BANKING CRASH
The Fix: Barclays
Terry Tyrell, worldwide chairman, The Brand UnionPerceived wisdom is that your priority stakeholder is your customer. Not so: the most important stakeholder group is your people. Damaged reputations will never be restored without the trust of your employees. For Barclays employees, the key message must be ‘business as usual’. For front-line branch staff, it’s essential that they are equipped to handle the tough questions posed to them by customers, remaining consistent, transparent and reassuring.The biggest danger now is a snowball effect of revelations that could destroy the bank. Barclays must act quickly and decisively to avoid further speculation. The lack of total transparency at this stage is a recipe for disaster, and as recent history shows, all will be revealed eventually. Barclays must do two things immediately to silence the scaremongerers and media speculators. 1. Publish the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth Of course, this could implicate other banks and compromise the integrity of the whole UK banking system. Do they have a choice? |
Barclays is suffering a fixing problem of its own in the form of LIBOR, along with chopping and changing at the top. Is the semi-restored reputation of financial services crashing again? How can the beleaguered bank communicate through this crisis? |
Sophia Harrison, director, corporate & financial, GraylingBarclays’ new communications head now has to seize the opportunity and implement a bottom-up, root-and- branch communications audit. Then he’ll need the backing of the full board to establish a ‘best practice’ communications policy across every desk for all employees.Barclays needs to demonstrate that all those who work for the business live and breathe its undoubtedly robust ethics and values, translating them in how they present the bank to external audiences. With the evaporation of trust in those at the top, time and patience will be required. However, like all high street banks, Barclays has a real reputation-building opportunity in its frontline retail staff and, in turn, the customers who will want to believe in the integrity of the bank. Be bold, ask what they want to see from their bank in a survey, report findings, determine how the business can respond, implement changes where possible and provide constant feedback to all stakeholders. Rather like any punishment…you need to be seen to suffer and as a consequence make amends. |
Iain Carruthers, senior analyst, Calling Brands
Barclays really is Big. Over ten years ago, Leagas Delaney developed a campaign called The Big Bank. It was much criticised at the time and eventually withdrawn, but it captured the swagger and confidence of a certain part of Barclays that is now fully in charge. When the most influential people in the culture are multi-millionaires called Diamond and Ricci, there’s little escaping this.
The reality is that the Barclays culture is now essentially that of an American investment bank, running a UK retail operation. This is increasingly seen to be at odds with the essential requirements ordinary people have of their bank: prudence, security and straight dealing. The problem is that the public are increasingly suspicious that investment banking (and its related trading activities) is some kind of racket. They see the latest LIBOR fraud scandal as only more evidence of this. Trust is not a commodity you can trade. According to insiders, all this leaves the legacy retail business and brand largely marginalised.
Barclays is now facing a crisis of confidence. In the short term, it has to assuage panicky investors, scathing regulators, furious politicians and disillusioned customers. Then, it has to re-establish its moral compass and licence to operate. Banks will always be in the business of making money, but this one desperately needs to reset the balance between money and integrity. Barclays has lost touch with what it is: it needs to rediscover its purpose for the 21st century.
