On the occasion of a series of interviews with decision-makers about the strategic priorities of companies and their transformation challenges in an uncertain context, Ombeline Bouchacourt, Director of the Agile Transformation Program at BCEF (BNP Paribas France), gives testimony of major strategic orientations and collective adaptation to change fostered by agility at the scale.
A subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Commercial Bank in France (BCEF) is a leading player in its three markets with 7 million individual customers, 130,000 households in the private banking sector and more than 30,000 companies. BCEF employs more than 23,000 people, 16,000 % of whom are directly dedicated to serving its clients, and represents approximately 15% of the BNP Paribas Group’s business with 6.8 billion PNB (net banking product).
How do you identify and assess the challenges BNP Paribas must face in the current uncertain context?
O.B. You said it yourself; we have been evolving for a few years in a changing context, because our customers and our employees have expectations that are evolving. I say "customers" and "employees" because the «symmetry of attention©», this symmetry between the treatment of our clients and the attention given to our internal teams, is at the heart of our priorities at BNP Paribas.
Our customers, like our employees, increasingly expect more from us. Customization. This is reflected in expectations for easier access to banking through digital technologies, for example, but also in other types of interaction, and in more personalized processing of internal career paths.
A second element that particularly characterizes us: BNP Paribas is a large bank that operates in an extremely regulated sector, both by French and European legislation and even by US legislation, which means that we must comply with both. comply with a large number of regulations.
Our goal, therefore, is to Make our ways of working as agile as possible while respecting the regulatory framework within which we operate and which allows us to offer secure services to our customers.
Among the issues you have identified, which ones have you decided to prioritize in the coming months and why?
O.B. In 2024, we are halfway through our strategic plan and that of the Commercial Bank in France specifically.
Our strategic plan is primarily based on three axes:
- the Growth from our various business lines: retail, corporate, private banking;
- the Technological developments that we can develop and industrialize to provide our customers and employees with ever more services and quality;
- the sustainability, sustainable finance, and how to go further on these issues of responsibility and corporate commitment that are critical both for our clients and our teams.
We are continuing on this path and The transformation of working methods and the operational framework within which we operate must support the achievement of these objectives. around these major themes. I am thinking in particular of Agile working methods, With the deployment of these new ways of working, this new mindset sets up a specific working framework at BNP Paribas.
The second part of the strategic plan, which begins today for the years 2024-2025, allows us to capitalize on all this work and continue our development with:
- A first subject that is becoming more and more important strengthening the satisfaction of our customers and the satisfaction of our employees. These are prerequisites that we measure regularly through key indicators such as the NPS and the NPE, which allow us to prioritize all of our actions at BNP Paribas.
- The second priority topic is Personalization. We even sometimes talk about the’ultra-personalization that customers expect from us. They want completely customized solutions that meet their expectations, their context, and their needs. Our teams also expect more customization in their journeys within the company.
- And the third point is, of course, the A major challenge surrounding artificial intelligence. How will artificial intelligence come to serve as a lever, supporting the achievement of our strategic objectives by, for example, facilitating certain customer journeys, while also offering new opportunities for both our customers and our employees, always within this symmetry-based logic.
Do you see any other exogenous changes that strongly impact the bank and force you to review your fundamentals?
O.B. Beyond the three elements mentioned – growth, technology and sustainability – our banking activity is largely linked to The evolution of rates. The interest rate cuts we have experienced in recent years, followed by a very rapid rise, significantly impact our operations and require the adaptation of our business models.
On technology, the revolution of AI is at least as revolutionary as the internet revolution. We can see that it is taking on a lot of importance, especially in the United States, where it has been driving growth and the US market for several months, but also now in Europe.
On the subject of sustainable development, the Today’s expectations of society regarding sustainable finance, Commitment to the environment, adherence to certain standards to combat global warming are principles that BNP Paribas systematically takes into account and that therefore impact and transform our financing activities or partnerships to adapt to these expectations.
In the face of all these elements that disrupt your operations, do you prioritize innovation to accelerate growth or do you prioritize returning to your core fundamentals?
O.B. I take care of the Agile transformation, So if I were to tell you that we were going back to our fundamentals, I would be completely out of step with my mission! But we are relying on The fundamentals of the customer relationship by focusing all our work on a client-oriented logic.
Yes, we are clearly focused on innovation topics to adapt. The development of companies is linked to their ability to adapt, innovate, explore new paths, new ways of working, and new business models. business models, While limiting risks, of course, and in compliance with the various regulations and the interests of our customers.
Agile transformation has pushed us to use different ways of working.
I am thinking, for example, of a much less hierarchical and much more transversal management, to small, multidisciplinary teams that allow us to move forward more quickly and deliver small increments of value over time or even innovation programs.
This allows us to accelerate on certain new projects. business models to deliver more value to our customers.
Would you have an example of agile transformation underway and its impacts on the teams?
O.B. I naturally think of the Agile transformation on a grand scale which impacts the daily lives of 2,000 people today at the Commercial Bank in France of BNP Paribas, who have changed their jobs, integrated into new teams, with work methods and operational modes that did not exist two or three years ago.
It is a fairly fundamental transformation that can be described as a « new ways of working »These are transformations of a HR nature, of acculturation, of change, where we are transforming our ways of working, but also a mindset.
These 2,000 employees work today in what is called “tribes”agile people who come to improve customer journeys.”.
And again, putting this customer focus at the heart of the teams’ organization, at the heart of the company’s organization, was in line with BNP Paribas’s priority objective of putting its customers and employees at the center of its strategy.
We have organized these teams around customer journeys, and our internal employees are now working to continuously improve these journeys. from end to end. This includes processes, IT assets, and marketing, as well as the more visible part of a banking product or customer journey.
