ASB Differentiated Performance Initiative

  • ASB

Scope

    Design & Implementation of a new performance management model, strategy and processes

  • Whole of Bank, all levels (6000+ personnel)
  • Significant Paradigm Shift / Mindset Change / Culture Change
  • Significant change to a core people management (HCM) process
  • Significant change in relation between performance and pay incentives
  • Change Management and Change Leadership
  • Project management
  • Communications
  • Risk management
  • Stakeholder Management

Background and reasons for the change

Widely regarded as the market leader in terms of customer satisfaction and innovation, and internationally recognised for outstanding levels of employee engagement, ASB wanted to further raise its game from market leading performance to world-class performance.

A new business strategy and vision needed to be supported by a new way of defining, managing and rewarding stand-out performance. This demanded the development of a new performance management model.

Person, Role and Relationship

Scott Constantine, In-house Consultant, contract role.

About the Assignment

The Differentiated Performance Initiative involved the design and implementation of a consistent, single performance management model across all areas and levels of the Bank.

During a 14 month period in 2009 - 2010, Scott Constantine designed and a new performance management model which substantially redefined performance within ASB, changing the way performance was managed and appraised at all organisational levels and across the Bank's entire workforce of more than 6,000 personnel.

Collaborating extensively, Scott built an extensive change coalition of more than 200 early adopters to help elaborate and test each aspect of the design concept with real life cases and to provide additional design input, while at the same time building an informal network of change advocates.

Change management including analysis, planning and leadership coaching, as well as stakeholder management at all levels and across all business functions as well as specialist departments was on-going throughout the project, helping to build high levels of awareness, understanding of the drivers and benefits, detailed knowledge of the changes and how to operation within the new model, and also strong desire for the change initiative.

All available communications channels and opportunities were utilised from the on-set through to post completion. Implementation was further supported by the design and delivery of a series of highly participatory workshops for managers and also for staff dispersed across the Bank's geographic territory.

Leveraging the benefits of a compelling initial concept, a highly inclusive design process, engaged stakeholders, a motivated and influential sponsor coalition, thorough and adaptive change management, and a communications strategy that kept everyone up with the play throughout the entire journey, implementation was flawless and the new process quickly embraced.

Early and wide-spread involvement of people at all levels and from a diverse range of specialist functions within the organisation were hallmarks of both the design and implementation processes.

Outcome

A new performance management model and way of thinking fully embedded into the organisation's culture and integrated with the other strategic people management processes.

  • Direct link between each individual and the ASB's strategy, vision and key strategic result areas
  • Balanced goal alignment at all levels
  • Fair and consistent performance assessment and reward across all areas of the business
  • A significantly more inclusive and intuitive process for both managers and staff
  • Recognition of performance contribution at all levels and proportional increase in reward for ground-breaking / stand-out performance
  • Positive impact on employee engagement as a result of the highly inclusive design process as well as the win-win benefits of the design itself