Rabobank Ridderkerk Midden-IJsselmonde

The banking sector is undergoing changes. Especially during a period of transition, it's important to know the talent you have in-house. At Rabobank Ridderkerk Midden-IJsselmonde, they use the TMA Method to empower their people – from management to employees – both within and outside the organization.

"Those who do work that suits them are happier," says HR Manager Sylvia Pors, who has enough experience to know this is true. "Happy people approach their jobs with much more energy and vitality. This is not only beneficial for the employees themselves but also for the entire company. Empowering people is one of the pillars in the strategic framework at Rabobank."

Thinking in boxes

Pors worked as a talent development consultant before joining Rabobank and recognized the need at her current employer to increasingly focus on people's talents and team composition; finding ways to place talented individuals in the right positions, suitable for both the employee and the organization. "I had previously worked with the TMA Method and knew that this instrument, when used properly and systematically, has many possibilities and provides power. But I also knew that I shouldn't just use a tool for the sake of it, but that it had to be suitable for an organizational issue."

According to her, the added value of the TMA Method lies in the fact that the report and the conversation with the supervisor provide people with insight into who they are, so they know even better what their strengths and pitfalls are. It also helps supervisors and direct colleagues better understand when someone is performing at their best. "Because then you can see if you are utilising that potential," explains Pors. "In addition, I don't like to think in boxes, and many tools do. They produce a colour or a certain type of person, but everyone is unique and has talent. That's what you need to capture."

The supervisors and HR advisor Anne-Maria du Burck were quickly enthusiastic, and after a successful pilot, conversations were held with the rest of the employees. "The supervisors and HR saw its versatility, for example, that you can use the talent and motivation analysis for new employee intake, workforce planning, and the personal development plan (PDP)."

A 3 is also good

Sandra Teuling, Team Leader of the Retail Banking Team, first completed a TMA herself before her team did. "What I appreciated was that a lot of attention was given to explaining the report. As a manager, you are so used to looking at competencies, and with TMA, it's much more about underlying motivations. But also, with a score of 3, we automatically think it's not good, while in this case, it just means it's a low talent. And maybe that's very good in combination with a high talent."

Teuling explains further: "I score high on confrontation. That's not always handy, but if you know it, you can act accordingly. And I score low on dominance, which means I confront easily but in a calm manner. Thanks to the insights I've gained, I can now read my team members' reports very well. There are a thousand and one ways to interpret behavior, so you could easily be mistaken. That doesn't happen often when you look at someone's motivations."

Conflicting Motivations

The team leader can better guide colleagues because she knows what suits them. "With one colleague, I couldn't always figure her out, and after the TMA, it turned out that she had two conflicting motivations. She needed structure but also variety. This caused an internal struggle for her. I immediately understood why I couldn't always gauge her and could then help her specifically. That meant providing structure but not having her do the same thing all day and letting her know in advance, so not suddenly switching her from A to B. Because the latter doesn't work for her."

"Another colleague had the perfect combination for a managerial position," she continues. "He could easily take my place. He decided to broaden his knowledge at another branch before considering a managerial position, but the report gave him the final push in the right direction. He now knows he can do it. It's beautiful when you can help someone fly in that way."

Valuable by Doing

For advisor Niña Wiersma, the talent and motivation analysis came at exactly the right time. "I was curious about myself. I was very focused on: what do I want, what does my future look like? It's sometimes difficult to discover your strengths and weaknesses, so it's special when you receive a report that describes it so clearly."

"I found the report recognizable, confronting, and it gave me new insights," says Wiersma. "At the time, I wanted to transition to an advisory role and it turned out I had the right competencies for that, so I succeeded. Later, I focused more on my pitfalls. I can be quite enthusiastic, but that doesn't suit every client and is sometimes not such a handy trait. I started paying attention to that during customer conversations. It's fun to get to know yourself better through such a report, but it becomes truly valuable when you do something with that knowledge."

Teuling still refers to the reports of her employees regularly, for example, in discussions about their personal development plan and future plan. "You have to make it a recurring thing, otherwise you lose sight of it. Young people should actually redo it after about seven years, so you can see what development they have gone through."

'It's nice if you can make someone fly'

Place Yourself

The banking sector has taken quite a beating in recent years, and reorganizations were inevitable. Even now, at Rabobank Ridderkerk Midden-IJsselmonde, people have been declared redundant again, forcing them to look for another job. Teuling is one of them. "I'm using my TMA now to make my story concrete to potential new employers. To sell myself."

HR manager Pors sees this happening more often. "During such a period of movement, people reconsider what their talents and motivations are and what else they can do with them." She tries to help them as much as possible, not only when they are forced to leave. "Work is changing so much – positions are disappearing due to automation, and a new approach requires different types of competencies and talents – that it's logical that not everyone automatically fits into their role after some time."

"We understand that," adds HR advisor Du Burck. "It's good that the TMA helps our employees to reorient themselves. What work environment and tasks truly make them happy?! If there's a need for a fresh start, that's also possible. After all, work takes up such a significant part of our lives that you should work in an environment that suits you. It's important to do work where you can leverage your talents optimally and continue to develop."

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