Background
In 2017 UK-based Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) launched a three year strategy to transform for success in a digital world. With more than £3 billion investment, it focused on the financial needs and behaviours of the customer of the future. LBG, which has more than 70,000 colleagues, knew cultural transformation was key to delivering the strategy.
A core challenge was to speed up adoption and truly embed LBG’s three values: ‘Putting Customers First’, ‘Keeping it Simple’ and ‘Making a Difference Together’, 12 group behaviours and four leadership behaviours.
Approach
After a successful pilot in 2017, the group launched its Behavioural Experiments (BE) programme, through which teams intentionally use the group’s behaviours to tackle everyday challenges through a series of small experiments.
Nominated BE Champions build squads to tackle everyday challenges and frustrations. By using one of the behaviours as a focus, they experiment with new ways of working for 12 weeks without adding extra workload to everyday activities. LBG was seeking viral change through the creation of a social movement. Small successes are shared, inspiring others to join the movement. The firm’s top 200 leaders role model the group and leadership behaviours and updates are provided to the CEO and executive team.
"Viral change through the creation of a social movement"
Outcome
Results are impressive and show lasting change. Using a behavioural diagnostic tool LBG found colleagues involved in BE were significantly more positively aligned with group behaviours and more likely to be collaborative, feel more empowered to make decisions, produce creative ideas and feel able to express their views openly.
Moreover, data suggests Champions will continue to use LBG’s behaviours even when their BE journey has finished – supporting the habitual behaviour change desired. Plus, they report time and cost savings, process improvement and simplification, increased efficiency and reduced bureaucracy as well as significant customer impact.