Speaking Up (& Being Heard)
- Speaking Up (& Being Heard)
What we heard
In October 2018, the Establishment Office of the IBCB commissioned the UK Banking Standards Board to conduct the first culture survey of Irish bank staff. The survey focused on exploring bank staff’s views on a range of issues which lie at the heart of banking culture. The findings of that survey helped inform elements of the IBCB’s work programme, including staff events on Speaking Up, Staff Pressures and Resilience, and Ethics.
The survey (published April 2019) found that one third of all staff said that they had wanted to raise a concern at work over the last 12 months. Of those who have raised a concern, less than 2 in 5 felt that they had been listened to and taken seriously. [1]
[1] Source: IBCB Employee Survey 2018
Key Findings
34% wanted to raise a concern
Only 59% said they had done so
24% chose not to raise their concern
Only 39% said they were listened to or taken seriously
What we did
A working group was formed with senior representation from our five member banks and including sponsors from the Irish Banking Culture Board to collaboratively discuss fostering a culture where staff feel they can safely challenge and ultimately ‘Speak Up’ if necessary.
Following our initial session with the working group on Speaking Up we held a series of workshops in Q1 2020 with staff from various locations, backgrounds, locations, roles and levels across our five member banks, to explore further the issues relating to Speaking Up which were identified in the IBCB staff survey 2018.
Feedback received from Staff who attended was that the sessions were extremely worthwhile and engaging.
Below were the key themes which were the outputs from the workshops with bank staff, which we fed back to our member banks.
Feedback from staff on these events:
‘I left the workshop buzzing as it was such a positive workshop in terms of what IBCB is hoping to achieve. Something that is badly needed in the financial services industry.’
‘The workshop worked as well as it could with the current Speak Up frameworks in place across the sector. Until some of the feedback in relation to language, sharing MI etc is tackled I fear Speak Up will remain a challenge.’
Key themes which were outputs from the workshops
Speak Up process
Ditch the term ‘Speak Up’ (negative connotations)
Transparency / lift the veil of secrecy (poor awareness of the process among the 5 banks)
Psychological safety
Tone from the Top
Senior leaders to lead by example
Training
(for line managers and individuals – use case studies / dilemmas – face to face discussion)
Awareness & recognition
Recognise those who speak up and celebrate learning from mistakes’
Examples of senior leaders who have spoken up and not only survived but thrived!
Results / Feedback
In 2021, the IBCB commissioned Karian and Box to design and conduct the second staff culture survey, now re-branded as the éist industry staff survey. The survey was conducted during the Spring of 2021 a period characterised by immense pressures for many bank customers, staff and the wider economy due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, there were a number of material announcements from IBCB member banks during this period which will result in changes to organisational structures and the wider banking market in Ireland.
10,648 staff participated in the survey, which is almost 50% of all staff across our member banks. We are very pleased that the results show real progress on cultural change has been made across all IBCB member banks in the period since 2018 – a strong emphasis on the customer is evident across all 5 banks and there has been a material improvement in staff’s confidence levels in Speaking Up – which is core to an effective culture.
3 in 5 bank staff (58%) feel that their organisation’s commitment to building a speak-up culture has strengthened 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.
58% Feel that their bank’s commitment to speak-up culture has strengthened
85% Say that people in their organisation do business ethically
Only 57% are proud to work for their organisation
53% Have felt under constant strain in the past 6 months
The results of the Bank Staff survey will shape the areas of focus in our work programme in 2021/22 and beyond. We intend conducting this survey on two year intervals.
