“HSBC – BUILDING A
GLOBAL COMMUNITY”
Supporting material
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ENQ54786
Background
Europe
74,000
Context
HSBC is one of the world's largest
and most complex banking and
financial services organisations.
Asia Pacific
114,000
North America
23,000
With offices in established and
faster-growing markets, the aim of
the Group is to be where the
growth is, connecting customers
to opportunities, enabling
businesses to thrive and
economies to prosper.
In 2011, new CEO Stuart Gulliver,
set an ambitious new direction for
the business, simplifying its
structure and refocusing its
strategy.
Middle East
8,000
A root and branch re-organisation
saw the formation of 4 global
businesses and supporting
functions. That meant significant
change for all 261,000 employees.
Latin America
48,000
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267,000 employees
6,600 offices
81 countries & territories
4 global businesses
& 10 global functions
PUBLIC
HSBC NOW
Supporting material
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Method deployed – Intranet hero banners
Global access
Each programme is promoted
via a hero banner on the
global intranet homepage
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Method deployed – HSBC NOW landing page
A dedicated hub for HSBC NOW
Tell Us NOW – area
where employees
can submit their
stories, provide
feedback and
pursue presenting
opportunities
Main programme
media player
Programmed is
subtitled in 7
different languages
Employees can
‘snack’ on chapters
within each episode
Employees can
select most popular
content in the
featured playlist
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Method deployed – Campaigns and competitions
Drive viewers to the program
Employees are offered the chance to participate in some of HSBC's biggest sponsorship activities including major sporting events. This not only
drives employees to the programme and builds awareness through word-of-mouth, it also helps employees engage with the brand.
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Outcomes – HSBC NOW stories from around the world
Where our stories came from in 2012
Greece
Switzerland
UK
Turkey
China
Canada
Jersey
Kuwait
Japan
USA
UAE
Singapore
Mexico
Indonesia
France
Malaysia
Brazil
Argentina
Libya
Australia
Egypt
India
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Sense of global community and advocacy
are boosted the most by watching HSBC NOW
Advocacy
Recommend HSBC products
and services to friends and
family members
Detailed feedback on HSBC NOW
Seven in ten feel more connected to
HSBC after watching HSBC NOW
15
point uplift
Community
Feel part of one global HSBC
community
15
point uplift
How people are watching HSBC NOW…
85%
found the content
clear
think that duration
is about right
81%
81%
trust the content
feel that the content
is relevant to them
HSBC NOW at home
A large proportion of
employees have access
to the internet at home,
have watched
TV/YouTube online at
home, and would be
willing to watch HSBC TV
programmes via the
internet at home
Watched as part of a team meeting
8%
Watched on a plasma screen at work
Watch HSBC NOW on the
intranet at their desk
85%
Opportunities to increase viewing…
8%
78%
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Outcomes – What impact is HSBC NOW having on engagement?
3%
Watched at a town hall meeting
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94%
have internet access
at home
67%
65%
watch TV
online
at home
would be prepared
to watch HSBC
NOW on internet
at home
PUBLIC
Definitely provided a sense of a global
community, segments were short and focused
Good balance between
business related
topics. It really helps
to understand the
Group's approach
to these subjects
Thank you for having the Thailand flood report. I feel
we are part of a supportive global community
I like the humanity with which it
was delivered. Not too much
preaching, just informative and
personable
I think this programme is a great idea.
Having viewed it, I feel truly joined up
and more aware of what is happening
across the group – it also reiterates that
no matter what territory you work in we
are all going in the same direction
I’ve been waiting a
long time for a
communication linked
to the news in the world.
I felt like HSBC was not
part of the real world
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Outcomes – The feedback
tells us that HSBC NOW really is connecting people…
With this
programme we
can see that all
around the world
HSBC employees
have similar
problems and we
can exchange
global lessons
learned
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I feel connected in a global way,
this website is amazingly powerful
in the message it delivers. It fits
perfectly with our strategy and
gives it life in a unique way
Kudos on launching
such a great and useful
initiative. I am impressed
by the quality of the
production, and
appreciate the effort
being made by the Group
to bring its many
employees together
The quality is good and the
content fantastic. It makes me
feel closer to the brand
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External access allows
HSBC NOW to remain relevant,
accessible and truly global
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The future of HSBC NOW
We will launch on YouTube in May 2013, followed by smartphone apps
later in the year
HSBC EXCHANGE
Supporting material
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Objective
The Communications Team felt that a move to a more facilitative
approach to communication would help to motivate and engage
employees through the change.
Based on the simple principle that if someone is worth talking to, they are
worth listening to, they wanted the employee to be at the centre of this
new approach. They wanted to give them the opportunity to speak out
and be heard but also support managers in doing this.
