NAB has a leadership program, called the group talent pool or pipeline. The senior executives select candidates and the bank “sponsors” them for 12 months. “They get exposure to the senior executives, access to mentoring, evaluated through an evaluation centre, to determine how you perform and then get to participate in our programs, such as the Accelerate program, where they spend time working with the indigenous community.”
Difficult conversations
So what about the people who just don’t get the idea of the NAB culture – the non-performers? Healey says the executive has been trained in having “difficult conversations”.
“We have chosen to embrace words like trust, and what impedes trust. And talking about whether we have files on one another and unpacking those files. If you and I have met once, and you were rude, I will have a ‘file’ on you that says you are a rude person. We are saying that is not healthy.”
Acknowledging such prejudices directly to the person involved is very difficult, but Healey says she is motivated by her own desire to have others trust her, and give her the opportunity to address any misconceptions about her behaviour. Practise is important, as is the release that occurs once such a conversation takes place.
The arsehole factor, or how to score 5D
It’s not possible to advance through the NAB ranks, under the current corporate culture, purely on financial performance, Healey notes. Both behaviour and financial results are measured in the annual performance review. Financial results get a score of 1-5, while behaviour is ranked A-D. “So the traditional element within the financial services of someone shooting the lights out on the financial metrics but they are a real arsehole, that in our language would be a 5D,” she says.
That executive would not only forfeit some of their potential performance-based earnings, but would also start to jeopardise their likelihood of promotion, if they are unable to alter the way they work. “They would get a penalty for the arsehole component. We really take that behavioural component very seriously.”
The big challenge
Asked to describe her biggest leadership challenge, Healey responds with a platitude that she quickly brings to life. “It is to lift NAB’s total shareholder return. So that doesn’t sound like something every executive would say. I am hugely motivated by the positive things NAB does in the community, in the environment, and with our culture.
“We have above the financial service norm engagement amongst our people. And all those things that we do to engage our people will only be considered successful if we can translate it into shareholder returns.
“I would love for NAB to be a positive test case that says you can do the right thing and it results in strong shareholder outcome. If it doesn’t, we will be an interesting experiment. I would love to have people pointing to NAB and say, see, they did the right thing, they backed their customers, they supported their community, they set out to make a difference with the environment, and their shareholders benefitted.”
