The West Bromwich Building Society (WBBS) have undergone the most radical
change of fortunes in the UK financial services sector. From near oblivion in the
early 1990’s, the Society has transformed itself from a troubled, tired, criticised
dinosaur into a fast-moving, fast growing and confident business with a clear and
integrated focus on its customers (1% of the UK population), its people and its
communities.
Central to this success has been the belief of General Manager (People), Paul
Turner that a balanced organisation can be achieved by shaping the internal
culture. By that, he means one that has both a hard-edged approach to successful
financial results together with the softer edged understanding, tolerance and
flexibility needed for creativity and innovation.
To augment this philosophy, in 2002 Paul set up a Culture Change Group (CCG)
which he chairs. The aim of the group is to develop a culture that supports WBBS
values whilst enabling the delivery of their targeted business results.
The primary purpose of the CCG has been to align management style and behavior
to its corporate vision and values, to create a high performance culture built on
trust, empowerment, respect, recognition and accountability.
A cultural assessment technique developed by Paul allows the WBBS to compare
its present culture with its desired culture and has led to a clear action plan for
cultural change.
Paul has used his energy, drive and enthusiasm to drive forward a series of
initiatives to achieve this cultural shift.
Firstly he introduced a measurement system that enabled WBBS to effectively
measure the attitudes, mind-sets, and beliefs that determine if work is
accomplished in a way which lives the values.
In addition to these perception measures Paul led the CCG to set performance
targets so that they could further develop the approaches which have helped them
improve staff morale and customer satisfaction. The Society now has a clear, long-
term action plan for the change programme.
One of Paul’s most radical initiatives has been to introduce the concept of a
“coaching culture”. Not only is this aligned to WBBS’s values, but also no
precedent existed in achieving a coaching culture within the industry. Paul set the
WBBS on the road to developing a world class programme.
The coaching culture is designed to enable WBBS people to be innovative and
creative by encouraging and supporting people’s diverse and individual abilities.
The coaching programme has been rolled out from the top down and the Executive
team, including Paul, were the first to go through the stringent accreditation
process.
Paul’s belief in leadership coaching has led him to undertake a Ph.D. to explore
and develop new thinking in the coaching field.
Paul’s philosophy is based around the search for excellence, developing and
designing new ideas to match WBBS’s business needs and rigorously
benchmarking. In the past year alone the Society has been recognized in 18 best
practice awards, including the UK Business Excellence Model, Race for
Opportunity and the Sunday Times ‘Top 100 Best Companies to work for’.
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