The New Today July 24th, 2010 New home for Co-op bank
THE NEW TODAY - July 24th, 2010
Cop-op bank or the Penny bank is now operating in a modern 18-million dollar head office building on Church Street. The bank formally declared open the building last Thursday at a impressive ceremony attended by some of the leading dignitaries in the country. One of the high points of the event was the speech delivered by Managing Director of the Grenada Co-operative Bank Limited, Richard Duncan in which he gave a background to the plans that led to the establishment of the new facility on Church Street.
Following is an edited version of Duncan’s speech:
“Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today” I repeat “Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today” Malcolm X. It is a long journey, one without end. As we gather here today we celebrate our customers - the key stakeholders that make our success possible. I will like us to reflect to 4Ws - What, When, Why and Who.
What is this première Banking facility all about? Looking at this facility some see a building or maybe a beautiful structure, a magnificent edifice. When I look I see a statement of intent. An unmistakable message that Grenada Co-operative Bank, is deeply convinced that it will attract the resources necessary to generate value for all stakeholders.
Tower Hive has several features that I wish to point out:
(i). Wheel chair access
(ii). Elevators
(iii). Washroom facilities for customers
(iv). Two levels of underground parking to accommodate 24 vehicles
(v). Dedicated services areas for special needs customers
(vi). Dedicated customer parking
Let’s now place this initiative in its proper historical context. This facility has been built when the world has descended into the deepest financial and economic crisis since the 1928. (As a footnote, I may add that the Bank itself was formed in 1932, obviously in the tail end of the Great Depression of the 1930’s; that the bank, for its first eight years, operated in an economy that was recovering from the world’s worse recession)
Tower Hive is constructed, also when the Banking Sector is going through another period of evolution with the return of Royal Bank of Canada. Did I hear you ask why? Why has the bank chosen to construct Tower Hive with certain special features in mind, or to construct it at all? Follow me. In 1997 the Bank crafted a 10-year strategic plan, and by 2002, half way through that time period a large number of the goals and objectives of the plan were met.
Such was the pace of successful execution of many of the strategic initiatives. Thus in 2003 we crafted a 15-year strategic plan that centered on driving the Bank along a customer-centric orientation. When we purchased this site in 2002, the original plan was to build a Head Office on this location and have the customers remain were they are currently being served.
In quick time our plans were reversed, not by us, but by the virtue of the commitment we made to become customer-centric -Tower Hive, as manifested is part of our customer-centric strategy. The reason we designed and built Tower Hive the way we have is quite simple - we wanted a building that met the approval, not of the Planning and Development Authority, but rather the approval of the Grenadian public. On that note I dear say we have not met that objective .... We have surpassed it!!!!
I have given an account of what Tower Hive represents, its historical context and strategic merit. I am quite sure that you will not forgive me if I did not give you a glimpse of the human factor - the master minds behind Tower Hive. The leadership of former Chairman, Mr. C.A. St. Bernard Q.C. and recently retired General Manager Mr. Gordon V. Steele OBE was paramount. Together they lead the strategic direction of the Bank with distinction - a mantle current Chairman Mr. Derick Steele and I have accepted.
However, truth be told, once the strategic decision was made the “Who is Who” in this enterprise is none other than Mr. Peter Antoine, our Senior Programme & Research Officer who was assigned as our Project Manager. Special commendation goes to Peter. Peter’s understanding of strategy and his mastery of strategy execution combined with his tenacity and professionalism place him in a class that few among us can enter - at least, in this lifetime. Peter you have done a fantastic job.
Sitting on the top floor of Tower Hive, is our Training & Conference Center - a key infrastructure for training, capacity building and knowledge acquisition in the Bank. In early 1998 when we set our staff development program entrain as a key component of the strategic plan, a certain gentleman and I had a conversation that went like this. “Richard, when we train all these people will they not be attracted away by the other banks and leave us?” My reply, “Boss which is better, that we train them and they leave, or we don’t train them, and they stay?” Since then Mr. Gordon V. Steele has never looked back when it came to building staff capacity through training and coaching.
For his commitment to staff development and in further recognition of his sterling contribution to the growth and development of the bank, the said Training and Conference facility has been named in honour of our longest-serving General Manager, Mr. Gordon V. Steele, OBE. Ladies and gentlemen, it is undisputed that the Bank enjoys a deep rich and proud history. But let’s not miss the point; the Bank is its customers. Only last week I listened as a lady recounted her story of being marched into the Bank by her mom to open her saving account, and her subsequent frequent trips to deposit her pennies.
Her love for this institution was unmistakable by the sheer delight in her voice and the animated account she gave. Today she is still a customer of the Bank and a leading legal luminary; and what about the gentlemen in a thick-lens dark-framed spectacles, insisting as we spoke in 1999, that when he went to school at the GBSS he opened an account with us and if we look carefully we will find his name in our records- he is Sir K. Dwight Venner, Governor of ECCB (may be the account became abandoned property and was sent to ECCB. We will have to solicit some new business).
Our customer centric strategy has been under construction in earnest since 2003 and while Tower Hive is a vital part of that strategy I wish to highlight that our customer service charter commits to consistent high quality service experience at all times in each of our Five Retail Banking Units; we are utilizing customer interaction scripts throughout our Retailing Banking network or branches; Customer service Ambassadors meet, greet and assist customers in all our banking halls on mainland Grenada; Customer Service standards are observed and enforced throughout the Bank; we have been scoring in the high 80’s in our quarterly customer perception survey for the past 18-24 months.
I make this point to underscore that physical facilities as important as they are, are not as important as what goes on within their walls or as important as who occupy these premises.
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