Customer experience management
“First and foremost, Covid-19 is a human tragedy that has affected all of us and changed our world forever. It has disrupted societies and has had a huge impact on ING employees and customers everywhere,” she says. “To continue serving our customers through the crisis, we relied on our ability to quickly switch to a work-from-home model. In a very short time, we managed to put the necessary infrastructure and processes in place to support up to around 80% of our global workforce at home. It was a huge achievement.” McGill says keeping all 57,000 ING employees safe, healthy and supported remains a top priority. Above all, HR is about people – and managing illness and personal loss has been a challenge.
“From an employee perspective, I think there is now a finer line between personal and professional life,” she says. “Our people have all been impacted by the pandemic – everybody has. As an employer, we need to listen to our employees and support them. When employees are struggling in their personal lives, we always aim to be understanding, flexible and compassionate. Managers have a crucial role here. That’s why we’ve offered all our managers and leaders support programmes to help them to help their team members.”
Even with so much changing around her, though, McGill says her vision of HR has not wavered. It has, however, driven home the importance of being able to adapt to change. “Putting into place a new digital way of working was essential at the beginning of the crisis, for example,” she emphasises.
“The world is changing and we’re operating in a really uncertain environment. It’s important to balance short-term views with the medium to long- term views. We need to focus on priorities and the tasks at hand, but also think ahead on long-term issues such as talent management and building the capabilities of our people.”
Adapting systems in a crisis As the Covid crisis worsened and weeks of restrictions turned into months, ING looked for new ways to engage employees and help safeguard their well-being. “Many colleagues had their own individual struggles – caring for children or sick relatives, isolation and loneliness, worries about illness or the wider impact of the pandemic,” says McGill. “From a work perspective, they missed seeing their colleagues and collaborating in person. We turned our focus on ways to support them through difficult times and reduce their stress levels where possible. Local countries came up with a range of creative solutions. These varied from tips and tricks on nutrition and how to stay fit, to online well-being coaches, psychological support, tips for dealing with stress and workload, and advice to take a holiday.”
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www.nsbanking.com
McGill says ING has regularly monitored employee welfare throughout the pandemic to sharpen its focus on support. So-called ‘Quick Pulse’ surveys are used to quiz around 42,000 employees on their individual well-being – and they will continue after the pandemic finally ends. ING also introduced a digital onboarding tool to help make new employees feel welcome, despite their physical distance from their teams.
The WFH revolution ING hasn’t been alone in needing to adopt innovative HR systems to navigate the Covid firestorm. Indeed, the pandemic has sparked a revolution in how businesses large and small manage staff – both on site and off. In February, for instance, HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn announced a strategy update focused on slashing office space by 40% and moving permanently to a more agile workforce. Standard Chartered, meanwhile, signed a deal with real estate solutions provider IWG to provide the bank’s staff with access to 3,500 flexible work spaces worldwide. A UK Institute of Directors survey of more than 1,000 firms found that 74% of bosses saw a continued role for working from home. Everyone agrees: employee management as we knew it is gone forever. Asked whether this revolution had reshaped her thinking as an HR manager, McGill cites her own situation. “In the last 20 years of my career I travelled non-stop. I am pleasantly surprised by how much can be done online. I would have never worked from home, but now, I don’t think I will fully work from the office again. What I’ve learned is that you have to go with it. You can plan, but you have to be flexible and deal with the unexpected.”
McGill adds that working from home is a balancing act with unique obstacles. “My main challenges personally are managing all the internet traffic when I’m online, having a clear cut-off between home and
ING ensured keeping employees safe, healthy and supported was a priority as they shifted to working from home.
$300bn
The forecasted business value of AI in global banking by 2030.
AI Business 72%
The rise in the use of fintech apps in Europe since Covid. Forbes
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