Working for RBS
- What our people say
- Ambition to succeed
- Freedom to act
- Opportunities to grow
- Flexing to people's needs
- Excellent rewards
Our unique attitude to business has created a special culture. A culture where real talent can thrive. We get a buzz out of working together to deliver the best results for our customers. It’s this team spirit that drives our success, and it’s our success that attracts successful people.
Down the years, our collective drive has won us an impressive reputation for making things happen. Among other innovations, our people introduced Britain’s first bank note (1727) and followed it with the country’s first overdraft (1728). Some 250 years later, we launched the country’s first telephone-based insurance company (1985) and followed it with the UK’s first fully-fledged internet banking service (1997). In 2002 we successfully completed the largest IT integration project undertaken in banking world-wide.
Without the talent and vision of our people, our customers would live in a very different world. The only way to keep improving their lives is to keep recruiting, motivating and developing people who have what it takes to come up with the next big thing. To attract those people, we offer them several very good reasons to join the RBS group.
"The Royal Bank of Scotland Group's human capital management strategy is directly linked to creating shareholder value… and brings together three important aspects of organisational management. These are: the way it manages its people, the service it provides to its customers, and its financial performance."
Financial Times, April 2007
What our people say
RBS's Employee Opinion Survey - 'Yourfeedback,' is a key way for RBS employees to tell them how they feel about working for RBS. In 2007, the survey went out to over 135,000 people in 30 countries across 40 brands in nine languages. In 2008 they'll be expanding the survey further to incorporate their new ABN AMRO colleagues - which means that the survey will go out to over 170,000 people in over 50 countries in more than 20 languages. This year there was a response rate of 90% and the RBS results across the 15 measured categories outperform their global peers in every area. The RBS Group scores have increased positively in every category since 2000.
"RBS Group outperformed their global peers in the financial services industry on every one of the 15 categories for the second year running, which is an enviable position within the financial services market."
ISR Towers Perrin
Key highlights
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81% of RBS people feel encouraged to come up with 'innovative solutions to work related problems'
80% of RBS people claim their immediate line manager is responsive to their suggestions for change
87% of RBS people believe that RBS group is socially responsible in the community
77% of RBS people agree that Middle and Senior managers 'trust the judgement of people at my level'
71% of RBS people believe there are sufficient development and learning opportunities to improve their eligibility for a better job
Ambition to succeed
Reason one: RBS is ambitious. Which means they offer the perfect working environment for team-playing entrepreneurs like Stephen Mullin, a one-man powerhouse dedicated to driving foreign investment into Ireland. Stephen is not the only person who thrives on RBS's shared ambition to go one better. According to their Employee Opinion Survey, Yourfeedback, 81% of RBS group employees feel encouraged to come up with 'innovative solutions to work related problems'. That's 3% higher than the Global High Performance Norm and 8% higher than the Financial Services Norm.
Freedom to act
Reason two: RBS gives their people the freedom to act on their own initiative. This involves equipping them to perform at their best and the latitude to use their judgment. But it's not just about RBS people, it's also about their customers. "RBS is unusual in its receptiveness to what internal and external customers want. It's absolutely committed to them. We spot what needs to be done and act quickly to do it", at least, that's what Chris Williams - Acting Head of Communications at the Indian Development Centre, tells us. According to Yourfeedback, 77% of RBS group employees agree that middle and senior managers 'trust the judgment of people at my level'. That's 5% higher than the Global High Performance Norm and 10% higher than the Financial Services Norm.
Opportunities to grow
Another good reason to work at the Group is that RBS gives their people every opportunity to keep learning and developing by moving into new areas and exploring different career paths. Even if that means leaving their comfort zone. "That's where you learn massive amounts about yourself," notes Simon Hanson, who made a life-changing move to Hong Kong as Head of Origination, Asia Pacific for RBS Aviation Capital. He's not the only person to expand their personal and professional horizons with the RBS group. According to Yourfeedback, 71% of RBS employees believe they have sufficient development and learning opportunities to make them more eligible for a better job. That's 2% higher than the Global High Performance Norm, and 12% higher than the Financial Services Norm.
Flexing to people’s needs
And finally, RBS does everything they can to help their people strike a healthy life/work balance by accommodating their personal needs - inside and outside work. They're always open to change, new suggestions and flexible ways of working. In fact, 21% of people across the Group now take advantage of flexible working options. And it's not all about office time, either. Thanks to Yourtime, our flexible working scheme, Sharon Johnson took a career break with the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo, where she helped to rehabilitate orphan orang-utans. According to Yourfeedback, 80% of RBS group employees state that their immediate manager was usually responsive to their suggestions for change. That's 5% higher than the Global High Performance Norm and 5% higher than the Financial Services Norm.
