# Transcript: A company’s energy comes from its culture

## Description

We spend our entire lives learning how to sense and properly influence it. Michal Liday is convinced that this is the only path to sustainable, long-term success and is far more powerful than focusing on cold efficiency through universal templates and rules. After all, a company is by nature much closer to a living being than a machine.



Who is Michal Liday?



Michal Liday graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Comenius University in Bratislava, focusing on mathematics and computer science. He then continued his education with doctoral postgraduate studies at the University of Economics in Bratislava, specializing in quantitative methods in economics. He supplemented his education with study programs at Mankato State University in Minnesota (USA) and City University in London (UK). In 2010, he completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School in Boston (USA).



He began his professional career as a lecturer at the University of Economics in Bratislava in 1992. Since 1997, he worked at Tatra banka as a branch director. In 2000, he became director of the Private Banking Department, and five years later refocused his activities on managing retail banking. In 2007, he became a board member responsible for retail banking management, and in 2015 he was appointed CEO of Tatra banka, a position he holds to this day.

## Transcript

**[00:00:00]** Hello and good day, my name is Honza Mašek and welcome to another Brain & Breakfast.

**[00:00:29]** Today we will look at a topic that we at Red Button and personally really enjoy.

**[00:00:34]** We will explore the topic of corporate culture, but before we invite a special guest,

**[00:00:40]** who accepted our invitation, I want to remind you what Brain & Breakfast is all about.

**[00:00:46]** You saw the intro, unfortunately it still applies that we can't meet in person, but we are looking forward to it.

**[00:00:53]** And I just want to remind you that if you want to take away more from the breakfast

**[00:01:00]** than just watching it via stream or audio, definitely join us on June 9th

**[00:01:06]** to discuss what you learn today, or have discussions within your team,

**[00:01:11]** within your companies, among the people around you. This will definitely help you get the most out of the content,

**[00:01:17]** so we recommend reflections. Also, Brain&Breakfast is an interactive show,

**[00:01:25]** so please take out your mobile phones now, just like I am, go to www.slajdu.com

**[00:01:32]** and enter the hashtag Brain, or under the stream you have a box where you can ask questions.

**[00:01:40]** The breakfast format is usually a one-hour lecture by our guest and then plenty of time

**[00:01:46]** is dedicated to questions from you, so definitely send your questions during the session.

**[00:01:52]** At the end, I will also invite you to ask questions. So this is the interactivity. I might check,

**[00:01:58]** and I already posted the first question, whether this is your first time at Brain & Breakfast or not, if you've been here before,

