Our Culture, Purpose & Values

Twyla: Hello and welcome to Conversations Unlocked, the UniCredit podcast and your gateway to industry insights. I'm your host Twyla Doone and together we will hear from leading experts from UniCredit and beyond on how they navigate challenges and their tips to unlock success. Handing us the keys this week is Nikolina Zečić.

Nikolina is the Head of Group Culture at UniCredit. She is a renowned businesswoman with extensive knowledge of and tremendous skills in digital strategy, business planning, financial risk management and corporate banking. She joined the group in 2008 as a Relationship Manager at Zagrebačka Banka. Since then she has carved out an impressive career path within the Group occupying prestigious roles and accumulating a wealth of industry insights and experience. In her most recent role, she contributed to the financial organisation becoming the number one bank in Croatia. She spearheaded the launch of the first socially responsible marketing campaign during the pandemic and set up the first internal mental health campaign. Today I'm thrilled to be speaking with Nikolina whose proficiency and expertise will help us unravel the answers to the questions "What is Culture and why is culture so important to UniCredit?" Nikolina, welcome to Conversations Unlocked.

Nikolina: Thank you very much, Twyla, thank you for having me.

Twyla: So Culture is the new buzzword within the commercial space and what would you say is your definition for Culture?

Nikolina: So you just mentioned in the intro part that I had the privilege of working with corporate clients when I was back in Zagrebačka Bankaa as a Relationship Manager. It helped me a lot during my career and I can really confirm that the customer is the king but the Culture is the queen, so you know this is the recipe. Every company has its culture, it's actually a company DNA, it's a fingerprint. It is a set of beliefs, values, and behaviours that we see in the workplace. So culture is everywhere, and you can also feel the culture when you enter the organisation and when you talk to people.

You know you can sense if the people are enthusiastic, if they are optimistic, if they believe in what they're doing. I think happy employees are loyal and passionate. I think that they work harder, they bring more creativity and they feel that they're part of something bigger. Actually, this is the culture that I would like to witness at UniCredit.

Twyla: I really love that analogy that culture is the DNA of an organisation. That's such a brilliant visualisation to have. Something we really want to do within this podcast is to unlock the idea that is behind the words like culture or simplification. So here's a follow-up question to your definition of culture. If it is the DNA of a workplace, what does Culture mean at UniCredit and what is UniCredit DNA?

Nikolina: I would say that we define Culture in the same way. So, you know, how successfully we work together and at the same time how we benefit from our diversity. So it's not just about free yoga classes or, for example, a free day for your birthday, I would say the culture is how the company treats its employees.

Twyla: I really like that and I really like the idea of free yoga classes. Why do you think that it's so important that you shape the UniCredit culture at this moment in time?

Nikolina: Let me start actually with a BCG study that I was recently reading. It says that companies with a clearly defined and lived culture outperformed their peers and they provided higher returns. A strong culture provides a competitive advantage and basically, it's very difficult to copy because it delivers better financial performance and influences positive customer experience, it attracts and retains better talents and increases productivity. As it was announced by Mr Orcel, our CEO, last December during our Strategy Day, UniCredit Unlocked is our new strategic plan. This is the plan to unlock the potential within UniCredit to move into an era of purpose, growth, and value-creation and to achieve it we need the right mindset: Win. The right way. Together. We have already defined our values - Integrity, Ownership & Caring - and I think they will have a positive impact on our customers, our people, our communities, and our shareholders. They will follow our purpose: empowering communities to progress. So, it's all very connected.

Twyla: I really like the idea of seeing it as a fresh start, a new chapter, a new book and it feels like it really is the beginning of something new and what an amazing time to start shaping the Culture. So it's a big job, isn't it?

Nikolina: A huge responsibility.

Twyla: Absolutely. I understand that UniCredit has approximately 80.000 members on its staff. So how do you shape a Culture across a workforce which is so large?

