People are the key asset to any organisation, they are the ones that develop relationships with clients, innovate our products and processes, as well as collaborate to create and deliver the best service possible. It therefore makes sense that we should invest in them, giving them the support, guidance and infrastructure that means they value the time they spend at ABN AMRO Asset Based Finance (ABF).

The People & Culture Transition Team is a diverse representative group of colleagues from our business who take responsibility for the initiatives that support this, on top of their normal day jobs. We do this in close alignment and collaboration with our ABN AMRO Bank stakeholders and partners to ensure we fully align to the Bank strategy. Our Mission statement is to open up space for others to succeed, and this covers colleagues, clients and our internal and external partners. We will know we are successful when we see that we are retaining, developing and attracting a diverse group of people, who contribute to an inspirational and aspirational ABF culture.

Diversity and inclusion

Being included feels like it should be a right we all have, but this is not always the case, and it’s something that ABF takes incredibly seriously. Each of us should have an equal voice and perspective, and have the same chances as the person next to us, to succeed. We also know that a diverse workforce that reflects the societies that we serve, is more innovative, engaging, creative and productive. This is an environment we all want to work within, so we are working hard to ensure that we operate in a diverse and inclusive way in everything we do.

Wellbeing

Our mental and physical wellbeing is at the centre of who we are, and as a responsible employer we want to ensure that we are having a positive impact on this. Over the last few years, this is an area that has been highlighted, and there will be few of us that have not been impacted in some way. With the addition of remote and isolated working, as well as juggling home and work life, we need to provide space for colleagues to support them. In more recent months we have also added Social Wellbeing and Responsibility to this workstream, to tie together the excellent work that many colleagues do in society to support great causes. ABF is part of the communities across a number of countries and we want to help colleagues to give something back, and also to tie in with our sustainability strategy.

Culture

As an international organisation we operate as a number of vibrant sub-cultures, but it is also important that you know what to expect when you step into the ABF Culture. To do this we have created opportunities for Leaders to share their own experiences of working across nationalities, and to explain their own approach. By showing how we are seen by others, and often how perceptions are created, we start to build a greater level of understanding and collaborative spirit. Also, when it came to defining ABF, as always, our first call was to ask our colleagues. in Late 2020, we asked all of our colleagues to consider what was important to them, what they saw around them today and what they would like to see. This has created our culture strategy which aims to ensure ABF can attract, develop and maintain the best people for our clients.