**[00:02:05]** most people today have already attended before, so definitely vote,

**[00:02:11]** we will switch to questions shortly, but we will keep this poll open a bit longer.

**[00:02:16]** Now I would really like to welcome today's special guest.

**[00:02:24]** So let's welcome Mr. Michal Lidé. Michal, come join us, I'll make some room here.

**[00:02:31]** And I'll hand you this presenter right away.

**[00:02:38]** I invited Michal because many people say a lot about corporate culture.

**[00:02:48]** We ourselves work in companies that have some kind of corporate culture,

**[00:02:55]** but usually these are small companies or IT companies where the corporate culture somehow beats.

**[00:03:03]** And when you come there, you feel that things work.

**[00:03:08]** But I didn't want this breakfast to be one of many you can basically see dozens of.

**[00:03:18]** That's why I invited Michal Lidé, CEO of Tatra Banka.

**[00:03:23]** What makes it special is that when you look at Tatra Banka,

**[00:03:28]** which is really a big company with about four and a half thousand employees,

**[00:03:32]** the culture lives and beats there just the same.

**[00:03:36]** And I really appreciate the work Tatra Banka has done over time.

**[00:03:41]** I also have the chance to occasionally look behind the scenes,

**[00:03:45]** which means I know these are not just empty phrases on the wall.

**[00:03:48]** So I want to thank you very much for making time for us

**[00:03:53]** and for giving us a little insight into that pot, Michal.

**[00:03:56]** So thank you very much, it's yours now.

**[00:04:00]** Thank you very much, with great pleasure.

**[00:04:03]** Thank you for the very kind introduction.

**[00:04:07]** I want to greet all of you who decided to join this morning.

**[00:04:11]** I was supposed to deal with this topic for a while.

**[00:04:16]** I must admit right from the start that the topic of culture is one

**[00:04:23]** that I consider a privilege to talk about.

**[00:04:28]** At the same time, it is unusually challenging.

**[00:04:32]** Challenging in the sense that there are no universal truths in this topic.

**[00:04:38]** Culture is very specific to

**[00:04:42]** the stage of the life cycle the company is in,

**[00:04:46]** how its identity is defined,

**[00:04:50]** and many internal and external factors influence it.

**[00:04:54]** On the other hand, it is precisely this topic

**[00:04:57]** that I am personally convinced through experience

**[00:05:01]** has a fundamental impact on a company's performance and functioning.

**[00:05:07]** What I wanted to hint at with this introductory word

**[00:05:12]** is that please do not perceive what I will say today

**[00:05:16]** as universal truths.

**[00:05:20]** My ambition is to give you a glimpse into this topic

**[00:05:26]** through the lens of Tatra Banka's culture.

**[00:05:30]** It will be a great satisfaction for me

**[00:05:35]** if something from what we discuss

**[00:05:38]** can be a small inspiration for some of you.

**[00:05:42]** The structure of what I have prepared today

**[00:05:46]** is such that the main body of my presentation

**[00:05:51]** is an attempt to provide a light insight into seven concepts

**[00:05:57]** that I consider strong influencers of our internal culture.

**[00:06:03]** A light insight because each of these topics has the potential

**[00:06:07]** to be a standalone topic for a format like this.

**[00:06:11]** I certainly do not aim to go into details,

**[00:06:15]** as that would be counterproductive.

**[00:06:19]** But first, I need to philosophically frame

**[00:06:25]** my, or perhaps our, view on culture,

**[00:06:31]** so we have a reference point for what we consider culture and what is important in it.

**[00:06:35]** But even before we enter this introductory chapter,

**[00:06:39]** perhaps a brief introduction would be appropriate.

**[00:06:45]** I will be talking about Tatra Banka.

**[00:06:50]** Tatra Banka is one of the three largest Slovak banks.

**[00:06:54]** It is part of the Raiffeisen Bank International group.

**[00:06:59]** This means that on the Czech market, Czech Raiffeisen Bank is our sister company.

**[00:07:03]** But in the context of culture, it might be important,

**[00:07:09]** or I feel the need to point out,

**[00:07:15]** or frame the fact that we are a bank at all.

**[00:07:26]** What does it basically mean?

**[00:07:31]** A bank is an institution that employs,

**[00:07:37]** as Honza already said, thousands of employees.

**[00:07:42]** And not only that, it employs them in hundreds of job positions.

**[00:07:47]** And those job positions are incredibly diverse.

**[00:07:51]** We have positions from lawyers to IT specialists,

**[00:07:57]** people working at scanning stations,

**[00:08:01]** branch employees, data scientists.

**[00:08:05]** In other words, just naming these,

**[00:08:09]** we can immediately imagine that I'm talking about people

**[00:08:14]** who are archetypically different by definition.

**[00:08:19]** They have different backgrounds,

**[00:08:25]** they have different worldviews.

**[00:08:30]** Moreover, they are geographically spread out

**[00:08:34]** across the entire territory of Slovakia.

**[00:08:39]** Surely you agree that when we talk about trying to manage culture,

**[00:08:46]** even though culture is very hard to manage,

**[00:08:50]** or if that phrase is not entirely accurate,

**[00:08:54]** maybe I should rather say influence culture,

**[00:08:58]** it's definitely easier

**[00:09:04]** in companies that have a homogeneous nature.

**[00:09:10]** For example, a law firm where you have

**[00:09:14]** several similar job positions,

**[00:09:17]** people usually sit in one city,

**[00:09:20]** the influence on how things happen,

**[00:09:24]** and those who have a cultural basis,

**[00:09:28]** is simply easier than in those organizations

**[00:09:32]** I tried to illustrate

**[00:09:36]** through the lens of a bank.

**[00:09:40]** I just have to ask about the setup,

**[00:09:44]** because the image looked to me and I don't know

**[00:09:52]** I don't really need it that much.

**[00:10:00]** So the bank as such has these types of complexities in this context.

**[00:10:14]** To complicate this complexity even more,

**[00:10:20]** in Tatra Banka the situation is specific also because

**[00:10:26]** Tatra Banka is actually two brands

**[00:10:29]** operating on the Slovak market.

**[00:10:31]** There is the Tatra Banka brand and Raiffeisen.

**[00:10:35]** They are two different branch networks

**[00:10:39]** with two different value propositions,

**[00:10:43]** with two different positioning approaches.

**[00:10:47]** We are trying

**[00:10:52]** to cover the largest possible positioning space,

**[00:10:56]** but these are two brands with different vibes

**[00:11:00]** and different identities,

**[00:11:03]** just living together under one roof.

**[00:11:06]** In other words, from the outside,

**[00:11:10]** they are two distinct brands.

**[00:11:12]** From the internal environment perspective, we are one bank,

**[00:11:16]** whether we talk about the Raiffeisen brand,

**[00:11:18]** or the Tatra Banka brand.

**[00:11:21]** And again, these two brands are really extremely different.

