IABC network inspires collaboration
Jodi O’Callaghan, IABC NSW member showcases the value she found in her membership which inspired a collaborative strategy day.
My membership with the IABC has spanned my 15-year career in communications, and it’s been one of the most valuable professional memberships I’ve had.
In 2018 I took a slight step out of a dedicated communications role to a broader role of Executive Officer with The Banking and Finance Oath (The BFO), whose purpose is to improve our society by raising the moral and ethical standards of the banking and finance industry through the implementation of the Oath. The BFO also seeks to deepen discussions around ethics, integrity, honesty and trust. Indeed our vision is of “A banking and finance industry that meets the community’s needs and has its full confidence.”
The case studies we saw in the Banking Royal Commission put a spotlight on culture within banks and other financial institutions in Australia. As the Commission called out, it’s not just the problem of ‘a few bad apples’, the problem is ‘the barrel’. As a purpose-driven organisation, it is timely for The BFO to reflect on its impact linked to culture. We know the right culture – one built on ethics, honesty and accountability – allows the right behaviour to thrive.
A few months in to my role I was tasked with planning a board strategy day. My goal was to take the board out of their comfort zone and challenge them to think differently about how we might evolve as an organisation at this time of significant change, and strengthen how we support our signatories. But I needed someone with the right experience in thinking outside the box and strategy facilitation to help me achieve that.
Kieran McCann – Vice President of the IABC, and National Thought Leader Manager at PwC – was someone I saw present at an IABC NSW event, and inspired me to leverage my IABC network. The IABC NSW Chapter is a membership association supporting a community of communication professionals for networking, career development and personal growth, and I knew if Kieran could find a way to help me, he would.
Kieran was supported by PwC through his social impact time (an opportunity to use allocated work time to support community or charity groups), and his IABC NSW board role. He was also fortunate enough to be able to bring Angela Greer onto the project, whose expertise, guidance, passion and experience in facilitation as PwC’s executive coach and workshop facilitator was invaluable.
Angela and Kieran provided the design and facilitation for the board’s strategy day. Over the course of the last few months they have been on an incredible journey with the board of The BFO, from sponsorship meetings to plan out the activation, 1-1 dedicated meetings with each board member, ideation sessions, and right through to delivery.
This week the work came to fruition and for three hours Kieran and Angela hosted us at PwC to drive forward a new Board Strategy. We talked through information gathered – a collation of what the board told had told them, what our signatories are looking for, as well as current financials. We dived into an activation to think about the future, had the board mapping out their big picture ideas linked to success, challenges, fears and value, and then sprinted them through a forward plan with a visual execution of the next steps. The BFO Board is a dynamic group of passionate leaders from across Australia’s financial services, and it was encouraging to see them leave the day with a clear set of action plans and next steps. Thanks to the backing of the IABC and PwC, Kieran and Angela were able to help us plan, develop and execute a successful strategy day.
The IABC is a membership association that helps connect me to individuals, expertise and best practice through people such as Kieran and Angela and has been an invaluable community for my professional development. I’m also very grateful for the access my membership gives me to credible, in depth communication research and insights. Communication World – the IABC produced magazine – has the support of industry legends such as Shel Holtz and Angela Sinickas (amongst others) who enthusiastically share their research findings with all IABC members through the magazine, to improve the profession, and the professional capabilities of its members.
Thank you, Kieran and Angela, for the huge amount of time and effort you both put in to making The BFO strategy day a success, and helping us evolve at this critical time for the industry. To IABC and PwC, a big thanks for supporting your amazing people to pursue their personal passion project – in turn helping The BFO fulfil its Vision.
Background
The Banking and Finance Oath was founded in 2012 on a shared belief in the inherent ‘good’ of the banking and finance industry.
The BFO has two clear aims:
to encourage a strong ethical framework for individuals in our financial services industry. The values of integrity, honesty and trust must underpin the industry’s dealings with the Australian community – these values clearly need to be strengthened. The BFO is uniquely targeted at the behaviour of the individual and, building on that behaviour, can help to shape a positive culture within institutions themselves; and
to provide a public platform on which signatories have the opportunity to demonstrate their integrity and in turn their commitment to the industry. An oath needs to be public, ideally taken publicly but also visible beyond the act. This transparency encourages peer-to-peer accountability and allows the signatory to be held to account by all stakeholders.
The Banking and Finance Oath
Trust is the foundation of my profession:
I will serve all interests in good faith
I will compete with honour
I will pursue my ends with ethical restraint
I will help create a sustainable future
I will help create a more just society
I will speak out against wrongdoing and support others who do the same
I will accept responsibility for my actions
In these and all other matters; My word is my bond.
For more info and to take the Oath, go to: thebfo.org
About Jodi:
Jodi O’Callaghan is the Executive Officer with The Banking and Finance Oath (The BFO). She is passionate about strategic communications and organisational culture and an advocate of purpose-driven communications for the benefit of connecting people to business. The psychology of employee engagement and motivation is what she finds particularly fascinating.
The depth of her experience includes internal and external communications, CEO and leadership communications, diversity and inclusion, storytelling and corporate narrative, corporate social responsibility, employee events, channel management, enterprise social networks (Yammer), video, presentations, corporate affairs, and media relations.