Working with the Wizard CEO: Crafting a Swiss bank’s purpose

Client: Swiss bank

Industry: Financial Services

Duration: 2021

Objective: To design and implement a cohesive and compelling purpose statement for a Swiss bank that would resonate across all legal entities globally, including those in Asia and the US. This initiative aimed to align the organization's vision, mission, and values, and foster a unified culture within the company.

What is the story? In 2021, a new CEO whom I characterize as a "Wizard CEO" kicked off a Swiss bank's journey to create its purpose. to better reflect its identity and aspirations in a rapidly changing financial landscape. This project was critical to ensuring that the Swiss bank's brand and operational ethos aligned with its long-term strategic goals. Why “Wizard CEO”? This leader CEO had a reputation for thinking beyond conventional boundaries and reinventing organizations. He sparked a co-creative initiative involving many employees and external agencies to create the purpose from scratch. Think bottom-up transformation on speed. In practice, this translated into the need to steer many stakeholders, manage milestones, and produce results in a complex ecosystem of sounding boards, management involvement, purpose ambassadors content, and rallying all employees. As the PMO lead, I worked closely with the Chief Marketing Officer, the CEO, and the brand team to drive this project to success.

Challenges:

1. Complex Stakeholder Management: Coordinating efforts among various internal stakeholders, including senior executives and middle managers, as well as multiple external service providers.

2. Global Scope: Ensuring the purpose resonated across all legal entities of the Swiss bank, including those in Asia and the US, each with distinct cultural and operational nuances.

3. Integrated Communication: Aligning the strategic communication agency, employee co-creation agency, and strategy consulting firm to work towards a common goal.

4. Tight Timelines: Managing a strict timeline with defined milestones to ensure timely delivery and implementation.

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

Solution: As the PMO lead, I was responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of the Swiss bank's purpose. My key responsibilities included:

1. Coordination with Key Executives: Regularly interfacing with the brand team and the Chief Marketing Officer and the CEO to align the project with strategic objectives and gain executive buy-in.

2. Managing External Service Providers: Ensuring that the strategic communication agency, employee co-creation agency, and strategy consulting firm were effectively managed and aligned with the project goals.

3. Timeline and Milestone Management: Developing and maintaining a detailed project timeline with clear milestones to ensure that all phases of the project were completed on schedule.

4. Stakeholder Engagement: Keeping all internal stakeholders informed and engaged, ensuring they understood their roles and responsibilities within the project.

5. Train-the-Trainer Programs: Assisting in the steering of train-the-trainer programs for experienced middle managers to facilitate widespread adoption and internalization of the new purpose.

6. Global Integration: Ensuring that the purpose was integrated into all legal entities of the Swiss bank globally, considering local cultural and operational contexts.

Key Deliverables:

1. Purpose Statement: A clear, compelling purpose statement that reflected the Swiss bank's identity and aspirations.

2. Project Timeline: A comprehensive project timeline with defined milestones to track progress and ensure timely delivery.

3. Training Materials: Development of training materials for the train-the-trainer programs to ensure effective dissemination and adoption of the purpose.

4. Stakeholder Communication Plan: A detailed plan to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the project.

5. Feedback Mechanisms: Tools and processes to gather feedback from employees and stakeholders to refine and improve the purpose statement and its implementation.

Outcome: The purpose project was successfully completed within the planned timeframe, achieving the following key outcomes:

1. Unified Organizational Identity: The new purpose statement resonated across all legal entities of the Swiss bank, fostering a unified organizational identity and culture.

2. Enhanced Employee Engagement: The co-creation process and train-the-trainer programs effectively engaged employees, ensuring widespread acceptance and internalization of the new purpose.

3. Improved Brand Alignment: The purpose statement aligned the Swiss bank’s brand and operational ethos with its long-term strategic goals, enhancing its market positioning.

4. Global Consistency: The project successfully integrated the purpose across all regions, including Asia and the US, while respecting local cultural and operational differences.

Conclusion: This project demonstrated the importance of effective project management and stakeholder engagement in driving strategic initiatives within a global organization. By aligning the efforts of various internal and external stakeholders and managing a complex, global rollout, we were able to deliver a purpose statement that not only reflected the Swiss bank’s aspirations but also resonated deeply with its diverse employee base. The successful implementation of this project has positioned the Swiss bank to move forward with a clear, unified purpose that will guide its operations and strategy in the years to come.