"The battle to attract and retain talented employees these days means banks are far more willing to put more emphasis on career and professional development. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, for example, has a purpose built school based on the best facilities of the world's leading business schools. The centre brings executives from the Group's various operations in 30 countries to attend tailored programmes from schools such as Harvard."
Financial Times, November 2006
Excellent rewards
To attract people of the highest calibre, RBS is happy to offer the best salaries and benefits in the business. To stay ahead of the market, they routinely compare their salaries against those paid for similar roles by our competitors. The other big priority for RBS is to make sure people's individual performance is recognised and rewarded. This means that their individual contribution is directly connected to their level of reward.
Stephen Mullin story: A week in the life of Stephen Mullin
Stephen Mullin is a one-man powerhouse geared to driving foreign investment in Ireland. It's a mission that regularly sees him jetting off to the US to build relationships with potential customers considering the move to the Emerald Isle. He seems to be good at it. In 2006 alone he won approximately 60 new customers from these trips. But it takes a lot of hard graft. Here's a snapshot of what his last State-side trip involved:
Sunday: Fly from Dublin to LA then on to San Jose.
Monday: Breakfast meeting with Business Development Manager of one of our US correspondent banks. Visit an Irish law firm. Lunch in San Jose City Hall with a delegation of business people interested in investment opportunities in Ireland. Dinner in Palo Alto with the Director of the West Coast IDA office to get the lowdown on local business developments.
Tues & Weds: Same again both days. Wednesday evening fly to Chicago.
Thurs: Day of meetings with correspondent banks and Charter One colleagues to gain potential business opportunities; fly to New York.
Friday: Meetings all day with RBS New York, Citizens Bank, Greenwich Capital and Irish-based intermediaries and prospective clients.
Dinner with a potential client wanting to locate in Ireland.
Saturday: Head to the airport.
Sunday: Arrive home at 7am.
Chris Williams Story: The Indian Job
"RBS is unusual in its receptiveness to what internal and external customers want. It's absolutely committed to them. We spot what needs to be done and act quickly to do it. That makes RBS an exciting place to work - one where anything's possible. But you do need to think beyond the parameters and be prepared to try something new." So says Chris Williams, currently on secondment as Head of Communications at the India Development Centre (IDC) in Delhi. IDC is part of Manufacturing. Its software developers and programme managers produce solutions for internal customers from GBM and Retail Corporate Banking to RBS Insurance. Chris's role is all about relationship building and promoting what IDC can do for the business. The IDC workforce has grown from 450 to 1,000 people in eight months (making it nearly a third of RBS Asia's employees) and Chris has been involved in developing communication channels and growing a strong awareness of the IDC internal brand (historically part of Churchill) and its place within the Group. Although his secondment runs until September 2008 there's lots to do not least because the ABN AMRO merger has seen the number of employees working for the Group in India grow to 8,000 people. Chris, however, is keen to keep his options open. A recent trip to China, where the Group is already making substantial inroads, has got him thinking about opportunities in the land of the rising sun...Simon Hanson story: High flyer with a taste for the ex-pat life
When Simon Hanson moved himself and his family to Hong Kong in 2001 for his role as Head of Origination, Asia Pacific for RBS Aviation Capital, Asia Pacific was largely uncharted territory for the RBS group. Simon, who's responsible for marketing aircraft finance solutions to airlines in South East Asia and Australasia, saw it as a great opportunity to tackle a new customer base and growing market. He'd not worked overseas before but now sees it as a 'mind-broadening experience' everyone should embrace if given the chance. "It gives you a very different perspective on where you come from. And, being outside your comfort zone, you learn massive amounts about yourself," Simon says.Sharon Johnson story: Jungle dream
Every so often we all need a bit of 'me time'. A time to have a break from the norm, a time to step out of our comfort zone, to try something new. In 2006 that's exactly what led Retail's Sharon Johnson to take a short career break and head to the wilds of Borneo to work in an orang-utan sanctuary. Thanks to Yourtime - the Group's flexible working provision - she headed to the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre, which rehabilitates orphan orang-utans so they can return to life in the wild. Her trip took lots of preparation, and just after arriving she witnessed a tropical storm which made her wonder if she'd made the right decision. But she soon hit it off with the other volunteers - even if the mosquitoes weren't quite so friendly! Getting up close and personal with the orang-utans made it worth all the near-misses with the leeched and creepy crawlies. She loved getting to know their very human ways and helping to get them reintroduced to the wild, where they belong.