**[00:11:27]** From what I’m saying now, it might seem

**[00:11:33]** that trying to manage the culture of such a complex system,

**[00:11:39]** and the word manage is not quite right again,

**[00:11:43]** but to influence the culture of such a complex system,

**[00:11:47]** is basically a nightmare.

**[00:11:51]** But I was lucky to understand

**[00:11:59]** that the real nightmare would be

**[00:12:03]** if we didn’t influence the culture of such a complex system.

**[00:12:08]** Because it would break down into fragmented,

**[00:12:12]** isolated islands that could be disconnected from each other,

**[00:12:18]** which could bring us a really big challenge,

**[00:12:22]** if we wanted to operate in a certain context in a unified way.

**[00:12:31]** Good, a few more words about me.

**[00:12:35]** I really dislike talking about myself,

**[00:12:39]** but in the context of this topic, maybe two things are relevant

**[00:12:46]** that might give me the right to comment on this topic.

**[00:12:55]** I thought about how to describe my two characteristics.

**[00:13:01]** I found two words that are actually terrible,

**[00:13:07]** I hate them and they don’t suit me at all,

**[00:13:11]** but on the other hand, they are very accurate, so I’ll use them first.

**[00:13:17]** I am basically a settler in the sense

**[00:13:24]** that I have been at Tatra Banka for a very long time.

**[00:13:29]** About 20 years.

**[00:13:33]** I applied there a long time ago through an ad.

**[00:13:41]** And that was at a time when Tatra Banka had a few hundred employees,

**[00:13:47]** now it has several thousand employees.

**[00:13:51]** And since then, I have been lucky to survive a lot with it.

**[00:13:57]** And in this context, we have a very strong mutual influence on each other.

**[00:14:03]** Tatra Banka influenced me greatly, and I had the privilege,

**[00:14:08]** to some extent, of influencing it in return.

**[00:14:13]** Sometimes I even catch myself thinking,

**[00:14:19]** that I sense fluid boundaries

**[00:14:24]** between my own identity and the identity of Tatra Banka.

**[00:14:28]** But what I want to say is that the advantage of such a long

**[00:14:32]** and strong relationship is,

**[00:14:36]** it helped me develop a relatively high sensitivity

**[00:14:42]** to perceiving aspects of this institution's culture.

**[00:14:47]** And it even gave me the opportunity to some degree to influence

**[00:14:53]** how the culture in the bank looks.

**[00:14:59]** My second trait and specificity is that

**[00:15:07]** I am a right-hemisphere convert.

**[00:15:16]** My background is such that

**[00:15:21]** I studied mathematics and theoretical computer science

**[00:15:26]** at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics,

**[00:15:30]** which resulted in

**[00:15:34]** extreme dominance of the left hemisphere.

**[00:15:38]** In other words, for me, only what was precise, computable,

**[00:15:45]** analytical, structured existed and was understandable.

**[00:15:50]** And things that did not have this character

**[00:15:53]** were unworthy of my attention.

**[00:15:57]** What happened to me in my life,

**[00:16:05]** was related to the fact that I kept

**[00:16:10]** taking on different and higher responsibilities.

**[00:16:14]** I actually reached the complete opposite extreme.

**[00:16:18]** I am currently in a state of

**[00:16:22]** complete right-hemisphere dominance.

**[00:16:26]** I would even say,

**[00:16:30]** that currently to such an extreme,

**[00:16:34]** that things which are algorithmizable,

**[00:16:38]** computable, analyzable, and quantifiable,

**[00:16:44]** fall to the edge of my interest.

**[00:16:50]** Or better said, to the edges.

**[00:16:56]** They only reach the level of interest

**[00:17:00]** necessary for performing my position.

**[00:17:04]** This sentence may sound a bit shocking

**[00:17:08]** coming from a bank CEO. It’s probably completely counterintuitive.

**[00:17:18]** But I have now made it a public confession,

**[00:17:22]** because it really is like that.

**[00:17:26]** This is a hint of my right hemisphere,

**[00:17:30]** which now dominates.

**[00:17:33]** Good, but let's get to the topic of culture.

**[00:17:39]** I also lead into it through my agendas,

**[00:17:43]** which are on my desk.

**[00:17:47]** There are hundreds of them.

**[00:17:51]** Hundreds of different topics pass through my desk,

**[00:17:55]** but if I had to somehow weigh them on scales,

**[00:18:01]** which ones I consider dominant and important,

**[00:18:07]** it would happen that on one side of the scale

**[00:18:12]** there would be these two topics.

**[00:18:16]** And all the other hundreds, if I put them on the other side of the scale,

**[00:18:21]** the first side would still outweigh them in importance.

**[00:18:25]** And on that side are two topics.

**[00:18:30]** These topics are interconnected.

**[00:18:33]** They are called strategy and culture.

**[00:18:38]** They are the ones I feel ultimate responsibility for.

**[00:18:45]** What do they actually mean?

**[00:18:49]** This schematic image, in my opinion, illustrates it quite well.

**[00:18:54]** Strategy talks about the direction of the institution.

**[00:18:59]** Culture, for me,

**[00:19:03]** if we look at this image of a vehicle,

**[00:19:08]** defines how strong and powerful an engine the company has available,

**[00:19:12]** which determines how fast it can move forward.

**[00:19:19]** And in this case, it can really end up that

**[00:19:24]** the strength of the culture can range

**[00:19:29]** from an electric bike to a jet plane.

**[00:19:37]** And our task, or my task,

**[00:19:41]** is to try to find in the bank concepts

**[00:19:45]** that constantly expand the engine's capacity,

**[00:19:49]** or strengthen its potential so that

**[00:19:55]** the speed can move forward.

**[00:19:59]** is adequate.

**[00:20:00]** Which of these two topics is more important?

**[00:20:03]** That is very hard to say,

**[00:20:07]** they are extremely interconnected.

**[00:20:09]** Imagine if we didn't have culture,

**[00:20:20]** We should only have a strategy.

**[00:20:22]** No matter how correctly we set the direction,

**[00:20:24]** the way we want to move.

**[00:20:26]** And if we don't have the force that drives us in that direction,

**[00:20:29]** then the direction is pointless.

**[00:20:32]** On the other hand,

**[00:20:39]** if you have any strong culture

**[00:20:43]** and any great engine power,

**[00:20:46]** and you set your direction the wrong way,

**[00:20:51]** you won't reach the city you want.

**[00:20:55]** And that would actually be completely counterproductive.

**[00:21:01]** What I will basically talk about in the context of these seven themes,

**[00:21:06]** or these seven stories,

**[00:21:08]** will very much concern

**[00:21:11]** how we try to increase the power of that engine.

**[00:21:19]** I'll say a few words about strategy,

**[00:21:22]** because again, these two topics are very interconnected.

**[00:21:27]** And so that the strategy gives us a bit of context,

**[00:21:30]** which we need to understand what I want to talk about.

**[00:21:34]** In the context of strategy, we operate in so-called five-year cycles.

**[00:21:41]** Once every five years, we systematically and consciously pause,

**[00:21:46]** look around, recap what we have achieved,

**[00:21:50]** and try to look into a crystal ball and sense

**[00:21:55]** the trends we think we should catch

**[00:21:58]** to really move in the right direction.

