engaged audience at the very top of the corporate ladder.
But once you meet Bernice you soon realise that she
should not have been so surprised, because Bernice
herself is quite surprising and very impressive. Having
worked at IBM, M-Net and SAB she now ?nds herself at
FNB – a company that she describes as being one that
encourages an 'owner manager culture' and actually
values opinion. They've certainly got a CMO who takes
ownership of her world and is not short of opinions about
what makes that world so exciting.
So now another story.
FNB have an 'Innovations' programme where they reward
internal innovation, encouraging people to come up with
suggestions for new products, improved services and
better processes. In the last three years they've rewarded
multiple winners and given away millions of Rand in prizes.
Indeed, staff innovations include FNB's e-wallet and their
current Fuel Reward Programme which, all on its own, has
delivered an estimated value of well over 100 million rand
to FNB's customers.
But that's not our story, that's just the numbers. Our story is
a surprising winner of this innovators programme and a
perfect example of how small acts can make a big
difference.
So, now to what Bernice actually believes and why she is
such a powerful advocate for her brand.
“The brand is all about being 'real'. It's about Living the
brand promise.” She says. “Everyone has potential and
everyone must be allowed and encouraged to live up to
that potential. Ideas have an impact.”
“When you empower people like this, when you encourage
and reward this type of thinking then these people create a
Halo Effect – they shine the light on what is possible.
Recognition inspires, the winners of our innovators
programme become 'rock stars' in the business and they
encourage other people to engage and innovate and take
ownership.”
In a world increasingly driven by cost, a world where
products and services are sold to us on the basis of 'value
for money', Bernice believes that what she is selling is
value AND values. She believes that her brand must
deliver and over-deliver.
In a world that is quickly moving away from the industrial
revolution of mass production the challenge for any brand
is to create meaningful differentiation … to ?nd the true
value of human potential …
In short, Bernice believes in belief:
At one of FNB's branches in Soweto they have an elderly
and often in?rm customer base. One of the staff at the
branch realised that many of these customers have real
mobility issues and struggle to move around the branch.
Seeing this human problem he applied a human solution. A
simple solution. He went out and bought a wheel chair.
With his own money. Because he could.
He saw a problem, he saw a solution and he did something
about it. He helped to land that man on the moon.
Now, what was that? Was it a product he improved? Did he
add to the bottom line in anyway? Did he deliver shareholder value in a way that can be re?ected on the balance
sheet?
“We have to create an environment where everyone – our
employees, our customers and our stakeholders - all
believe in something bigger and better … What we are
really selling is not a bank account, it's not ?nancial
products, it's not a collection of banking facilities and tools
… Our product is service … And our real job is to use our
position, our resources and our power to help build a better
world.”
So, from building a cathedral, to walking on the moon, to
building a better world, how's that for a good day at the
of?ce?
In a world increasingly driven by short term thinking and
quarterly pro?t reports we all too often forget to ?ll in the
numbers on the more important balance sheets; the ones
that matter to our employees and our customers.
This simple act of humanity has delivered an invaluable
return by treating the customers in that branch like human
beings worthy of consideration – and the long term effect of
gaining THAT reputation are a balance sheet issue that is
impossible to put a value on.
The good news end to this story is that the employee
received a reward from innovations – R20 000! And his
'innovation' is now being encouraged across the FNB
network – humanity delivered on a national scale.
CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW
109