RELATIONSHIP BANKING IN THE DIGITAL AGE SOCIETE GENERALE 2014-2015 I 21 That’s a challenge for a complex organisation like a bank... B.S.I. Above all, it’s a matter of mindset. If we are convinced – and we are – that we have the opportunity to rethink the relationship we have with our clients and provide an even better service as bankers, then the action plans will follow, particularly in developing the network of skill sets present within our organisations. I’ll give you an example. We are currently testing centres of expertise to support our clients during major moments in their lives, especially difficult events like a separation or an inheritance. Such situations raise multiple issues, particularly involving tax. We need to respond to them not just with technical expertise, but also with responsible and appropriate behaviour. To do so, we have formed dedicated teams to whom branch advisors can direct their clients. Very high satisfaction rates are showing that we are meeting this goal. To increase our network of skills and expertise at the same pace as that of our network of services, we launched the Digital For All programme. This gives our teams extremely agile methods of interacting with one another, the same way we interact with our clients. We were pioneers in digital banking and we must also be pioneers in our ability to work collaboratively to serve our clients. I also note that our employees are adapting extraordinarily quickly to the new tools we are providing them with. In their personal lives, they are often masters of social media, so they’re perfectly at ease with an open operating model within the company. Doesn’t this call traditional managerial methods into question? B.S.I. It’s true pyramid-shaped structures designed to disseminate authority and information at the same time are dated. Today, we have to accept – and technologically, we have the means to do so – that the ones who really know our clients are the ones facing them! The era when skill was necessarily linked to hierarchical position is behind us. In a collaborative company, skill is everywhere and all skills support the quality of our relationships with our clients. For the younger generations that are joining us now, this is obvious, because the digital world they live in already works this way. It would have been unthinkable a few years ago, in our workplace agreements, to ask participants in the room where an executive is giving a speech to tweet and post their comments in real time. Today, we think this is perfectly natural. This is the sign of a changing culture: regardless of our position within the company, we are all involved in the solutions we are building for our clients. So are synergies a matter of shared culture? B.S.I. Absolutely, and the logic holds at all levels. At a company level, when we decide to bring together our structures around the client, we are by definition breaking silos. And we have observed that bringing together complementary teams generates effects that go well beyond the sum of their respective parts. This is what happened, for example, when we created a new private bank by having our private bankers and our retail banking networks work together. For our employees, when everyone shares a 360-degree view of the client, nobody feels like the exclusive owner of the relationship and everyone refers their clients to their co-workers when they observe that the client has a new need. Everybody is convinced that moving forward together is the right way for us to do business, by providing our clients with trustworthy support over the long term. “THE WHOLE POINT OF OUR RELATIONSHIP- FOCUSED BANKING STRATEGY IS FOR CLIENTS TO BE ABLE TO INTERACT EFFECTIVELY WITH THE BANK, NO MATTER WHAT TIME OR CHANNEL THEY CHOOSE”
RAPPORT_ANNUEL_2014-2015_UK
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