This organization is a real revolution in the way we work at BCEF, this initiative was launched at the start of the 22-25 strategic plan. It is now fully in effect in terms of organizational design, as we have implemented 17 « tribes »12 expert centers and our employees are now well integrated into these teams.
Ombeline Bouchacourt
But the transformation continues. As far as the cultural aspect is concerned, as we know, changing mindsets, changing the way of thinking, spreading values, takes much longer. These are long-term movements that must be truly ingrained in the daily lives of all teams and the entire management team.
Does this agile-scale organization facilitate the transition from vision to execution? How do you ensure the execution of the strategic plan?
O.B. The strategic plan is built on this variation, from vision to execution, in large strategic pillars pillars, initiatives, opus. Each of these stages is a variation of the upper part.
In the face of this diversification of work, we have put in place a strategic governance framework that prioritizes each of these levels.
For example, the Strategic Annual Planning, The Strategy Board, which is the annual strategic body of the Directorate, assesses progress and validates the pillar-level priorities and strategic initiatives for the coming year. If we go down one level, the Quarterly Business Reviews They come to prioritize or prioritize the progress of initiatives and projects, etc. Then the same thing is done within the teams with a more operational perspective.
We therefore have a very aligned and consistent governance of the vision until its execution, based on the responsibilities of the different teams. This allows for great transparency at all levels of the chain, and each employee thus knows what they contribute to the strategy. This gives meaning and strengthens the commitment of the employees.
Alignment, commitment, transparency… has your strategic governance been inspired by the OKR method (Objectives & Key Results) ?
O.B. Yes, exactly, it comes from the OKR method. OKR can be complex to implement, especially in organizations that are already well established. But it is precisely this logic of setting objectives at different levels, of setting milestones and targets, that is so important. Key Results and then to break them down according to the teams that will have to receive them.
We are making progress in this process, but It is exactly this OKR logic that allows us to ensure alignment among all the teams. (Squads, Tribes, Professions and General Direction).
What strategies have you put in place to support your teams in this uncertain and constantly changing context?
O.B. The «symmetry of attention©» permeates all our actions, That is to say, we launch actions and initiatives that enable us to become a true trusted partner, both for our clients and for our employees.
The concept of responsible employer is part of each of the initiatives of the strategic plan.. In an uncertain environment, the way we perceive change and transformation, insofar as they are systematically accompanied by plans for implementation, is crucial. Managing change and supporting the teams allows us to experience these changes in a more constructive way.
For example, in the case of agile transformation, three years ago we didn’t know about these positions of Product Owner, Tribe Leader, Chapter Leader… Today, hundreds of our employees work in these positions!
Our responsibility is to accompany this change and therefore to develop support strategies, training and acculturation that are as specific as possible based on the profiles of our teams.
That’s what personalization is all about. We have launched eight specific training courses for employees based on their profile and the degree of interaction they have with this agile environment.
And we have even created specific awareness-raising courses for staff representatives, for trade union organizations, to explain what these new ways of working were, to accompany these changes and facilitate social dialogue.
We are first and foremost in this The logic of reskilling and of’upskilling collaborators to promote their employability, to generate daily commitment and, then, also to promote the effectiveness of all our teams and the services that BNP Paribas can offer its clients.
In short, the support, the development of our employees’ skills, the fact that they can gain expertise through training, acculturation, and the various awareness modules for each transformation are all approaches that are established and structured at BNP Paribas.
Like agility in recent years, and like artificial intelligence will be in the coming years, this approach really allows us to support teams and promote these transformations in a social framework that respects the interests of all.
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In your opinion, what would be the keys to a successful transformation of the company?
O.B. For me, the key levers of successful transformation inevitably revolve around the human factor, that is to say Betting on teams and employees. They are the ones who keep the companies running and it is the entire team that makes it possible to deliver value on a day-to-day basis.
This success depends on accompaniment strategies, plans of « change » adapted to each of the transformations, to the profile of our teams, This also leads to greater satisfaction among all the employees, which can be measured using the NPE.
I think that the first key to the success of a transformation is to rely on employees, to develop their skills and to increase their employability: it’s a win-win situation..
The second lever of success, They are the customers. Of course, it is better to take into account the expectations and needs of customers, This is probably the most important thing: responding in a more personalized way, adapted to the needs of each individual.
I believe that in everyday life, we are all, individually, customers of several brands, across various segments, and we expect personalized responses—responses to our specific needs and questions. So it’s this customer orientation that helps us best meet their needs.
And then the third key lever revolves around the value you deliver, the measure of value And how do we ensure that a transformation will generate positive developments? We therefore need to measure it and share it.
For example, as part of the agile transformation of BCEF, our goals were to go faster, better for our customers, and to engage more of our employees. We therefore identified indicators to measure the delivery time of a product, to measure the satisfaction of our customers, and the satisfaction of our employees.
What are the main challenges that our societies will have to face in the coming months and the major challenges that need to be addressed?
O.B. I think we have already discussed two of them that will affect all segments: the sustainability and artificial intelligence.
On the subject of the sustainable commitment, It is about knowing how to respond to the challenges of combating global warming, combating inequality... In banking, it revolves around sustainable finance and all the actions we are implementing to reduce, for example, the financing of fossil fuels and ensure a transition to renewable energy, or for other actions that promote gender equality within our governance structures and within society.
The second challenge will revolve around Artificial intelligence, This, this Technological revolution This concerns all layers of society, very many different populations, and all types of businesses that are organizing themselves and preparing for this revolution around AI.
Interviews collected in May 2024 by Cyrille Chaudoit, Co-founder of talenco, in the perspective of our White paper on the levers for transforming companies in uncertainty. A big thank you to Ombeline for her participation!
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