HSBC
YSC's role was to design a Global Induction Programme for new employees and to support its successful implementation worldwide.
Background
HSBC is one of the world’s leading banks with a broad range of financial services offerings. It has 7,500 offices in 87 countries and employs over 300,000 people. In 2010 it had a pre-tax profit of $19bn.
In 2008-09, YSC partnered with HSBC to develop and support the implementation of a global induction programme for new employees.
Challenge
- Globally, HSBC recruits more than 80,000 people each year. For such an international and complex organisation, there was a real challenge and opportunity to provide new joiners with a rite of passage that allowed them to feel part of HSBC and to deeply connect with the organisation, its people and its purpose and values, accelerate their learning and increase their engagement.
- HSBC had been experiencing relatively high attrition rates, particularly in some geographies, resulting in estimated annual costs of around US$1 billion.
- No consistent induction process existed, and this was at odds with the strategy to drive a sense of ‘One HSBC’ across the globe. HSBC had more than 100 different programmes globally (sometimes more than one per country) - this was a key issue as employee experience of the brand varied widely.
- The logistics and energy involved in driving the culture change, leadership buy-in and management involvement was colossal given the size of the organisation.
- HSBC saw the opportunity of what such a large scale intervention could achieve in terms of reinforcing its culture and values agenda, not only for new employees, but as a catalyst to inspire and unite the entire organisation.
Solution
- YSC partnered with HSBC and three other consultancies: JWT, a global advertising and branding agency, ?Whatif!, the innovation consultancy, and Allen Interaction, a leading e-learning provider - to address this significant challenge – one induction programme that would work all over the world, at all levels within the bank and all banking divisions.
- To understand the needs of new hires at HSBC as well as successes and barriers to induction, we conducted interviews and focus groups with over 300 HSBC employees (new employees, managers, and HR professionals) who came from every corner of the globe.
- The outcomes of these interviews allowed us to identify key psychological challenges for the induction process – captured in a model of a hierarchy of needs in induction and a psychological induction journey which was used to inform every stage of programme design.
- We also employed models YSC had designed and tested to drive engagement, meaning and a sense of purpose as well as a model of how to build real relationships.
- The creative design process resulted in the new ‘HSBC Discovery Programme’. The programme stretches from the time a new employee accepts a job offer until the end of their first three months in the organisation and is positioned around key interventions. There is a much greater involvement of Line Managers as our research showed they were critical for new joiners. To this end, a comprehensive tool kit to up-skill them was created and a new buddy system rolled out. Individuals receive a Discovery Journal, a manual for self-reflection designed to help a new joiner make sense of their first months. Cutting edge e-learning provides knowledge on key areas such as risk, heritage and brand while the whole process is culminated in an event which takes place in month two. At this event all new joiners network and are energised through exercises focusing on strategy, customers, the brand and the new HSBC core values.
Result
By the summer of 2009 there had been 10 concept pilots, on each occasion exceeding the expectations of the business. Managers, buddies and new joiners were energised and excited by the new tools and processes. Evidence showed it had increased engagement and the sense of connection both new joiners and existing managers felt toward the bank.
Global roll-out ensued and the programme is now deployed group-wide meaning that all employees globally receive a consistent experience of the brand.
In Latin America YSC and partners built a shorter version of the programme, entitled 'Discovery for all' - this was aimed at those employees who were acquired by HSBC. Many had had no contact with the values or culture so it was used to support the cultural integration of many countries in the region including Costa Rica, Chile and Uruguay. In Latin America alone we reduced the turnover of new starters resulting in a saving of USD 5.9million (based on typical recruitment, training, lost productivity costs).
