Our People

Our biggest strength - our people

We value our people, what they do and how they do it, which is why we invested more than $55 million in employee training and development during the year. These initiatives are helping to revitalise our business and build a high-performance culture that empowers our people, encourages personal development and outstanding quality. It also promotes trust, transparency and accountability.

Our ultimate goals are to:

	develop great people
	create a great place to work
	encourage and reward winning performance

Here are some of the activities that are helping us achieve these goals.

Identifying talent
We have focused on getting the right people in the right jobs, identifying our most talented people and developing clear succession plans for key roles.

When the Group restructured earlier this year, selection criteria included current capabilities, leadership potential and performance against the National Leadership Standard. Annual Group-wide senior management talent reviews involving a 360-degree assessment of leadership behaviours were also used in the decision process.

Investing in our people
Our training and development initiatives are helping all employees reach their full potential.

The Managing People Better project provides training, resources and tools to develop our people, particularly in the areas of leadership. As a result, every employee's performance plan will now measure and assess leadership behaviours. Over 500 volunteer change-champions also promote and support the development of leadership behaviours and skills.

All senior managers in Ireland receive feedback and coaching from their people after they have delivered strategy and performance presentations.

To achieve this, executives and senior managers have personal coaches to build their leadership and coaching skills.

To stay up to date with changing legal and business trends, we also focus on regulatory training, sales, customer support and relationship management systems training.

Most programs are supported by practical systems and online tools, including training curriculums, reference materials and a 360-degree feedback tool.

Diversity
During the year we established a Diversity Guiding Coalition, chaired by Managing Director and CEO Frank Cicutto, to build a more diverse workforce.

The Coalition is working to attract, develop and retain a more diverse workforce in terms of gender, nationality, cultural heritage, family responsibilities and disabilities. To date, the Coalition's achievements include:

	new recruitment policies and processes in Australia
	a new telecommuting policy that facilitates working from home
	an online job share forum that connects potential job share candidates
	a new indigenous employment program
	a revitalised disability employment program

Although the Coalition is new, it has already received recognition:

	a High Commendation award at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Work and Family Awards in 2002
	three Diversity@Work awards for Inclusion of People with a Disability, Inclusion of Indigenous Australians, and for being disability friendly

70% of Bank of New Zealand employees have completed Second to None training, focusing on customer retention and satisfaction.

Engaging our people
We have conducted major employee communication and engagement activities to build trust and understanding of our business direction. In Australia, a roadshow visited major capitals and many rural locations, giving employees the chance to discuss strategies with senior management. Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) employees participated in the Second to None program, which increased understanding of BNZ customers' needs and the Group's strategies to meet them. In Europe, business strategy workshops gave all employees the chance to comment on the business agenda, and to understand how they can contribute to it.

Measuring and rewarding performance
The Economic Value Added (EVA) share program will be in all regions by the end of 2002, giving employees the opportunity to share in the Group's success based on the value we create for shareholders.