So the Kelly report “of the independent review into the events leading to the Co-operative Bank’s capital shortfall” was published yesterday. During the day, I was putting odd bits from it out in 140 characters with the hashtags #coops #kellylessons. Here they are in one more permanent place. How many of these lessons has your organisation – whether a co-op or not – learned?
- “Running a full-service bank… is a complex business… Bank failed to understand the limits of its own capability”
- “The most important task for any board is to put in place the right Executive leadership for the business”
- “Ownership of a regulated bank…requires a clearly articulated statement addressing…mgmt & gov’nance relationship”
- “Failures in board oversight are inevitable if the criteria used to elect… do not require… the necessary skills”
- “A bank board must include sufficient numbers of technically competent directors”
- “Boards need…good m’gmt info’ and to demand it if it is not forthcoming. Failure to obtain…explains…failings”
- “A bank should develop&implement robust risk gov’nce&oversight and an appropriate control framework”
- “IT transformation…keep…as simple as poss’, phase delivery.., deploy the right resources, plan for contingencies”
- “Bank should have paid closer attention and responded with greater urgency to what the Regulator told it”
- “Pay careful attention to the advice of…external advisors. The Group…ignored well-founded…inconvenient advice”
- “Postponing dealing with problems is almost never a sustainable solution.”
- “Values…need to be translated into meaningful guidance…The Bank’s ethical positioning should be…more apparent”
- “Mantras about scale and ethics are no substitute for strategies grounded in a real understanding”
- “Talent management is critical… Lack of capability…driven…by weaknesses in its recruitment&subsequent m’gmt”
- “Tolerating…culture of underperformance, weak transparency and a lack of accountability, constrains an organisation”
Are there other lessons that you would add?