**[00:22:02]** We do this in a way that we then materialize

**[00:22:06]** in a written strategy and even publish a small book.

**[00:22:12]** It is called The Book of the Bank,

**[00:22:16]** and we present this book to the whole bank.

**[00:22:20]** Every employee gets a physical copy in their hands,

**[00:22:23]** even with the ambition, it is written with the ambition,

**[00:22:27]** to be simple, understandable, clear,

**[00:22:31]** so that everyone really understands it, so even our employees,

**[00:22:35]** who take it home, can easily explain

**[00:22:39]** to their loved ones what Tatra Banka is about and where it is heading.

**[00:22:44]** And since we deliberately do this once every five years,

**[00:22:48]** so intensely and so focused,

**[00:22:52]** we are a bit afraid of the potential danger

**[00:23:00]** that we might be very closed in on ourselves and see things only from our perspective.

**[00:23:06]** Therefore, we decided that we will approach this topic

**[00:23:16]** to invite a facilitator, someone who will guide us through it

**[00:23:22]** and who will also add some meaningful added value to it.

**[00:23:26]** We also have high ambitions, and in this context we decided,

**[00:23:31]** after considering who to invite for this facilitation,

**[00:23:35]** we reached out, or are reaching out,

**[00:23:39]** and it has actually become a tradition, to professors from Harvard Business School.

**[00:23:44]** Most recently, Professor Felix Oberholzer completed this round with us,

**[00:23:52]** who is the head of the strategy department at Harvard Business School.

**[00:23:56]** This has fantastic significance for us in the context

**[00:24:00]** that someone is 'watching over' us and guiding us through the process,

**[00:24:05]** who is absolutely top of the top

**[00:24:08]** also in the academic field regarding strategy,

**[00:24:13]** but Harvard professors are very strongly connected,

**[00:24:16]** sitting on the boards of all major global companies,

**[00:24:20]** and they really understand how these things look.

**[00:24:26]** It's a bit interesting that when we approach Harvard professors,

**[00:24:31]** they are initially somewhat surprised and taken aback,

**[00:24:34]** that a small bank from a geographic area,

**[00:24:38]** which is very educated, contacts them with such a thing,

**[00:24:43]** but in the end, we develop a relationship,

**[00:24:49]** where even the professors are basically enthusiastic about this experience,

**[00:24:54]** and what is a huge pleasure and satisfaction for me

**[00:24:58]** is that they even use us as an example.

**[00:25:03]** Just recently, a few weeks ago,

**[00:25:08]** a brand new strategy textbook was published by Harvard Business Press,

**[00:25:13]** authored by Professor Oberholzer,

**[00:25:17]** and in this textbook, Tatra Bank appears

**[00:25:22]** as one of the best practices that Professor Oberholzer refers to.

**[00:25:27]** So this is really something that, in my opinion, companies

**[00:25:32]** in this geographic area don't often get the chance to experience,

**[00:25:38]** and we are truly excited and very happy about it.

**[00:25:45]** Good, but if I return for a second to the

**[00:25:50]** few universal truths in this area,

**[00:25:55]** if there are any, they are truly axiomatic,

**[00:26:00]** and the axiomatic truth is this well-known sentence

**[00:26:05]** by Professor Porter, which everyone knows: culture eats strategy for breakfast.

**[00:26:10]** I just want to tell you that I overheard it

**[00:26:15]** and felt it might be true.

**[00:26:20]** What life has taught me in recent years,

**[00:26:25]** is that I have managed to understand the significance of this sentence

**[00:26:30]** in its absolute essence, and I think it's one

**[00:26:35]** of the wisest sentences I've encountered.

**[00:26:40]** In other words, I return to this: whatever strategy you have,

**[00:26:45]** if you don't have culture, you don't have the engine that will drive you along the path

**[00:26:50]** you've set,

**[00:26:55]** the way you need it.

**[00:27:00]** I've already mentioned the 7 principles, but before all that,

**[00:27:05]** I want to introduce one concept, because through this concept

**[00:27:10]** we definitely look at things related to culture.

**[00:27:15]** I've now moved away from the math,

**[00:27:20]** so now I'll break the pattern and introduce one equation,

**[00:27:25]** but it will be the only equation in my entire presentation.

**[00:27:30]** It's beautiful, and it's extremely simple.

**[00:27:34]** And when I use the word beautiful with equations,

**[00:27:38]** I have to be very careful, because you might not know

**[00:27:42]** that in mathematics there are also beauty contests,

**[00:27:46]** but before those contests are equations,

**[00:27:51]** and there is a consensus among mathematicians,

**[00:27:56]** called Euler's identity.

**[00:28:00]** Just as a side note, but for me, this equation

**[00:28:04]** I'm presenting now is really one

**[00:28:08]** that has its own beauty, not only visual,

**[00:28:12]** but also great significance. I'll explain it briefly.

**[00:28:16]** S is the strength of the company, and E and I are the distribution of its energy,

**[00:28:22]** which is always 100% and never less.

**[00:28:26]** Good, we can then try to manage that 100%

**[00:28:30]** to make it less, but at any given moment, we have 100%

**[00:28:34]** and that 100% must be allocated between external and internal environments.

**[00:28:38]** And this formula tells us,

**[00:28:42]** since I, the energy devoted to internal matters,

**[00:28:52]** it beautifully describes the strength of the company in its principle.

**[00:28:59]** In other words, the more energy goes into the internal environment,

**[00:29:06]** out of the 100%, the smaller the remainder you have

**[00:29:11]** for the external environment.

**[00:29:15]** So our effort must be

**[00:29:19]** to maximize the energy we produce,

**[00:29:24]** so that we don't waste it unnecessarily

**[00:29:29]** on internal matters.

**[00:29:32]** Of course, some energy must be spent

**[00:29:35]** from inside the company, but that which is inappropriately allocated there,

**[00:29:40]** basically arises when there is something in the company

**[00:29:44]** that we call misalignment,

**[00:29:47]** or working in silos. Things that different parts

**[00:29:52]** of the bank's subculture perceive differently and create

**[00:29:56]** tensions, friction, and misunderstandings that simply

**[00:30:00]** prevent this energy from being constructively spent towards

**[00:30:05]** the main essence of the company's operation.

**[00:30:08]** So once again, what we try to do in culture

**[00:30:15]** to frame very simply in theory looks like this,

**[00:30:19]** we try to do things that increase the volume of that engine

**[00:30:25]** or things that simply increase the company's energy capacity,

**[00:30:32]** so that on the path from that electric bike

**[00:30:37]** to that jet plane, we keep moving things towards

**[00:30:41]** that jet plane. And the second very important concept,

**[00:30:45]** once we produce that energy, is to be careful not to spend too much

**[00:30:50]** on internal frictions,

**[00:30:56]** but to then constructively allocate it to things

**[00:31:01]** where we need it.

