At the BNP Paribas General Shareholders’ Meeting in May, chairman of the board of directors Michel Pébereau announced his intention to step down at the end of 2011. Here, he reveals what has made the organisation a special place to serve over the preceding 18 years, and why talent development and listening to employees will help a bank to prosper.
A business enterprise does not only consist of a strategy, it's an organisation made up of people, a human community, and its development is the foundation upon which the BNP Paribas of today is built.
That BNP Paribas has performed so well, not only during the years when euphoria reigned but also at a time when the crisis was demolishing so many of the old certainties, is due to the fact that from the start our game plan was based on a long-term business approach and an understanding of rigorous risk management, the fostering of team spirit and productivity improvements.
The group has undergone constant transformation, but without disrupting our staff. Our principles when it comes to managing human resources are quite simple: at collective level we practise transparency, engage in constant dialogue with the representatives of the workforce and keep to our commitments; at individual level, we reward merit.
Rigorous and motivating
At the time of the privatisation, we set out two clear principles: in order to restore profitability at BNP, we would need rigorous management, but also a highly motivating management team; and the necessary staff reductions in France would be achieved without involuntary lay-offs. These commitments were scrupulously fulfilled and we were also able to maintain those principles in practice during the merger of BNP and Paribas in 1999. By 2002, business growth enabled us to become a net creator of employment in France once again. To head a business that creates jobs for people as well as value for its shareholders is indeed one of the greatest joys that any boss can ever experience.
I was determined to preserve one of the traditions of state-owned companies: seats on the board of directors for staff representatives, elected from lists submitted by the trade unions. The two directors who sit on our board under this arrangement have continually approved the actions we have taken.
On an individual level our group adheres to the principle that merit will be recognised. That applies first during recruitment. We have dedicated teams who select new recruits on the basis of objective criteria, and they are not allowed to consider any recommendations from any of the group's managers, even from the chairman or the CEO, as a reason to depart from these criteria.
The merit principle is, of course, also applied in all decisions regarding an individual's career progress or remuneration. This is the spirit that guided our decisions during the merger of BNP and Paribas. The principles we announced at that time - fairness, balance and transparency - were strictly adhered to. If necessary, every such decision could be explained. We met the demanding timetable set for the merger - six days, six weeks, six months - and this was of great value in convincing everyone of our determination to abide by the principles we had set out.
The creation of BNP Paribas gave us the opportunity to forge a genuinely new community. The first meeting of the 80 senior managers who made up the new top management, in January 2000 in Rome, was devoted to setting out the basic values that would best match the identity of the new group, taking into account the cultures of the two houses that were being united.
Eleven years on, these values - creativity, responsiveness, ambition and commitment - plus our ethical principles remain those of BNP Paribas today. Our logo, the 'taking flight' image and our strapline, "The bank for a changing world", are the concrete symbols of our identity, visible all over the world on our branch façades, in all our communications and on courtside panels at major tennis tournaments, which make a powerful contribution to the global recognition
of our brand.
Team spirit
All our people are involved in our CSR activities. It seemed to me absolutely appropriate that our origins as a state-owned enterprise should encourage us to become a socially responsible enterprise.
Our corporate philanthropy work took on a new dimension with the setting up of the BNP Paribas Foundation. We have forged a partnership with French micro-enterprise support organisation ADIE to assist unemployed people wishing to set up their own businesses. We also work with AFEV, a charity that organises educational coaching by university students for children from underprivileged backgrounds, and we have given impetus to philanthropy projects put forward by our staff. The success of the initiative begun in 2005 to launch coordinated action in deprived neighbourhoods by current staff and retired employees of the bank demonstrates our group's commitment to our social responsibility policies.
Yes, we have a company culture here at BNP Paribas that the longest-serving colleagues have helped to create and which new recruits rarely hesitate to internalise before helping, in turn, to develop it further. This is, without any doubt, one of the effects of a management approach which, from the very beginning, has been based on holding meetings and having discussions at all levels.
Once a year, we hold a management meeting, the 'BNP Paribas Day', to analyse the results of the preceding year and explain the directions we're taking during the current one. Ten years ago, this meeting was attended by around 1,000 managers, the majority of them French nationals. Today, it brings together 2,000 people who embody the international and multicultural dimension that our group has taken on. This meeting is preceded by a gathering of the 100 executives who make up the top management of our group at the start of every year.
Our relations, and the relationships that we have had with the members of the general management committees (until 1997) and the executive committees (from 1998) who rose to the top of the bank's management structure, have always been based on team spirit. That means trust, respect and a willingness to listen, which enables everyone to express a view, to put forward ideas, to have a discussion.
But it also means taking a demanding attitude and a critical approach to oneself, which are vital if one is to set
an example to others.
Separate roles
One of my passions has always been to identify and train those people who seemed to me capable of carrying out their duties in such a manner that they would be the appropriate people selected to succeed me. Eight years ago, I generated some surprise when, following my announcement to the board of directors, I came to the AGM and told of my decision to lay down my duties as CEO and hand them over to Baudouin Prot.
Events since then have shown that I was not mistaken in my judgement, or in the advice I gave the board. Experience has shown the desirability of separating the two roles in an international bank as large as ours in a context where the economy is becoming ever more globalised and banking sector regulation is being tightened.
The other question that people traditionally ask is: what is my fondest memory? In fact, each one of those tens of thousands of hours that I spent in the service of our group leaves an equally fond memory. One of the most recent was the moment when Baudouin Prot outlined the management principles drawn up by his executive committee to me. I asked him to make just one change in the detail, which the committee then accepted.
Focusing on the client, practising risk-aware entrepreneurship, caring for our people and leading by example - these principles have long been dear to me, and dear to us all. But they have now been formalised and translated in several languages so that they can be applied and passed on to all our staff worldwide, both current employees and those who will join us. The BNP Paribas Group will hold fast to its core values, and will be capable of staying ahead of the game in this changing world and leading the race in our globalised economy.
