Leading the way to agility

Our research found that employees of Nordic financial services companies want to be part of positive change. But they show a lack of confidence in business leadership, citing, among other concerns, poor communication from the top, along with confusion about organizational goals and the strategies in place to attain them.

Communication is not the only concern

Financial services employees in the region are also worried that the systems and processes in place may not be adequate for implementing needed change.

And, there is a significant divergence in attitudes between people in leadership positions—who believe, by and large, that things are progressing smoothly—and people at lower levels in the organization, particularly those in customer-facing roles.

Our research shows that people in leadership see themselves as:

• Working in alignment with organizational objectives
• Working closely with teammates
• Understanding of the need for change, and having a sense of urgency about implementing it

Seeing the big picture

The key question, in our view, is how to convey not only these values and beliefs to non-leadership people, but also the "big picture" elements of transformation. How is it carried out? What is the change? What will peoples' roles be in the new environment? Ideally, everyone in the organization should share the same views about where things stand and about what still needs to be done, but we are a long way from this ideal state.