Bank lets the small things inspire the big ‘aha moments’
by Evan Pickworth,
2013-11-28 12:09:38.0
IF ANYONE thought a South African bank would gain a million clients and grow profit 20% in the past year, they would have been accused of smoking their socks. But FNB is not known for believing in the impossible. Despite numerous economic speed bumps placed in the path of companies this year, the bank has pulled off the feat of a million new clients and 20% growth.
Innovation has been the cornerstone of FNB’s success and outgoing CEO Michael Jordaan has said that for him, the ultimate achievement has been the award as the most innovative bank in the world.
In a nod to his successor (and a discernible hint to keep the innovation flag flying high) incoming CEO Jacques Celliers was given the honour of accepting the accolade as South Africa’s most innovative company at the Accenture Innovation Index and Awards last month.
There are numerous reasons for the success, but one that stands out most is the philosophy of Jordaan to let his top people "do their thing" without being micro-managed.
"You surround yourself with people who are better than you — if you can do that, that’s half of it," he says. "Together you agree on what the goal is, and then you must largely get out of their way. Good people are inherently proud, they want to do well and want to achieve, and so wonderful things happen."
Will Celliers adopt a similar approach? It certainly seems that way. First off, he’s not cast in the mould of a traditional banker. Largely unknown in the market, Celliers has an MBA, has been at FNB for 12 years, but graduated as an engineer from the University of Stellenbosch — the same institution Jordaan and many other top bankers attended.
It is little surprise he was one of the people who supported the launch of eBucks.com, a major rewards programme that has taken South Africa by storm by giving clients a little back at supported stores each time they shop.
Before he was appointed CEO of business banking, Celliers was head of FNB credit card and retail foreign exchange. He’s certainly not afraid to fill the big shoes of Jordaan.
He may be quietly ambitious, but his philosophy is to allow everyone to come up with ideas, especially lots of small ones, as this is where he sees the next "aha" moment coming from. That way, people learn from mistakes, but those mistakes will not be costly.
"Michael is a good friend of mine and an awesome leader to work for and with. But he’ll be the first to tell you we are a business of 30,000 people and this is not really about one person or individual, it is about an organisation with an incredible amount of depth. Yes, it’s big shoes to fill, but are we up for the task? For sure," said Celliers in an interview.
He says it is fine to talk about innovation programmes — but at FNB the belief is "you can’t control innovation".
"We differentiate ourselves a little bit in that we do not chase the big things, but rather the small things. We are inspired equally by the little differences we implement to change things such as branch process and ATM experiences. You want to brag about the big things, but where people learn about innovation is where they make mistakes at smaller levels. Those little innovations make the big difference. As a collective they have a big impact."
Celliers wants to drive innovation in the commercial space too. "People often lose perspective regarding how big our commercial franchises are. Between RMB and Wesbank and us, we have significant penetration in the commercial markets and that is where we believe a lot of the opportunity lies. We are adding a lot of innovation into what people experience. "
FNB even has an innovative approach to regulation, the bête noir of most organisations at the moment as it is seen as adding extra layers of cost.
"You can do regulatory compliance in a cumbersome manner and it can be difficult, or in a compliant manner, but at the same time make your clients happy. If we can find that happy balance to do both — keep clients and those in the regulatory spaces happy — then we’re in a good position."
FirstRand has set aside R10bn over the next two years to expand further into Africa, which is set to drastically increase the current 9% of revenue generated from Africa. FNB is a key part of the FirstRand financial services ship. FirstRand boasted a rise in earnings of 20% to R15bn — while FNB’s growth was 22% for the 2013 financial year.
And a major benefit of all the out of the box thinking is those innovations will be exported. Over the next year, FirstRand plans to scale up its operations in Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria and India.
South Africa’s most innovative company … the FNB team together with incoming CEO Jacques Celliers, second left. Picture: JEREMY GLYN
IF ANYONE thought a South African bank would gain a million clients and grow profit 20% in the past year, they would have been accused of smoking their socks. But FNB is not known for believing in the impossible. Despite numerous economic speed bumps placed in the path of companies this year, the bank has pulled off the feat of a million new clients and 20% growth.
Innovation has been the cornerstone of FNB’s success and outgoing CEO Michael Jordaan has said that for him, the ultimate achievement has been the award as the most innovative bank in the world.
In a nod to his successor (and a discernible hint to keep the innovation flag flying high) incoming CEO Jacques Celliers was given the honour of accepting the accolade as South Africa’s most innovative company at the Accenture Innovation Index and Awards last month.
There are numerous reasons for the success, but one that stands out most is the philosophy of Jordaan to let his top people "do their thing" without being micro-managed.
"You surround yourself with people who are better than you — if you can do that, that’s half of it," he says. "Together you agree on what the goal is, and then you must largely get out of their way. Good people are inherently proud, they want to do well and want to achieve, and so wonderful things happen."
Will Celliers adopt a similar approach? It certainly seems that way. First off, he’s not cast in the mould of a traditional banker. Largely unknown in the market, Celliers has an MBA, has been at FNB for 12 years, but graduated as an engineer from the University of Stellenbosch — the same institution Jordaan and many other top bankers attended.
It is little surprise he was one of the people who supported the launch of eBucks.com, a major rewards programme that has taken South Africa by storm by giving clients a little back at supported stores each time they shop.
Before he was appointed CEO of business banking, Celliers was head of FNB credit card and retail foreign exchange. He’s certainly not afraid to fill the big shoes of Jordaan.
He may be quietly ambitious, but his philosophy is to allow everyone to come up with ideas, especially lots of small ones, as this is where he sees the next "aha" moment coming from. That way, people learn from mistakes, but those mistakes will not be costly.
"Michael is a good friend of mine and an awesome leader to work for and with. But he’ll be the first to tell you we are a business of 30,000 people and this is not really about one person or individual, it is about an organisation with an incredible amount of depth. Yes, it’s big shoes to fill, but are we up for the task? For sure," said Celliers in an interview.
He says it is fine to talk about innovation programmes — but at FNB the belief is "you can’t control innovation".
"We differentiate ourselves a little bit in that we do not chase the big things, but rather the small things. We are inspired equally by the little differences we implement to change things such as branch process and ATM experiences. You want to brag about the big things, but where people learn about innovation is where they make mistakes at smaller levels. Those little innovations make the big difference. As a collective they have a big impact."
Celliers wants to drive innovation in the commercial space too. "People often lose perspective regarding how big our commercial franchises are. Between RMB and Wesbank and us, we have significant penetration in the commercial markets and that is where we believe a lot of the opportunity lies. We are adding a lot of innovation into what people experience. "
FNB even has an innovative approach to regulation, the bête noir of most organisations at the moment as it is seen as adding extra layers of cost.
"You can do regulatory compliance in a cumbersome manner and it can be difficult, or in a compliant manner, but at the same time make your clients happy. If we can find that happy balance to do both — keep clients and those in the regulatory spaces happy — then we’re in a good position."
FirstRand has set aside R10bn over the next two years to expand further into Africa, which is set to drastically increase the current 9% of revenue generated from Africa. FNB is a key part of the FirstRand financial services ship. FirstRand boasted a rise in earnings of 20% to R15bn — while FNB’s growth was 22% for the 2013 financial year.
And a major benefit of all the out of the box thinking is those innovations will be exported. Over the next year, FirstRand plans to scale up its operations in Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria and India.
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