They chose to do this through a globally consistent team meeting which
became known as Exchange.
Stakeholder
Objective
Employees
 To improve the opportunity for employees to speak
honestly (to >70%)
 To help all employees better understand the perspectives
of others (to >70%)
Managers
 To gain new insights on the thoughts and feelings of their
teams (to >70%)
 To establish HSBC Exchange as a regular forum
Regional Leadership
 Provide insight as to what is on the minds of employees in
their terms
Overall - volume
 Achieve a statistically relevant sample; to prove HSBC
Exchange will have impact at HSBC
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“Exchange is a recognition of human nature –
the need to talk about what matters to us
directly. Too often, organisations constrain this
most basic of needs with surveys, structures and
hierarchies that prevent people from having a
conversation.”
Pierre Goad, co-Head of
Global Communications
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Strategy
What is Exchange?
Traditionally team meetings in HSBC are led by a manager with agendas
and action points. Exchange turns that on its head.
Exchange meetings are led by employees who talk about whatever is on
their mind from the coffee in the canteen to the latest issues affecting
their business. Managers are asked to encourage participation from
everyone and above all, to listen.
After the meeting, they record the topics discussed and sentiment
expressed on a portal. This aggregates the Exchanges right across the
globe to provide a picture of what is on employees’ minds in their terms.
By formalizing and recording these conversations HSBC is cementing the
importance of the employee voice but also providing the kind of insight
that surveys and feedback channels simply cannot.
By not having an agenda, employees talk about the issues that are
important to them.
The value is felt locally as teams are having conversations they might not
normally have – in an open and honest forum with their colleagues – but
also globally with valuable insight for the leadership of the Group to
support their decision making for the business as a whole.
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“There were so many events that had taken
place over the last couple of years. They all had
impact on our lives and hence it was more
relevant that this forum provided the opportunity
to discuss them.”
Participant feedback
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Strategy
How does it work?
The manager then records
basic information like the
number of attendees and then
describes the key topics
discussed and how people felt
about those topics
The output of all Exchanges is collated into a single report for the
CEO and Board highlighting what is on the minds of employees
across HSBC
Every manager is asked to run an
Exchange. Rather than having a fixed
agenda led by the manager, there is no
agenda. The managers listen and record
the themes discussed and how people felt
about them
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Reporting
The insights gathered from every
Exchange are brought together in
a quarterly report for the CEO.
Positive sentiment
At a basic level, it highlights the
major issues on the minds of
employees but also shows:
 The relationship they perceive
between issues e.g.
bureaucracy and customer
service or organisational
change and career
development
 Horizon issues that might not
be major now but may be
‘bubbling under’
 Consistent themes with detailed
analysis behind each one
Neutral sentiment
This gives the CEO a clear view of
what is on the minds of
employees.
Key meeting metrics
Negative sentiment
Within the ‘cloud’
words that are close
together in location
and size reflect
those with a causal
relationship
Top 5 topics
discussed
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Method deployed
Although Exchange is led by employees, getting managers comfortable
with running a session was key to the project working. Therefore, much
of the communications effort was designed to address their concerns.
The team used a series of tactics; from in-depth managers’ guides to
WebEx calls with local managers and communicators, to introduce
Exchange and discuss insights from a regional pilot.
Main outputs
 Campaign materials: Posters, video and online materials translated
into 8 languages
 WebEx calls with managers and local communicators to help address
concerns, build understanding, and brief managers on how to run a
good Exchange
 Managers’ and communicators’ guides
 Online portal for managers to record the discussion
 Reporting and analysis at a Group and Regional level
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Method deployed
Manager and Communicator
Toolkits and Guides
Communicators
WebEx
Online materials
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“There were so many events that had
taken place over the last couple of
years. They all had impact on our lives
and hence it was more relevant that this
forum provided us the opportunity to
discuss them.”
“The fact that my
opinion is valued and
could impact the top
management
decisions, gives me the
feeling that
I am truly a stock
holder.”
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Outcomes
Participant feedback
“I had the opportunity to listen to
alternate perspectives from my
colleagues and the meeting
generally improved bonding
within the team.”
Exchange is an on-going activity – over 24,000
employees have attended and experienced an
HSBC Exchange meeting in just 3 months.
From over 1,000 participants surveyed after
participating in Exchange sessions:
“[Exchange] allowed for
some interesting
perspectives to be
shared from colleagues
who do not always
voice their opinions.”
Managers
 95% said they had a positive experience of
the meeting
 88% said it provided them with new insights
on the thoughts and feelings of the people in
their teams
 95% said they would recommend running an
Exchange to their peers
Employees
 86% felt it gave them the opportunity to speak
honestly
 85% felt it helped them better understand the
perspectives of their colleagues
 88% said they would recommend attending a
meeting to their colleagues
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