Nikolina: I see being so large and so diverse as an advantage. So we can all learn from each other and we can share best practices. I'm originally coming from Zagrebačka Banka you mentioned, and it has around 3500 employees, but if I needed some help or advice I could always call my colleagues and friends all around UniCredit and that's why I think the internal mobility programs and working on different Group projects is so valuable. You meet the people and you actually spread your horizon.

Twyla: I like the idea that you are all better as part of a bigger team because of the different expertise you can lean on and help you move forward.

Nikolina: Yes. So you have different skills, different competencies and whenever you need some help you can ask in your own company, but you can ask all around the globe, the Group.

Twyla: Is it just you and your close colleagues who are responsible for shaping this culture or is it the responsibility of everybody to cultivate?

Nikolina: It's not just me, it's not just my colleagues. It is often said that the Culture change must start at the top, with the leadership. I believe it's true but it's not the whole truth because culture is not like the machine that you just built and you operate on a daily basis, I think it's more like a living organism. You have to feed it, you have to nurture it and it's not just about setting the company values, but it's more important how you invite your employees to own these values. So it's not just the job of the CEO, it's not just the job of top managers or the People & Culture team. I think that Culture should be a regular agenda during the board meetings but I also think that the middle managers should communicate and they should be the role models of the desired culture. Everyone should play its part. It's not just about me and my team, but we are open, everyone is more than welcome to come to approach us and to really talk to us to share their ideas so we can brainstorm together. I think this is the responsibility of all of us at UniCredit.

Twyla: I think it's such a wonderful opportunity to have somebody like you really leading this new approach to Culture because when somebody is so welcoming to having new ideas and to brainstorming it means that it's so much more of a collaborative approach and that's wonderful and very exciting. The people who make up the Culture are the individuals who step into an elevator or walk across each other in whatever Region they belong to and that is so important.

Nikolina: And you are also invited to join us for the brainstorming.

Twyla: Thank you very much. Have you seen in your wealth of experience any organisations that you think are an excellent representation of Culture?

Nikolina: I would say that there are many examples but I was recently reading about Netflix. 70% of Netflix employees left a Glassdoor review saying that they would recommend working at Netflix. There is this Netflix Manifesto that was created back in 2009 and I'm going to quote just one sentence "Our version of the great workplace is a dream team in pursuit of ambitious common goals". I really like it, I think it's super powerful and of course, I mean the Manifesto was updated in 2017 with dedicated parts of inclusion and integrity and you know Netflix really wants people to be better versions of themselves and this is what I really like.

Twyla: That is a really good example - and 70% is really a huge amount.

Nikolina: Impressive. But we also have very good examples at UniCredit.

Twyla: Please tell me about them.

Nikolina: Well what comes to my mind at this very moment is actually how united, efficient and caring UniCredit was across all the countries towards its people and clients during Covid-19 times. I think that was really amazing: we had a lot of projects going on, especially mental health-related projects. Talking about our values, like Integrity & Caring, I have to mention that UniCredit is very supportive towards ERGs - employee resource groups. Those are actually voluntary self-led groups aiming to foster diversity, and inclusive workspaces, aligned with the organisation they work for. They are usually led and participated by employees who share something together, like gender, lifestyle, interests, and various topics. The group provides support and help in personal and career development and creates a safe space where employees can bring their whole selves to the world and so I'm super proud of those. We call them Unicorns.

Twyla: That's fantastic! ERGs sound like something that is really good to be part of when you work at such a big organisation to be able to actually find your community within that.

Nikolina: Yes, a place where you can thrive, and you can grow and I think it's super important and we have to talk more about it. We have to promote them and that's why I was mentioning it right now.

Twyla: That sounds like a brilliant initiative and I hope that lots of people who are listening will find out how they can be a part of it. So we obviously talked about the good examples both outside the organisation and within UniCredit itself, but there are obviously challenges to building a culture, particularly when you are starting from a new page. What do you feel are the main challenges to building a positive Culture and how can people overcome them?