**[00:31:04]** So, let's get to the essence of what

**[00:31:08]** I wanted to say today from a practical perspective.

**[00:31:12]** I would like to invite you into our kitchen

**[00:31:16]** and try to simply explain to you

**[00:31:20]** a few concepts that I personally believe

**[00:31:24]** have a big impact on the two things I framed.

**[00:31:30]** Either they increase the engine's capacity,

**[00:31:34]** or they try to eliminate unnecessary internal friction

**[00:31:39]** and properly direct that energy.

**[00:31:43]** Let's start right away with concept number one.

**[00:31:47]** And concept number one is called the roadmap.

**[00:31:51]** What is a roadmap?

**[00:31:55]** I said that within the five-year

**[00:31:59]** strategic cycles, we produce something called the book of the bank,

**[00:32:03]** and there the bank's strategy is formulated.

**[00:32:07]** But such a formulated bank strategy can be

**[00:32:11]** perceived as somewhat up in the air.

**[00:32:15]** Something that may not have a directly felt impact

**[00:32:23]** and touch on their daily work.

**[00:32:27]** Therefore, we said that we need to transfer what is written in the strategy

**[00:32:31]** into a document that will be extremely practical

**[00:32:35]** and in which, and this is also in shorter time horizons than 5 years,

**[00:32:41]** because today the pace of time is such that you can't plan everything

**[00:32:45]** for such a long period, in fact almost nothing can be planned

**[00:32:49]** for such a long period, it will describe what the entire bank should actually do

**[00:32:55]** and it will describe it in a single document,

**[00:32:59]** which everyone will have access to and that document will be everywhere present.

**[00:33:03]** This creates an extremely strong execution tool.

**[00:33:09]** What you see on the roadmap is basically a business view,

**[00:33:15]** meaning all the business segments that Tatra banka has,

**[00:33:21]** have their goals defined here for a shorter period of 1 or 2 years,

**[00:33:27]** they have those goals clearly thought out, they have them quantified

**[00:33:31]** and they have those goals turned into activities by which they want to achieve them.

**[00:33:37]** These are not only business goals, there are also goals

**[00:33:43]** related to, for example, digitalization, innovation,

**[00:33:49]** customer satisfaction, or what we aim to do

**[00:33:53]** in each segment.

**[00:33:56]** Now, what I want to point out from a cultural perspective,

**[00:34:01]** is the following fact: quarterly evaluations of these goals take place.

**[00:34:09]** Every quarter, about 70 high-ranking people in the bank meet,

**[00:34:17]** who have ultimate responsibility for fulfilling these goals,

**[00:34:21]** and as part of this roadmap, a quarterly evaluation is conducted,

**[00:34:27]** where each activity receives a traffic light, either red or green.

**[00:34:34]** There is no orange; the activity is always marked as achieved

**[00:34:40]** or not achieved.

**[00:34:43]** What is interesting here is that this roadmap essentially ensures

**[00:34:52]** huge transparency; it is everywhere present.

**[00:34:56]** This is a poster measuring 1 by 1.5 meters, located in meeting rooms,

**[00:35:01]** in the offices of department directors, it is basically omnipresent throughout the bank.

**[00:35:07]** But what is important here is that if an activity and the activities

**[00:35:12]** have explicitly and colorfully marked responsible persons, not only

**[00:35:17]** the business owner but also support units.

**[00:35:20]** If the activities and results are marked red,

**[00:35:24]** a comment is provided, but if the red color repeats three times in a row,

**[00:35:30]** then a deep insight is requested into why this is so.

**[00:35:38]** And the owners of the topic must explain in great detail before everyone else’s eyes

**[00:35:44]** why they are deviating from the roadmap and its whole plan.

**[00:35:51]** Believe me, this is a situation everyone wants to avoid.

**[00:35:55]** So the roadmap in a way forces the whole system to move in one direction,

**[00:36:04]** to understand how we are moving, what is on that path,

**[00:36:08]** and even does not allow much deviation to the left or right.

**[00:36:13]** The second extremely important aspect is,

**[00:36:17]** that the bank has seven board members,

**[00:36:21]** and among them are so-called supporting board members

**[00:36:25]** or supporting functions, such as the risk officer, finance officer,

**[00:36:30]** operations officer, IT, etc.

**[00:36:34]** What we established in the context of evaluating the roadmap,

**[00:36:39]** is that there is a so-called rotating responsibility

**[00:36:45]** or sponsorship of board members

**[00:36:49]** for individual segments on the roadmap,

**[00:36:53]** which change every six months.

**[00:36:56]** The advantage is that a different board member than the one

**[00:37:00]** who line-manages the business owns it.

**[00:37:04]** In other words, that board member

**[00:37:08]** must get very familiar with that segment,

**[00:37:12]** meet with the people responsible for the goals,

**[00:37:16]** talk with them about how the goals are set,

**[00:37:20]** help them achieve those goals, and then evaluate them.

**[00:37:24]** Someone else from the rest, with a very broad view of that segment,

**[00:37:28]** comments on how the segment performed.

**[00:37:32]** This rotation over five years ensures

**[00:37:36]** that all board members,

**[00:37:40]** regardless of their line responsibility,

**[00:37:44]** are extremely deeply involved in the business goals and problems

**[00:37:48]** they face, comment on those business goals,

**[00:37:52]** and represent their departments that report to them,

**[00:37:56]** feeling equally part of the business story,

**[00:38:00]** as if they were directly responsible for the business.

**[00:38:04]** From a cultural perspective, this is something

**[00:38:08]** that ensures extreme transparency,

**[00:38:12]** but also has a very strong impact on alignment across the entire bank

**[00:38:16]** and specifically on breaking down silos.

**[00:38:20]** This strongly ensures

**[00:38:24]** that unnecessary frictions directed inside the bank

**[00:38:30]** from the created energy are minimized.

**[00:38:34]** Concept number two is called the magic triangle.

**[00:38:38]** It again plays a very similar role as the roadmap,

**[00:38:44]** but I will try to explain its meaning.

**[00:38:48]** What we see in this triangle

**[00:38:52]** are three key activities that take place every quarter.

**[00:38:56]** Evaluation is the evaluation of quarterly goals,

**[00:39:00]** which I forgot to mention.

**[00:39:02]** But besides that, Demo Day happens every quarter.

**[00:39:06]** Demo Day is an institution that presents

**[00:39:11]** deliveries of new things to the bank,

**[00:39:15]** either internal or related to clients.

**[00:39:19]** What was planned and what IT is going to deliver,

**[00:39:23]** is presented to the whole bank in prototypes and final solutions,

**[00:39:27]** with a very clear link to 90-day goals.

**[00:39:33]** In other words, this is even streamed to the entire bank.

**[00:39:37]** A quarterly evaluation video is created every quarter,

**[00:39:43]** and that video is shared throughout the bank,

**[00:39:51]** so every employee has a chance to know

**[00:39:54]** what has actually been done in the bank and with what result.

