The purpose of the awards is to:
- Encourage and recognise behaviours of staff across our member banks that align with the IBCB’s values,
- Promote and highlight positive stories internally and externally,
- Celebrate how staff across our member banks are driving cultural change for the benefit of the sector, and,
- Support staff to feel proud to work in banking.
The IBCB will highlight the achievements and contributions of all winners both internally, across our member banks and, externally.
Nominations and Award Ceremony
Nominations can be received through our member banks, between 15th January to 16th February.
The Awards will be held in May of 2024, and the shortlisted nominees, or in the case of a team, a representative of that team, along with the nominators of those shortlisted will be invited to the event.
Awards Categories
The Award categories are aligned to the IBCB’s purpose and values. More information on these categories can be found below.
- Customer focus
- Ethical behaviour
- Accountability
- Respect and Empathy
- Leadership
- Speaking Up & Psychological Safety
Customer Focus
The éist 2023 Staff Culture Survey heard that customer focus remains a core element of the sector’s culture with 37% using the term to describe the day-to-day culture at their organisation. Having a customer focus is the predominant factor for those who felt proud to work in banking. Customer focus includes behaviours which lead to great outcomes for customers and colleagues, such as:
- Putting customers as the centre of decision making,
- Using customer feedback to drive continuous improvement,
- Taking accountability for a customer issue or problem, and,
- Innovation and putting new ideas into action.
Ethical Behaviour
The éist 2023 Staff Culture Survey heard that 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’. Ethical behaviour includes behaviours which lead to great outcomes for customers and colleagues, such as:
- Aligning actions with the organisation’s values,
- Ensuring customers receive products and services that genuinely meet their needs, and,
- Applying ethical practices and making ethical decisions (potentially by using an ethical decision-making framework) which result in fair and great outcomes for customers.
Accountability
The éist 2023 Staff Culture Survey heard that 72% of staff are clear on their responsibilities, and 66% agree that people take accountability for their decisions at work. Yet despite a 4-point rise, empowerment to make decisions sits only at 61%, in line with the belief that people are held accountable for their behaviours – also at 61%, which has fallen 3 points since 2021. Greater accountability influences more positive decision-making behaviours and empowers staff to deliver for the customer. Accountability includes behaviours which lead to great outcomes for customers and colleagues, such as:
- Taking accountability for a role, piece of work or an issue for a customer, or a fellow colleague,
- Being dependable, doing what you say you will,
- Providing clarity for role-holders, stakeholders and customers,
- Admitting when you have made a mistake and openly engaging to find solutions, and,
- Empowering staff with the freedom to make appropriate decisions in their job and to make decisions quickly.
Respect and Empathy
The éist 2023 Staff Culture Survey heard that 34% of staff describe the workplace as respectful. Staff who do not feel under strain cite manageable workloads, feeling appreciated and respected at work. This award can be applicable to someone who shows respect and empathy to external customers and/or internal customers/colleagues. Respect and empathy includes behaviours such as:
- Being fair and treating others as you would like to be treated,
- Considering the feelings of others,
- Being an advocate for those who are unable to be their own advocate,
- Seeking and respecting different opinions when making decisions, and,
- Listening to understand without interruption or judgment.
Leadership
The éist 2022 Proud to work in Banking report shows that great leadership leads to staff feeling proud to work in banking. The nominee does not have to be a “business leader”, however they must display leadership qualities and behaviours. Great leadership can be shown and demonstrated by all staff, top down and bottom up! Leadership behaviours such as the below can ensure staff feel proud to work in banking:
- Setting a positive example,
- Influencing the “Tone from the Top”,
- Demonstrating that the customer is at the centre of decisions,
- Ensuring staff always feel able to be themselves at work,
- Providing staff with a sense of accomplishment for their work, and,
- Communicating a clear and motivational vision.
Speaking Up & Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is the belief that people can speak up with ideas, put forward challenge and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences. The éist 2023 Staff Culture survey heard that more staff feel they can share their opinions without fear of negative consequences (73% which is +7pts from 2021 survey) and that people are treated fairly when they make mistakes (77% which is +2pts). However, perceptions of being able to speak up specifically about wrongdoing have fallen 3 points (65%).
The term ‘Speaking up’ is often thought about in the context of the formal whistleblowing and protected disclosures process, but it doesn’t solely relate to instances of formal reporting. Speaking up/out/freely can be a healthy practice locally at a team level, and wider throughout the organisation. Where people feel they can challenge the status quo and encourage others to share their ideas and suggestions openly, psychological safety flourishes. The nomination in this category could be where an individual or team has spoken up, spoken out or spoken freely, and as a result there is a positive outcome for a team, department, organisation, or customer (internal or external). The behaviour should demonstrate:
- Setting a positive example of fostering and creating psychological safety,
- Aligning actions with the organisation’s values and behaviours,
- Acknowledging when a mistake has been made and openly engaging to find solutions and ensure lessons learned are constructively shared,
- Being an advocate for those who are unable to be their own advocate, or
- Demonstrating that the customer (internal or external) is at the heart of the action.
Another important component of Speaking Up is being heard. Nominations in this category may also cover the being heard aspect, and how the situation was received, listened to, heard, actioned and followed up.
