The strategy was reinforced with clear sessions that made ownership, cooperation and leadership within BNG visible and got the organisation moving.
With a balance sheet total of over EUR 130 billion, BNG is the fourth largest bank in the Netherlands. The organisation, founded in 1914, focuses on financing social sectors such as housing, care, education, energy and infrastructure. BNG is not a commercial major bank, but a public institution with governments as shareholders. Their goal is not profit maximisation, but social impact. The organisational strategy of BNG is focused on sustainable growth, social value creation and cooperation with clients and partners.
Since 2019, GroupMapping has been working with BNG to develop and activate their organisational strategy. In the run-up to the new annual plans, the Executive Board decided to work with strategic spearheads that ran across existing organisational structures.
The challenge was to create ownership, support and cohesion around these Strategic Objectives. Many involved had dual roles - both manager within their department and leader of a strategic theme - which made overview, alignment and progress complex. At the same time, a leadership development process was under way, in which the sessions provided an important platform for collaboration and leadership strengthen in practice.
The question for GroupMapping: how do we ensure that the plans for the Strategic Objectives are understood by everyone, dependencies are clear and an integrated picture emerges to guide implementation?
Together with the Strategy Team, GroupMapping designed and facilitated four Direct Reports sessions. In these sessions, Executive Board direct reports worked together on the Strategic Objectives, with the aim of achieving an integrated view, mutual understanding and progress.
Each session was carefully prepared through joint design meetings, in which structure, key questions and working forms were developed. Some sessions had the character of intensive “workshops-on-steroids” - compact sessions in which big steps were taken in a short time. Other sessions were more in-depth, with themes such as future scenarios, strategic recalibration and the introduction of the toolkit Our Compass To Impact.
During these meetings, GroupMapping brought its expertise to change management and team force in by making processes visual, facilitating interaction and encouraging reflection. Participants worked with large visualisations, formats and interactive working forms to make progress tangible.
The outcomes were recorded in aligned formats and visual reports: concrete anchors that accelerated the continuation of the strategy implementation. Thus, not only clarity and coherence grew, but also the leadership and joint responsibility within the top of the organisation.