**[00:40:00]** Note the third peak of that triangle,

**[00:40:03]** although it doesn't quite look like a triangle,

**[00:40:05]** this is the so-called quarterly planning.

**[00:40:09]** And why am I talking about this in the context of culture?

**[00:40:14]** Because the bank is, in a way,

**[00:40:17]** or to a large extent, an IT institution.

**[00:40:21]** We always have fewer resources than capacity.

**[00:40:27]** Resource allocation is therefore a very sensitive topic.

**[00:40:31]** It affects the sense of fairness,

**[00:40:36]** which greatly influences individual motivation.

**[00:40:42]** Historically, the distribution of insufficient capacity

**[00:40:46]** in relation to many ideas was the task of the board,

**[00:40:52]** which made the decisions

**[00:40:55]** and then delivered the results to the bank with some explanation.

**[00:41:01]** At one point, we decided to maybe do an experiment,

**[00:41:08]** or maybe a bold step.

**[00:41:12]** And we said we would move this absolutely crucial decision

**[00:41:18]** one level down to the department directors.

**[00:41:23]** And we did it in a way that might sound shocking.

**[00:41:29]** We said one day that we have 100 requests

**[00:41:35]** that should be realizable in the given quarter.

**[00:41:39]** We have capacity for maybe 60.

**[00:41:42]** We locked all the department directors in one room in the morning

**[00:41:47]** and told them they would decide which 60 of the 100 to do.

**[00:41:53]** Please do it by the end of the day.

**[00:41:56]** Announce the result to us and do it

**[00:41:59]** so that you as a group internally agree with this decision.

**[00:42:04]** We did this about 3 years ago.

**[00:42:08]** It still works every quarter and it's an amazing thing,

**[00:42:13]** because it ensures empowerment.

**[00:42:17]** It provides a big insight into the entire management level under the board

**[00:42:23]** into all the topics on the table.

**[00:42:27]** Department heads have to agree, explain, and understand

**[00:42:32]** that some things outside their scope

**[00:42:36]** might be more important or different at this moment.

**[00:42:40]** So again, empowerment enhances alignment,

**[00:42:44]** increases transparency, and reduces silo thinking.

**[00:42:50]** Another concept, from a cultural perspective,

**[00:42:54]** that greatly helps the equation I presented.

**[00:42:59]** Concept number 3, employer promise.

**[00:43:04]** This is a huge topic.

**[00:43:07]** I don't even have the chance or ambition to present it comprehensively,

**[00:43:12]** but I want to highlight a few things

**[00:43:16]** that are relevant to the core of culture.

**[00:43:22]** We have always been predominantly client-focused,

**[00:43:28]** paying less attention to employees.

**[00:43:31]** That was a bit of our historical pain.

**[00:43:36]** We only realized and understood over time

**[00:43:40]** that this imbalance is absolutely not right

**[00:43:44]** and that we must act very balanced in this context.

**[00:43:52]** What happened with the employer promise?

**[00:43:55]** This was one of our biggest failures

**[00:44:01]** on our journey.

**[00:44:05]** We tried to introduce the employer promise concept

**[00:44:11]** around 2012 or 2013,

**[00:44:16]** and this concept failed.

**[00:44:19]** It simply wasn't implemented as we wished.

**[00:44:23]** It basically died a quiet death.

**[00:44:26]** I have two hypotheses why this happened.

**[00:44:30]** One hypothesis is that we introduced it at the wrong time

**[00:44:34]** and we weren't ready to implement this concept.

**[00:44:38]** Simply, the constellation didn't consider it

**[00:44:42]** important enough yet.

**[00:44:45]** But the second, maybe even more important aspect was that

**[00:44:49]** we did it top-down.

**[00:44:52]** We decided at management level

**[00:44:55]** to introduce the Employer Promise and it would mature like this.

**[00:44:58]** These will be the attributes in which we want to be

**[00:45:01]** above market average, this at market average, and this below market average.

**[00:45:05]** And this is what we tried to deliver to the bank as our decision.

**[00:45:09]** But this didn’t work at all because it hit

**[00:45:12]** completely different aspects of various parts of the bank,

**[00:45:15]** where for some it was perceived as unfair,

**[00:45:19]** incomprehensible, and just do it.

**[00:45:22]** We returned to this topic after some time,

**[00:45:27]** relatively recently, in 2018,

**[00:45:31]** when we realized we had one big shortcoming

**[00:45:37]** and that this topic is extremely important for the bank’s culture.

**[00:45:40]** And to really boost the energy in the bank

**[00:45:44]** in the right way, we did it completely differently.

**[00:45:48]** We did it with a bottom-up system,

**[00:45:51]** we created a working group of people across the bank,

**[00:45:56]** we worked with a thousand comments,

**[00:46:00]** with a thousand, like a thousand quantitative surveys,

**[00:46:05]** many qualitative surveys, to understand and bring in,

**[00:46:09]** that they were fully identified with the soul of our people.

**[00:46:15]** And this proved to be the right approach,

**[00:46:20]** which, in my opinion, still helps us a lot today in the culture topic.

**[00:46:28]** We included it in the roadmap.

**[00:46:31]** The roadmap I showed you

**[00:46:34]** had this EVP visually separated in pink at the bottom.

**[00:46:41]** In other words, we track it quarterly.

**[00:46:44]** It is again managed cross-bank.

**[00:46:47]** It’s not an HR topic at all, it’s a topic for many parts of the bank

**[00:46:51]** with similar sponsorship from board members.

**[00:46:55]** It is tracked, delivered, every year,

**[00:46:58]** what we succeed in within the ambitions we set,

**[00:47:01]** and what we fail to deliver.

**[00:47:04]** And what still remains from the pain points

**[00:47:07]** that our employees declare,

**[00:47:10]** that we still need to solve.

**[00:47:13]** But what else do we want to highlight here?

**[00:47:16]** Again, a cultural aspect similar to the one

**[00:47:19]** I mentioned a moment ago.

**[00:47:22]** Part of this process was also that

**[00:47:25]** we revised the values.

**[00:47:28]** And we revised the values in a way that, I admit,

**[00:47:31]** It was shocking to me because the working group,

**[00:47:34]** which was Employer Promise, at one point came to the board

**[00:47:37]** and told us we had to change the values.

**[00:47:40]** And that was a moment like, wow,

**[00:47:43]** I really did not expect this,

**[00:47:46]** we did not expect someone to just burst in

**[00:47:49]** and say, change the values.

**[00:47:52]** Values are something that doesn't change so easily,

**[00:47:55]** just like that, do this and do that.

**[00:47:58]** But after explaining the values,

**[00:48:02]** after explaining the reasons,

**[00:48:05]** why to change them,

**[00:48:08]** we quickly identified with

**[00:48:11]** the opinion of that working group,

**[00:48:14]** and we changed the values.

**[00:48:17]** In other words, it was a sign to me

**[00:48:20]** of the maturity of the organization, which can

**[00:48:23]** function in a way that

**[00:48:26]** a meaningful and explainable request

**[00:48:29]** to adjust the values arises,

**[00:48:32]** and we agree on it.

