ING Direct 2006 Annual Report Download - page 26

Since launching a new performance
culture strategy in 2004, ING has
continued to roll out initiatives to boost
employee performance and the results
have been very positive.
During 2006, business units became
more responsible for the management of
their human resources and performance
assessment was more closely linked to the
achievement of business goals.
Effective communication was the key in this
process. Live ING, a learning programme,
which explains ING’s objectives and
strategic goals, continued. ING’s six business
lines are now implementing Live ING within
their induction programmes.
The Chairman and senior management
continued their direct communication with
employees through staff presentations
in all ING regions. The Chairman, for his
part, continued his quarterly emails to
all staff and also established a special
intranet site in which, among other things,
he answered employee questions in a
‘question and answer’ format.
Human capital management
During the year, we launched the ING
Global Employer Brand. This aims to give
the company a stronger brand image in
the international talent market. It defi nes
the profi le of our future leaders and the
benefi ts of working for ING.
Building strong leaders on all business
levels is the key to our current and future
success. We enhanced our leadership by
raising the bar on compliance and the
ability to energise, decide and execute;
Our people
We will continue to invest in human capital to
realise the full potential of our employees and
to enhance corporate performance.
Number of employees by business line
Year-end FTEs 2006
Insurance Europe 15,126 13%
Insurance Americas 28,778 24%
Insurance Asia/Pacifi c 10,487 9%
Wholesale Banking 20,605 17%
Retail Banking 37,113 31%
ING Direct 7,638 6%
Other 54
Total 119,801 100%
Our performance
continued
criteria against which we screen and
evaluate senior leaders.
ING launched its fi rst International
Graduate Programme – a talent
development programme for young,
recently hired graduates with leadership
potential. The aim is to further develop
a pool of future leaders. We continued
our annual talent review cycle and
implemented succession planning for our
top-200 positions.
Growth and value creation remain the
key elements of ING’s strategy. The ING
Business School continued the Managing
for Value workshops, which will remain
part of the curriculum in 2007. Customer
centricity, one of our key objectives, is
the key theme in the Lean/Six Sigma
workshop, which equips management
with the skills required for lifting quality
and service.
Diversity
ING has a broad customer base
worldwide. Our efforts to broaden the
staff base to match this customer diversity
were recognised when the company was
awarded the 2006 Diversity Award in
the Netherlands. ING intends to continue
recruiting people from a wide variety of
different backgrounds.
Looking ahead
We will continue to strengthen our human
resources initiatives with a sharper focus
on performance. All initiatives must closely
align to business needs and all short-term
achievements contribute to long-term
strategy. A further improvement in our
performance culture is very much the
focus in managing our human resources.
ING’s fi rst International Graduate Programme
was attended by 137 recently hired staff,
who had shown leadership potential. The
three-week course was designed to familiarise
graduates with ING’s culture, strategy and
senior management. The programme provided
opportunities for participants to build cross-
business, international networks that are vital
for their career.
Class of ‘06
ING Group Annual Review 200624