Neurodiversitet hos Danske Bank | Frans Woelders & Carsten Lassen | Specialisterne Konference 2024

🎥 Apr 09, 2024 📺 Specialisterne Danmark ⏱ 9m

Sådan opbygger Danske Bank intern kapacitet og styrker deres ...

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Transcript (16 segments)

Host0:03

First on stage is, as you can see here, Mr. Frans Woelders, CEO for Technology and Services at Danske Bank, and also CEO at Specialisterne. Please come and join me. Great pleasure to have you here. We had the small and medium-sized perspective earlier today, and clearly you are representing another kind of organization, but I know that this topic is very close to your heart. Why is this topic so high on your personal agenda?

Frans Woelders0:44

Yeah, it is about doing the right thing. For me, it can be as simple as that. Doing the right thing in business and being part of society means how can we combine business interest with individual interest of all consultants from Specialisterne and every neurodivergent people? And how can we combine that with the role in society as well? I think when that all comes together, I hope it comes together by being a bank also for society. I hope sometimes that's less recognized, but it is actually about doing the right thing. It's interesting that I just got a message from a former, I wouldn't say colleague, but someone also in an executive team, he's in the US, Sol on Burden. It can sometimes be as simple as that. I see Toil doing his thumbs up. He sent me a message and said, 'I've seen you working in Denmark now and I have this great experience with a company called Specialisterne.' And he was sharing how many great things he actually did. Then he said, 'Is it all right if I bring you into contact?' And I said yes, that's perfectly fine. So sometimes it can start with a little spark, and then it's about persistence, making sure that you actually also do a follow-up.

Host2:09

So, Caston, what does it mean for you to work with top-level executives with this kind of dedication?

Caston2:16

Well, it makes all the difference in the world. I mean, we've been working with many companies over the years, and we really use you as the star example of how it should be done. It's clear that there's this C-level commitment. I remember I was doing my first presentation and you said, 'I want to be on that slide.' I was showing this slide with all the companies that we were working with, and then you are on that slide. The way you addressed it in your organization, you said, 'It's not a matter of if we're going to do it, it's a matter of when we're going to do it.' So you being so transparent, leading the way, telling your organization we want this, and even sharing the risk. I think that's the real key to success. You said, 'We do this, I take the financial risk. You as managers should run the risk of being different or even maybe better managers.' That is the key to success the way I see it. And just to let the audience know, 21,000 people work at Danske Bank, and out of this you are heading 6,500, so that is in itself a huge amount of people. But Frans, how do you make sure that this continues to be high on the agenda?

Frans Woelders3:41

Yeah, with all the employees in the bank. Maybe first of all, I actually feel quite embarrassed if you say we have 21,000 people working, and I think in total we started with 20 colleagues from Specialisterne. We are happy to actually be able to hire also some people in the bank, but nevertheless, I think there's work to be done. I'm not here to celebrate. There's a lot of good work, but I think we can do much more. It's actually what I'm also saying: be vocal about it and share the message in your organization. And to Caston's point, make sure that you get rid of the roadblocks if any, and that you take the burden, but also that you show the personal interest into the subject, because people will look at what is the tone at the top.

Host4:28

Yeah, yeah, exactly. But do you think that working with neurodivergence can be a part of generally making a different workplace for everybody? I mean, do you think it can highlight some things that may be used to the whole organization as such?

Frans Woelders4:45

Well, we are, and I think it's one of the spin-offs. I see many colleagues here in the room today, and I think we're going to hear from some of them as well. But it is about the spin-off you get from this because it's not charity. We're not here for charity. We're here to do the right thing, and that is also doing business and having the right people on board. Then almost having a kind of a wave and a ripple effect in the organization is what is definitely also on my mind. And it also requires, because it's definitely not about me, many people in my organization supporting this, and of course being vocal every time they have the opportunity.

Host5:31

So, Caston, I think you had the pleasure of supplying the first two consultants from Specialisterne to Danske Bank, and as Frans says, more has followed. What is it about the way of working that could be of inspiration to other organizations and other leaders?

Caston5:49

Well for me, it seems like Danske Bank is having a strategic approach to this. It's not just one here, one there. You are saying we're focusing on that. You have dedicated the team to working with this. Thank you all here. It seems like as you're working more systemically with it, you're creating communities internally within the bank. So you are eager to create and build internal capacity as a way to really grow the business. And that makes our work so much easier.

Host6:22

So Frans, you are part of the executive team, the absolute top leadership of the bank. Why is executive leadership so important and support from the leadership so important in this case, even though it's not a lot of employees?

Frans Woelders6:37

So one is this tone at the top so that everyone understands why it is important and that you create followership. The other point is about funding. Because individual teams would say, 'Okay, but how are we going to do this? In funding?' So that you support as well. I think it's easier if you are at the top to make the funding available. So that's another point why the support from the top is important. I think also just remember how it started. It started basically with a very simple LinkedIn message. And if you connect the executives, I think the rest can follow.

Host7:17

So Frans, what is your best advice to companies who want to embark on this journey?

Frans Woelders7:25

So first of all, Caston, of course always a good idea no matter what the question is. But it's absolutely serious because we get so much support from Specialisterne. You cannot expect that everyone is perfect also in how to handle it, and also for the individuals involved. Some of the colleagues we just heard about before the break, it's not easy. It's great to have the specialists that work for us, but also the specialists that support them to work together. So I think that is really important. Then some of the things I mentioned: make sure you get the funding available, make sure you go in with both feet. Don't be hesitant, is it going to work out or not? Just go do it and it will happen. Don't think about administrative burdens. If you want this to happen, you can make it happen.

Host8:22

Okay, and Caston, your best advice?

Caston8:24

Is that so, Caston? Always a good advice. I try to follow some sayings, but it doesn't work. No, obviously I mean be curious. Many companies think, 'Yeah, I know it works for Danske Bank, I know it works for Novo, but we are so different.' Basically we are not. We're all the same. So trust and be curious. There is so much to be gained.

Host8:51

Good gentlemen, we're going to dive much more into the details of what you actually do in the Danske Bank, but thanks for now. Thanks for joining. Thank you, thank you, thank you.