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éist Staff Culture Survey

Background and Context

éist Staff Culture survey

The éist Staff Culture surveys focus on assessing bank culture from the perspective of bank staff. Bank staff are a key stakeholder, and therefore it is imperative that we hear directly from them. We have prepared this short animation to highlight what we have heard through our previous surveys and some of these key initiatives we have focussed on as a result. You can watch the video here.

The 2023 survey focused on exploring bank staff’s views on a range of issues which lie at the heart of banking culture. We appreciate that some aspects of culture will be unique to different member banks however there are also industrywide cultural themes that are pivotal to a healthy culture. The analysis and reporting allows us to measure and track cultural progress across the sector over recent years. We have conducted three focused bank staff culture surveys to date and have been working with Ipsos Karian and Box since 2021 using their globally-recognised methodology.

This year’s results reflect the views of more than 10,000 bank staff across all levels and roles, and point to continued positive cultural progress across a number of key cultural indicators, in particular in relation to delivering for the customer in the right way. 86% of bank staff consider their bank does business ethically, which is further underpinned by 76% of staff reporting that there is no conflict between their organisation’s stated values and how business is conducted – often referred to as the ‘say/do gap’. Confidence in the sector is a vital element to rebuilding trust, and being able to rely on an organisation acting as it says it does is a cornerstone of that trust.

These results also highlight some areas for improvement and where continued focus is required. While levels of psychological safety are strong, there has been a slight fall back (-3 points) in relation to formal speaking up and whistleblowing since 2021, which highlights how difficult an area this is to get right, and why it is important for the sector to continue to build on the progress made over recent years.

Accountability is another area for the sector to focus on, such as providing greater clarity for role-holders and empowering staff to make decisions quickly, which will ultimately benefit the customer. Watch the short animation of the key findings here.

The IBCB is committed to continuing to work with our member banks and the wider sector in achieving these objectives. Using feedback from the staff culture surveys, we collaborate with our member banks to create the building blocks of a positive culture and make the Irish Banking sector a great place to work. The results of this survey will inform our strategy and work programme for the period ahead. We will work with our member banks to identify suitable actions and initiatives to address the findings, and agree which of those actions will be driven locally by member banks and those which will be driven under the umbrella of the IBCB work programme.

Participation

Some scores may be slightly different to those published in the 2021 éist Staff Culture Survey report, as KBC Ireland and Ulster Bank responses have been removed to reflect changes to the Irish Banking sector and ensure like-for-like comparisons.

Survey dates

19 April – 10 May 2023

Completed

10,073 out of 19,153 staff

Response rate

53% (up 1 vs. 2021)

Culture words

73% Positive words selected

Up 7 vs. 2021

27% Negative words selected

Down 7 vs. 2021

Proud to work in Banking

I am proud to tell others I work at my organisation

61% Positive

Up 4 vs. 2021

26% Neutral

13% Negative

Down 11 vs. FS benchmark

Drivers of customer focus

Key insights

0%
Organisational Cohesion
The organisation is good at quickly putting our people’s best ideas into action
Down 3

Speaking Up (& being heard)

Very good

(70% or higher)

Good

(60-69%)

Average

(50-59%)

Poor

(49% or lower)

Psychological safety

Where I work, people who make a mistake are treated fairly

2

Where I work, people can share their opinion without fear of negative consequences

7

Speaking up

Where I work, people feel able to speak up when they see behaviour which they consider to be wrong

3

Thinking about the last year or two, I feel my organisation’s commitment to speak up has strengthened

(Asked to those with >1 year tenure)

1

I believe that my views are genuinely listened to when I share my opinion

75% Positive

Up 9 vs. 2021

14% Neutral

11% Negative

Down 2 vs. FS benchmark

Ethics

0%
Ethics
There is no conflict between my organisation’s stated values and how we do business
0%
Ethics
At my organisation, people do business ethically

Strain

0%
Under Strain
In the past 6 months, I’ve felt under constant strain at work

In 2021 the IBCB published the results of the 2021 éist Staff Culture Survey. Watch this short video of the findings of the survey here.

Watch the video above.

The survey focused on staff in areas such as ability to speak up, trust in leadership, strains of remote working, and ethical decision-making. The results show progress is being made on cultural change across all IBCB member banks in the period since 2018 – a strong emphasis on the customer is evident across all five banks and there has been a material improvement in staff’s confidence levels in ‘speaking up’, which is core to an effective culture. Staff across the sector report material improvements in how their organisation does business with 85% considering that, in their bank, people do business in an ethical manner, reflecting 9 percentage points higher than the global FS benchmark. Bolstering this, was a 10-point improvement in staff’s perception of alignment between their bank’s stated values and how it does business, since 2018.

Nearly three in five bank staff (58%) feel their organisation’s commitment to building a speak-up culture has strengthened since 2018 and importantly there has been a 10-point increase, to 69%, of those who had a concern and felt comfortable to raise it in the period. The survey also looked to assess wellbeing and causes of strain for staff, particularly in the context of pressures on staff as a result of the pandemic, including remote working, home schooling, financial and health stresses. 53% of bank staff reported that in the past six months they have felt under constant strain at work, concerningly this is 10 points above the global norm and a vital area to address.

On 17 May 2021 the IBCB launched the findings of this survey at a launch event. The survey can be viewed here.

IBCB Employee Survey 2018

In 2018 the IBCB wanted to gauge the views of the almost 25,000 staff working in the 5 founding banks. This process needed to be independent, confidential and based off a rigorous and proven survey methodology. For this reason, the IBCB engaged the UK Banking Standards Board to carry out the survey using their highly respected methodology. The survey of Irish banking staff was conducted in October 2018 and comprised 37 questions grouped into 9 themes of Honesty; Respect; Openness; Accountability; Competence; Reliability; Resilience; Responsiveness and Shared Purpose. The response rate was high – with almost 60% of staff completing the survey. The survey was published in April 2019.

The survey and key findings can be viewed here.

Participation

Some scores may be slightly different to those published in the 2021 éist Staff Culture Survey report, as KBC Ireland and Ulster Bank responses have been removed to reflect changes to the Irish Banking sector and ensure like-for-like comparisons.

Survey dates

19 April – 10 May 2023

Completed

10,073 out of 19,153 staff

Response rate

53% (up 1 vs. 2021)

Culture words

73% Positive words selected

Up 7 vs. 2021

27% Negative words selected

Down 7 vs. 2021

Proud to work in Banking

I am proud to tell others I work at my organisation

61% Positive

Up 4 vs. 2021

26% Neutral

13% Negative

Down 11 vs. FS benchmark

0%
Organisational Cohesion
The organisation is good at quickly putting our people’s best ideas into action
Down 3

Speaking Up (& being heard)

Very good

(70% or higher)

Good

(60-69%)

Average

(50-59%)

Poor

(49% or lower)

Psychological safety

Where I work, people who make a mistake are treated fairly

2

Where I work, people can share their opinion without fear of negative consequences

7

Speaking up

Where I work, people feel able to speak up when they see behaviour which they consider to be wrong

3

Thinking about the last year or two, I feel my organisation’s commitment to speak up has strengthened

(Asked to those with >1 year tenure)

1

I believe that my views are genuinely listened to when I share my opinion

75% Positive

Up 9 vs. 2021

14% Neutral

11% Negative

Down 2 vs. FS benchmark

Ethics

0%
Ethics
There is no conflict between my organisation’s stated values and how we do business
0%
Ethics
At my organisation, people do business ethically

Strain

0%
Under Strain
In the past 6 months, I’ve felt under constant strain at work
Video Content