**[00:48:38]** What else is important in the topic of employer promise?

**[00:48:41]** What I referred to at the beginning,

**[00:48:44]** is that the distributed system,

**[00:48:47]** when we had everyone in one building,

**[00:48:50]** there is also the work environment that is part of this,

**[00:48:53]** and you invest in the headquarters building,

**[00:48:57]** which causes tensions that are inappropriate.

**[00:49:00]** In this context, we had to think about

**[00:49:03]** how to deliver the elements related to employer promise

**[00:49:06]** to the branches as well,

**[00:49:09]** and I think we solved it very elegantly.

**[00:49:12]** From things like free coffee

**[00:49:15]** and great freedom in dressing,

**[00:49:18]** but still certain rules,

**[00:49:21]** to freedom like,

**[00:49:24]** outside of peak working hours,

**[00:49:27]** people at the branches can also take care of things,

**[00:49:33]** who need it, or to focus on themselves.

**[00:49:36]** We gave much more freedom,

**[00:49:39]** than people at branches were used to.

**[00:49:42]** What is a very important factor here,

**[00:49:45]** and so we also select chapters for them,

**[00:49:48]** we abolish attendance tracking.

**[00:49:51]** We stopped caring,

**[00:49:54]** how much time they spend at work.

**[00:49:57]** And this is different from homeworking, which we also introduced.

**[00:50:00]** But simply, the attendance itself doesn't interest us technically.

**[00:50:03]** We care about what people deliver as outputs.

**[00:50:09]** This is a fundamental change in philosophy,

**[00:50:15]** which I personally strongly believe in,

**[00:50:18]** and that is the philosophy,

**[00:50:20]** the more freedom and the fewer rules, the better.

**[00:50:27]** However, when you are in a bank,

**[00:50:29]** this philosophy is a bit complicated,

**[00:50:32]** because banks are, by principle, bound by various rules,

**[00:50:35]** and you simply have things you must comply with.

**[00:50:40]** So, where freedom can be brought in

**[00:50:43]** and where rules can be eliminated,

**[00:50:46]** that is all very good.

**[00:50:53]** This is maybe just to give a feeling

**[00:50:55]** of everything we have introduced.

**[00:50:58]** With the participation of this, there is a big topic called leadership,

**[00:51:03]** where Red Button helps us

**[00:51:06]** make very significant progress,

**[00:51:10]** and we are very grateful for that.

**[00:51:12]** But what I want to say with this is,

**[00:51:14]** maybe what impact this has on employee engagement.

**[00:51:22]** We measure engagement every year.

**[00:51:25]** We try to find out through various questions

**[00:51:28]** and try to look into the soul of our people.

**[00:51:34]** These are two things I dared to select

**[00:51:36]** and I am really extremely excited about.

**[00:51:42]** 88% of people say they are proud to work at the bank.

**[00:51:49]** And the bank is currently something that is not an easy employer.

**[00:51:54]** So, when we succeed in this,

**[00:51:55]** I point out that with this concept

**[00:52:01]** we again boost the capacity of that engine

**[00:52:05]** and we increase its volume to boost that energy.

**[00:52:13]** And secondly, 87% of people say they understand,

**[00:52:18]** how their goals relate to the bank's strategy and objectives.

**[00:52:22]** This is far above all benchmarks,

**[00:52:25]** because it’s not just about understanding the strategy itself.

**[00:52:29]** These people say they not only understand it,

**[00:52:31]** they understand how their goals connect to that strategy.

**[00:52:36]** Linking people and their individual work to the overall strategy

**[00:52:41]** is something extremely important, and I consider this a huge success.

**[00:52:47]** Concept number four is called Brand Promise and long-term focus.

**[00:52:54]** A few words about this.

**[00:52:59]** Brand Promise, or the brand’s promise,

**[00:53:03]** or our ambition to stand out from the rest of the world,

**[00:53:08]** we have had this much longer than the Employer Promise.

**[00:53:11]** On the other hand, it took us a while to understand

**[00:53:14]** that the Brand Promise and Employer Promise are actually like Yin and Yang.

**[00:53:19]** These two things complement each other,

**[00:53:21]** and if we focus too much on one side at the expense of the other,

**[00:53:25]** it creates imbalance.

**[00:53:29]** Our Brand Promise is

**[00:53:33]** to be an innovative bank, to be a digital leader.

**[00:53:37]** We consciously committed to this ambition

**[00:53:43]** and it wasn’t an easy process, it was a long time ago, back in 2009.

**[00:53:48]** And this was something that helped us tremendously,

**[00:53:53]** because in 2009,

**[00:53:56]** believe me, the word innovation

**[00:54:00]** was not the buzzword it is today.

**[00:54:04]** In fact, companies in general didn’t focus on this topic,

**[00:54:09]** and banks especially didn’t,

**[00:54:13]** of course with some exceptions.

**[00:54:15]** When we said we wanted to be innovators,

**[00:54:18]** we were basically seen,

**[00:54:20]** even within the group, a bit like the enfant terrible,

**[00:54:23]** like an autistic child,

**[00:54:25]** who wants to play with some unusual toy,

**[00:54:29]** but delivers results, and very well,

**[00:54:32]** so we let that child play.

**[00:54:35]** Now it’s basically a mainstream trend,

**[00:54:38]** but we gained a lot from that timing.

**[00:54:42]** Because we had time,

**[00:54:44]** when we basically had no strong competition in this,

**[00:54:49]** to go through understanding the whole world,

**[00:54:52]** how to set yourself up internally,

**[00:54:54]** how to implement this into our DNA, that is, into the culture.

**[00:54:58]** You can't simply decide,

**[00:54:59]** overnight, that you will be an innovator.

**[00:55:02]** You go through phases, the learning curve is very complex,

**[00:55:07]** you have most of the falls, things that don't work out.

**[00:55:12]** I am very glad that we had the chance to go through this quite painlessly,

**[00:55:18]** and that we were able to maintain this focus for such a long time,

**[00:55:25]** because focus again greatly simplifies things.

**[00:55:28]** But what I want to say in this context is,

**[00:55:31]** that we had the ambition to be the most innovative bank in Slovakia.

**[00:55:36]** We never had the ambition, given the geographic area we operate in,

**[00:55:42]** to be perceived like this outside Slovakia.

**[00:55:45]** And what is a huge satisfaction for us is,

**[00:55:48]** that we are the most globally awarded Slovak bank.

**[00:55:52]** We have awards that we never...

**[00:55:56]** We didn't even dare to dream of.

**[00:55:59]** We have won the best in the world awards.

**[00:56:03]** And that was the award for the best mobile app or mobile banking.

**[00:56:08]** Very recently, we received the award

**[00:56:11]** for the best consumer digital bank in the world.

**[00:56:16]** These are things and many others I don't want to talk about.

**[00:56:20]** But when you get such awards,

**[00:56:23]** it's something

**[00:56:26]** that impacts the internal culture.

**[00:56:29]** Because it boosts the feeling of pride.

