the
local Rabobanks in 2013. Rabobank International will also be an integral
part of this process as a result of the recently proposed redesign of
Rabobank Nederland.
The change process was established by working closely with a feedback
group including representatives of local Rabobanks.The Group Works
Council of Member Banks and the Rabobank Nederland Works Council were
also closely involved in the HR changes implemented as part of Vision 2016.
Employment benefits were subdued across the board in 2013.The section
titled 'Remuneration policy' details the new employment benefits policy
along with the retrenchment measures implemented.
Culture, attitude and behaviour
Rabobank can only provide the highest-level customer services, treat customers fairly and
maintain our competitive edge as a bank if its employees are genuinely involved. After all, they
connect the bank, as defined in Rabobank's HR vision report. 'Culture' is defined as the sum total
of Rabobank's collective actions and is determined by myriad factors, including the processes,
procedures and agreements the employees make with each other. Vision 2016 focuses to a
large extent on these processes, procedures and agreements. As part of these efforts, a number
of dialogue sessions were held to discuss the desired corporate culture for the organisation.
The company decided to launch a culture programme across the bank as a whole in early
2014, whose main focus is the attitude and behaviour that direct its day-to-day actions.
The programme is complementary to the transition of Vision 2016 and the CRISP programme
currently underway in the international banking division. This latter programme is based on
the principles of respect, integrity, sustainability and professionalism: the bank's values as a
cooperative organisation. A number of different aspects will be redefined, including the strategy
of the international organisation, the organisational structure, and management based on
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