Any
bank with long-term ambitions uses a system of employee motivation. We spoke with Dmitry Leus, Chairman of Bank ,
and asked him to which motivational techniques he has recourse.
- Dmitry Isaakovich,
what do you understand under the concept of “motivation” and what is its
application?
- Dmitry Leus: Motivation designates the incentive to act or, more precisely,
the activation of motives pre-existing in every human being. Its importance in
the world of business, and in particular in the service industry, is to attract
and keep the most valuable assets we have - human capital.
Since spring 2011, our Bank has been carrying out an active
regional expansion strategy. Within two years, we have created from scratch 40
branches in different regions of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, it was
necessary to also create a system of motivation transforming a mere
geographical presence into a centre of human excellency. Thus, psychological
factors prove to be as important as economic ones in achieving a high return on
investment. In general, good motivation systems are a win-win game: they must
reflect the interests of all stakeholders of an enterprise - employees,
management, and its shareholders.
- Financial incentive is doubtlessly a very effective
means of motivation. Does Bank also
offer career growth?
- Dmitry Leus: Yes,
we also offer the opportunity of career and professional development, which is
a very important consideration for increasing an employee’s self-esteem and his
reputation within the bank.
Our corporate Intranet provides an appropriate platform for
professional development and the creation of a sense of unity and purpose. For
example, a “wall of honour” showcases the achievements of our best talents. In
addition, we display sales figures for each branch on-line. This allows
regional branches to compare their results with other regional branches and
creates a spirit of healthy competition, thereby stimulating outliers to turn
into performers and performers into leaders. The Intranet also helps management
communicate with staff and spread strategic newsletters; alternatively, it may
serve as a forum on which expert communities exchange ideas and innovations.
As part of our motivational programme, we also hold internal
competitions for management vacancies within Group. Regardless of his
geographical location, every employee from the Altai Republic to Kaliningrad is
eligible and has the opportunity to become the head of a newly opened regional
branch. This way we seek to foster a long-term relationship between the Bank
and its employees and to strengthen loyalty among our people.
- Dmitry Isaakovich,
employee training is the cornerstone in any system of professional development.
For example, on-the-job training allows a company to bring new employees up to
speed quickly and expert seminars may enhance the skills of senior staff. Today, many banks have their own in-house
learning platform. Does Bank have
anything similar to offer?
- Dmitry
Leus: Of course. We recently launched a project called the
“Learning Tool” - a most useful platform whereby the employees of our newly
opened regional branches can actively develop their skills. Also, in addition
to in-house seminars, we regularly organize external work groups and corporate
retreats during which new business processes, product lines, or the Bank’s
overall strategy are on the agenda.
- In other words, motivational techniques are a key
instrument in the successful development of the Bank?
-
Dmitry Leus: Yes, absolutely. Like any bank
in full expansion, our heartbeat is always in tune with the challenges of
modern life and their financial repercussions on the capital markets. Our
system of motivation has been instrumental in scaling up our regional presence
and has shown that numbers alone do not add up unless motivated by human
effort.
- What are the
components of your motivational system?
- Dmitry Leus: All the employees of our regional front offices have a basic
salary, in addition to a performance bonus at the end of each month. The programme further aims at
keeping the growth rate of the basic salary under control over time, in favour
of the performance bonus.
Such a system of extrinsic (that is,
monetary) rewards is based on the principle that financial bonuses indeed
encourage an employee to achieve the best results. Although the theory of
extrinsic rewards cannot be generalized to all situations, there is a general
consensus that in the world of banking, which derives its meaning from the
universe of numbers, psychological motivation may be created through, and
measured in, monetary terms.
However, rewards must not be
attributed based on management’s own discretion and opinion, but according to
measurable and verifiable indicators, lest subjective preference give rise to
inequality and damage the team’s sense of unity and common interest. In the
context of its remuneration policy, the Bank therefore monitors staff
performance in three specific business fields.
The first one is business and sales
performance. We set quantitative targets for our front office staff measuring
the acquisition of net new money and the successful sale of lending products to
prime borrowers. In the second field, we set up indicators for quality of
service. In fact, customer service must keep track with the Bank’s geographical
expansion and the growth of its customer base. Put differently, quantity and
quality must grow in tandem. In the third field, we measure the effectiveness
and quality of overall processes, which is the key prerogative of our Moscow
head office.
Alongside
performance rewards, the Bank has recently also come to rely on bonuses for
successfully completed project management. As we are currently actively growing
in size, some of our products, processes, and structures need to be adjusted to
reflect this. Hence, our need for project management