Nikolina: Well, I would say that it's very important that now that we are working on a lot of cultural action plans they're not perceived as just another short-term project. This is my primary concern. Second I think you cannot only rely on the leaders to cascade it through the entire organisation. You need to have the buying from early adopters from Generation Y, Generation Z, from talents, from people who can really share your core values, the people who have the willingness and the ability to embrace all those values. Also, hiring is important, because sometimes you don't hire the best talent but the one who is the best cultural fit for your company. You know, hiring a rock star performer with a bad attitude will not help your business, so we also have to pay attention to that. There's also one more obstacle that I have to mention: if the culture is not connected to measurable business outcomes that is a huge problem. The key is to recognize that the Culture is not a goal itself, but the culture means achieving some business results, greater customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, etcetera. It needs to be tangible and we need to measure it.

Twyla: So it's coming back to the idea that culture is the mindset which will bring you to that success.

Nikolina: It is the mindset: Win. The right way. Together.

Twyla: And if I can summarise, it's about listening, isn't it? It's about how everybody can listen to each other and then you can build on what you have learned as a result of feedback from employees wherever you may be in the stage of your career. Previously you carried out a culture diagnostic service in order to be able to inform those values. I know there's another initiative which is the GEC email box - isn't that really important as well because so much feedback has come in and which will help you develop? It's great to hear that actually in order to overcome the challenges it's about listening in the feedback loop that you have within UniCredit.

Nikolina: Exactly! We have the Accountability and Speak-up Programme, we have the Courageous Voices programme, and we're working on numerous activities so that we are really here to listen to our people and really do something.

Twyla: So we've talked about good examples and challenges and we've talked about how much that needs to turn into measurable, tangible outcomes. So what would you say is your measure of success when it comes to performing a positive Culture at UniCredit? What will success look like in 5 years?

Nikolina: Wow! So you mentioned this Cultural Diagnostic. I think that was really crucial because it allowed us to dive deep into the current culture and set the right direction and of course we are going to repeat it on an annual basis. Besides that, there are ongoing listening activities - so you just mentioned listening is super important. So we'll have regular poll service and we will be able to see the developments and understand the real mood of our people, the engagement and their level of satisfaction. I think regular pulse check is very important because you need to understand how your employees feel, so we are going to do it as well. We are going to appoint culture sponsors and culture champions and we will encourage collaboration and co-creation and will promote our values so that we can use them in our everyday lives and that we can Win. The right way. Together.

Twyla: Sounds like a very good key to unlock the door to success.

Nikolina: Definitely! We are really working on beautiful things, so many beautiful things to come and I think we should have another conversation in six months so you can track the progress.

Twyla: Yes please, I would love to!

So this next section is about how we find out what makes you tick and gives us a little bit of insight into your day-to-day life as a UniCredit leader. So please just answer the first thing that comes into your head. So breakfast or lunch?

Nikolina: Lunch.

Twyla: Excel or PowerPoint?

Nikolina: PowerPoint.

Twyla: Sun or snow?

Nikolina: Sun.

Twyla: Remote working or office working.

Nikolina: Office.

Twyla: Films or documentaries.

Nikolina: Films.

Twyla: Which film?

Nikolina: Batman.

Twyla: Standing or sitting desk?

Nikolina: Sitting.

Nikolina: Batman or Harry Potter?

Twyla: Harry Potter!

Twyla: Thank you so much Nikolina and we know that UniCredit mission is, as you already said, to Win. The right way. Together. We want to ask all our guests the top tip for winning so we can start sharing each other's successes and unlocking our true potential. So Nikolina as an expert in your field, what is key to winning?

Nikolina: Well, where focus goes, energy flows. So if you want to inspire a real change you need a real laser focus on what you want. I think this new focus on Culture is our key to success and creating the right company culture is at the moment our top priority. Once more, the customer is the king, culture is the queen, so this is the recipe.

Twyla: I love that. Remind me what you said one more time: where focus goes, energy flows.

I really can't wait to come back in six months to have my poll.

Nikolina: Perfect! Thank you very much for being such an incredible host!

Twyla: Thank you!