Olayimikah Soetan BoloFalkirk-Risk Consultantshttp://falkirk-risk.com

The Wells Fargo Fraud and Brand Culture

Disconnect

“Failureisn’tfatal,butfailuretochangemightbe”

JohnR.Wooden1910- 2010

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Introduction

The news of the Wells Fargo Fraud and emergingdetails elicited an emotion of outrage in riskprofessionals across the Globe.

However, whilst we all eagerly await “unfolding”information that will shed more light on the actionsor inactions of the 2nd and 3rd Lines of Defence, it isinstructive to look inwards, stand back and takestock of the organisational behaviours in our owninstitutions.

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Brand Culture

Wikipedia defines Brand Culture as “a companyculture in which employees live to brand values, tosolve problems and make decisions internally, anddeliver a branded customer experience”.

Simply put, Brand Culture transforms theinanimate to life! It is the stage when there is analignment between brand – how the company isdefined (this includes its values) and culture – howemployees do what they do (from top down).

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Brand Culture

In organizational behaviour, the corporate cultureis one that should actively encourage and mirrorthe shared values and expected behaviors.

There will always be a disconnect where there is amisalignment in the stated, understood, andpracticed value system in place.

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The Corporate Values Assessment Model

The “Corporate Values Assessment Model” islinked with the Johari Window – a technique usedto deepen one’s understanding of relationships.

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Expanded 1Definitions for Quadrants

Arena: An area of common interest

Blind Spot: A tendency to ignore something especially because it is difficult or unpleasant; or an area in which one fails to exercise judgment or discrimination

Façade: A false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect

1Definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary 6

The Quadrants – Q1

Q1 is The Brand Culture quadrant - The Arena. This is where there is an alignment of understoodand practiced core values, with the corporatebrand.In this quadrant, the organization has taken thetime to not only state the core values, but has alsotranslated the core values into expected behaviorsand embedded this into its performance (includingsales targets) and reward system through training,frequent communication, and activities.

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The Quadrants – Q1

A caveat to the above description is the “façade”situation created under this quadrant.Here, the group of employees create a façade ofcompliance, wanting to be “seen” as imbibing the“right” risk management culture.An example is the “allegations” by more than onedismissed employee of Wells Fargo who“whistleblew” on the fraud but were dismissedillegally from the institution.http://money.cnn.com/2016/09/21/investing/wells-fargo-fired-workers-retaliation-fake-accounts/

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The Quadrants – Q2

Q2 is The Blind Spot quadrant.Here, the organisation has stated, translated and isconstantly embedding the core values. However, aconscious decision has been taken by an employeeor group of employees to place some or all of thevalues on “the back burner”!

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The Quadrants – Q2 Examples

§ The employee or the group of employees whochoose(s) to compromise for personal gain.Typically taking advantage of weaknessesobserved in controls and either “ambiguous”performance metrics or “unrealistic” salestargets.

This can occur at both junior and seniormanagement level of the company.

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The Quadrants – Q2 Examples

§ The group of employees who choose to “ignore”observed control lapses, mostly for extrinsicbenefits, and respond with a “slap on the wrist” –not dealing decisively with the root cause of thecontrol lapse.

This occurs at the senior management level ofthe company.

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The Quadrants – Q3

Q3 is The Façade quadrant where the employee(s)do(es) not fully buy-into the corporate values butpractice them nonetheless.Although we prefer to be in the Q1 quadrant, Q3 isless threatening to the organisation than Q2 andQ4. However, ensuring the values are practicedmeans there must be documented and monitoredprocesses in place.

There is an assumption that the formulatedprocesses are aligned with corporate values.

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The Quadrants – Q4

The Unknown quadrant, Q4 has examples ofemployees that neither understand nor practicethe corporate values.A large group of employees that fall under thisquadrant are the “unskilled” employees whomost companies tend to ignore at their own peril!A low percentage (<10%) of employees or contractstaff as the case may be, practice the valuesunintentionally because of some imbibed valuesand/or practiced culture.

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Food for Thought

1. How committed is your company to building a brand culture and reaping all its benefits? http://adage.com/article/moo/major-benefits-a-strong-brand-culture/303989/

2. Is your company taking the right steps in building a strong brand culture? http://www.liquidagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/LA11_Article_LBS-BrandCulture_R1.pdf

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Food for Thought

3. Does your company leadership “practice what is preached”? http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2013/04/10/practice-what-you-preach-or-pay-the-price/#9b8a9226e033

4. Are your company policies and documented processes in alignment with your corporate core values? http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/aligning-action.html

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Food for Thought

5. Do you have a documented and monitoredCustomer Complaints Handling Procedure inplace for timely response to customer negativeexperiences?

http://rocketpost.com/blog/the-steps-to-your-brands-reputation-repair-part-2/#.V-p36TtLepo

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Thank you!