A SUCCESSFUL community involvement program (CIP) helped improve a battered corporate image and boost staff morale at Australia’s oldest bank, a Westpac executive told a business meeting in Sydney recently
A SUCCESSFUL community involvement program (CIP) helped improve a battered corporate image and boost staff morale at Australia’s oldest bank, a Westpac executive told a business meeting in Sydney recently.
Speaking at a CBD HR Network breakfast, Samantha Brown, Westpac’s head of community involvement, said she had witnessed “a massive change”in the mindset of corporate Australia in the seven years since she joined the bank.
“Westpac established its CIP relatively early,” she said, but it came hot on the heels of financial market deregulation in the ’80s, which triggered “widespread criticism over branch closures, fees and a lack of transparency in the banking industry generally”.
Faced with the task of rebuilding its reputation, Westpac recognised the need for an attitude change. “We realised that we ignored the public at our peril. That we needed to balance their interests with ours and do the right thing by our stakeholders,” Brown said.
Sweeping CIP initiatives were implemented, including community partnerships and matching employee charity donations, a program which has raised nearly $10 million since 1999.
“Our People & Performance (P&P) team have been involved in a range of diverse activities over the years which has included participating in working bees and other general one-off volunteering programs. However, in 2002 the team got together to look at how they could make an even bigger contribution by doing what they do best,” she said.
Westpac’s P&P team used its skills to help The Smith Family in areas including its “Learning For Life Program”, a scholarship program for primary, secondary and university students from disadvantaged backgrounds. “P&P worked with The Smith Family to establish the Next Steps Workshops, designed to assist Year 11 and 12 high school students to develop essential skills required for entering the workforce, such as interviewing,”Brown said.
The bank’s annual Staff Perspective Survey found over 87 per cent of total staff responded favourably to questions regarding the impact of Westpac’s involvement in community activities. The benefits to staff morale, skills and development have also spilled into the market and in August 2004, Westpac was recognised with the Special Award for Strategic Community Investment at The Australian Financial Review MagazineCorporate Partnership Awards.
