ING Direct 2008 Annual Report Download - page 50

ING Group Annual Report 2008
1.2 Report of the Executive Board
48
External benchmarking of our industry peers in the last quarter of
2008 indicated that high-performing companies continued their
focus on people development during times of crisis, of which
diversity was an integral part. Meeting our workforce diversity
objectives remained a priority in 2008. The Global Diversity Council
was re-established, containing several senior executives. Diversity
business plans are being introduced in several business lines
and coordinated on a global level.
Talent acquisition and retention
In spite of the financial crisis, recruiting and managing executives
and strengthening succession planning continued in 2008. The
main focus of the leadership acquisition team is to benefit from
past and on-going recruitment initiatives world-wide. The added
value of this is the sharing of information on a wealth of potential
candidates across business lines and, by doing so, providing
senior management with timely access on a global basis to these
candidates. An added benefit of this approach is that ING
will capitalise on executive search firm fees. This resulted in a
heightened interest for a central coordination platform for all
external searches that are to a lesser extent still taking place.
In 2008, ING was successful in attracting a considerable number
of young talented graduates. In the Netherlands, ING was named
as ‘favourite employer in the financial services industry’ by
students. The financial crisis, however, will impact the recruitment
process as we are bringing expenses in line with revenue
expectations. This will lead to lower inflows of graduates. In addition
to this, the image of the financial industry has been harmed.
Hence, it will be more challenging to attract talents. At the same
time the war for talent continues, making recruitment of talent
even more critical.
ING attracts graduates for all business lines and has defined a
global profile to do so. Applicants are measured against elements
such as a ‘can-do’ mentality, unpretentious, result-driven, passion
for teamwork, academic background, two years of working
experience at the most and fluency in English. Our graduate profile
demonstrates ING’s commitment to attracting and retaining
talented people from diverse backgrounds. The same criteria have
been defined for people who enter the ING International Graduate
Programme, a four-year curriculum for talents starting with ING.
In 2008, a new tool was selected as next-generation system
for global recruitment and selection. It makes it easier to share
information about internal and external applicants across the
company. This supports ING’s leadership acquisition and talent
management aim to create a global platform for all vacancies.
Given the reduced budgets for recruitment, there was growing
appetite for this platform.
A talent review was conducted in 2008 by each business line,
covering all senior positions and talents. ING’s long-term success
will depend heavily on having key talents in the right critical
positions. The international mobility of staff is a necessity for a
global company. A need for leaders with regional and international
responsibilities and experience will remain. Retaining and
motivating our key people is now more important than ever.
Learning and developing
ING takes a structured approach to executive training and
development and is convinced that the development and
education programmes for existing staff help them get more
engaged. The ING Business School expanded its range of courses
in 2008. The school enlisted 2,550 participants, compared to
2,800 in 2007 and also delivered its programmes regionally (in the
US, Central Europe and Asia). In the course of 2008, the leadership
training programme refocused to the subject of crisis leadership.
In addition, the Business School increased the business impact
learning initiatives. In Thailand, Central Europe and within
Investment Management, these initiatives created extra business.
An important shift took place from learning programmes related
to managing for value to process management (‘Lean Six Sigma’)
courses, also reflecting the changed business environment.
Strengthening the human resources footprint
at a global level
The human resources function within ING strives to increase value
and service quality to the business. The governance model was
changed in 2008 and is now based on two pillars: reaching out
to the business lines and making global projects more transparent.
A business line forum was established with 20 key HR positions
from the business lines. Its purpose is to further reach out to
the business lines when developing human resources strategy.
In addition, two new steering committees were put in place,
with representatives from the HR Business Line Forum and the
Corporate HR Expert Centers, in order to facilitate global HR
projects in key areas like IT Application Strategy, Talent &
Development and Performance & Reward.
Dealing with changing environment
As in 2008, the company will also have to deal with the effects
of the unpredictable market events in 2009. In early 2009,
ING announced the necessity to cut operating expenses by EUR 1
billion in 2009. 35% of this amount will come from a reduction
of the workforce by approximately 7,000 full-time positions,
involving 2,800 people within our banking operations and
4,200 within insurance. ING remains committed to managing its
people with respect and will support those affected by this shift
in priorities. Given current concerns in society that incentive
structures may have contributed to the emergence of the financial
crisis, and as agreed with the Dutch State, the ING Supervisory
Board will review the remuneration policy for the Executive Board
and senior management. Further information is to be found in
the Remuneration report.
CONCLUSIONS AND AMBITIONS
The global human resources function is focused on supporting
ING’s business priorities, with employee engagement remaining
high on the agenda. Global HR will continue to promote people-
oriented leadership, as business success can only be achieved
through people. Global HR will also take its responsibility in
helping the company deal with its shift in priorities due to
the challenging market circumstances.
Human resources (continued)