**[00:56:33]** When you have such a significant external success,

**[00:56:38]** you get that kind of energetic feedback loop.

**[00:56:41]** People feel that it makes sense,

**[00:56:44]** that it is really something big, that they are recognized.

**[00:56:48]** And this is something that clearly increases

**[00:56:53]** the engine's capacity,

**[00:56:56]** which I keep referring to.

**[00:57:00]** Another concept that may not seem at first glance

**[00:57:04]** to be closely related to this,

**[00:57:08]** social responsibility is really a topic

**[00:57:10]** that is not inherent only to us,

**[00:57:15]** or just a few companies.

**[00:57:17]** Thankfully, we are all starting to think about this.

**[00:57:22]** We have understood that

**[00:57:24]** making money or achieving gains

**[00:57:27]** is no longer sufficient.

**[00:57:31]** What we need is to do conscious activities

**[00:57:33]** that contribute to the common good.

**[00:57:37]** And we do them.

**[00:57:39]** Many companies do them.

**[00:57:41]** But not always in a way

**[00:57:44]** that clearly communicates it

**[00:57:48]** within the institution.

**[00:57:51]** And not just communicate,

**[00:57:53]** but so it has a boosting effect,

**[00:57:56]** because again, people are driven

**[00:57:59]** by a sense of purpose

**[00:58:03]** and things that

**[00:58:04]** go in this direction increase their engagement,

**[00:58:09]** and increased engagement again increases scale.

**[00:58:13]** What’s important is not only to communicate this internally,

**[00:58:18]** but ideally to integrate it with the core business,

**[00:58:22]** so it is present, visible, and tangible.

**[00:58:27]** We have several things

**[00:58:30]** that we do in this context.

**[00:58:33]** Again, we have a focus.

**[00:58:35]** Our focus is art and education,

**[00:58:38]** but I will show you one example of how

**[00:58:42]** we connect our CSR activities

**[00:58:45]** with our own business.

**[00:58:47]** Since we connect and strongly support art,

**[00:58:52]** at one point we decided

**[00:58:55]** that the designs of all our payment cards

**[00:58:59]** would be works of art.

**[00:59:01]** They would be works by contemporary Slovak artists,

**[00:59:07]** either visual artists or designers.

**[00:59:11]** With this concept, we ensure not only

**[00:59:16]** that we support these artists, and support art in many other ways,

**[00:59:21]** but we also bring this theme closer to our people by

**[00:59:25]** having our clients carry these beautiful cards

**[00:59:28]** in their wallets,

**[00:59:30]** and the design is not just a superficial purpose,

**[00:59:33]** It has a deeper meaning.

**[00:59:36]** For example, we support the National Gallery,

**[00:59:38]** and because of our support, entry to the gallery is free.

**[00:59:43]** For example, we decided

**[00:59:45]** to reallocate the money we normally spend

**[00:59:50]** on Christmas gifts for our clients,

**[00:59:54]** completely differently

**[00:59:56]** and buy an artwork for the National Gallery of that value.

**[01:00:00]** It will be very significant and will actually be a gift for all of us.

**[01:00:04]** And when people are properly explained and communicated to about this,

**[01:00:10]** they feel a sense of purpose, pride, and that they work for a company

**[01:00:16]** that truly looks at the world in a broader context.

**[01:00:22]** And I am very convinced that this is another parameter

**[01:00:27]** or concept that boosts the strength of that source of energy

**[01:00:32]** that the company has.

**[01:00:35]** Good, let's move on to the last two.

**[01:00:38]** Obsession with youth.

**[01:00:41]** This is truly an absolutely typical cultural trait for us.

**[01:00:46]** At Tatra Banka, we are obsessed with youth.

**[01:00:51]** It relates to the phases of an organization's life cycle.

**[01:00:57]** Just like living organisms,

**[01:01:01]** companies are born and then grow quickly,

**[01:01:05]** are very flexible, and can react immediately to everything,

**[01:01:09]** until they reach a certain size,

**[01:01:13]** when things start to get complicated.

**[01:01:17]** That's exactly when the moment arises

**[01:01:20]** to introduce rules and procedures,

**[01:01:23]** responsibility is distributed, and people don't know each other.

**[01:01:26]** In other words, the need for investment in the 'I' in the formula,

**[01:01:29]** in the internal part,

**[01:01:32]** naturally starts to increase.

**[01:01:35]** When big companies don't work with this

**[01:01:41]** and leave it unnoticed,

**[01:01:44]** rigidity and inflexibility begin to occur,

**[01:01:49]** typical traits of large corporations,

**[01:01:52]** which then cause

**[01:01:56]** the company to shift from a growth trend

**[01:02:01]** to a declining trend, eventually leading to extinction.

**[01:02:04]** And being aware of this,

**[01:02:07]** we are consciously obsessed with activities,

**[01:02:12]** which we try to avoid.

**[01:02:15]** And the things, basically, again simplified, are two.

**[01:02:20]** It is a strong focus on the young generation

**[01:02:26]** and startups.

**[01:02:29]** Let's start with the second one.

**[01:02:32]** We consciously expose ourselves to cooperation with startups

**[01:02:37]** or fintechs.

**[01:02:40]** We do this because they are almost flexible organizations,

**[01:02:47]** and when we are in contact with them,

**[01:02:50]** we have to learn to live with them

**[01:02:53]** and we have to adopt some of their philosophy.

**[01:02:56]** So, in the interest of solving problems for clients, we advise

**[01:03:00]** to cooperate with companies that help us in this.

**[01:03:04]** And it also helps us culturally,

**[01:03:07]** because it forces us to look at the world

**[01:03:11]** through this kind of perspective.

**[01:03:14]** We even, and I am very excited about this,

**[01:03:17]** were, again this is a kind of global award,

**[01:03:21]** which we refer to,

**[01:03:24]** our so-called Elevator Lab,

**[01:03:28]** where cooperation with startups is concentrated,

**[01:03:35]** was awarded twice in a row,

**[01:03:38]** and was ranked among the best innovation labs in the world.

**[01:03:42]** And the second topic is the young generation.

**[01:03:48]** You would probably be surprised

**[01:03:52]** if I showed you a histogram, a structure,

**[01:03:56]** that we have clients divided by age,

**[01:03:59]** we actually have the largest number around 20 years old,

**[01:04:03]** plus or minus 4 years, so from about 16 to 24,

**[01:04:07]** there we have the absolutely largest client base.

**[01:04:10]** And we are incredibly happy about that,

**[01:04:13]** because we are a bank that has a strong proposition

**[01:04:16]** for the youngest generation.

**[01:04:19]** We believe that the youngest generation

**[01:04:22]** best perceives future trends.

**[01:04:25]** If we can look at the world through their eyes,

**[01:04:28]** we constantly rejuvenate ourselves.

**[01:04:31]** At the same time, I think we are strategically setting ourselves up correctly,

**[01:04:35]** and when we rejuvenate, we again increase the source

**[01:04:39]** of the strength we have within the bank.

**[01:04:43]** We even have the ability to know how to communicate

**[01:04:47]** with this young generation using communication concepts,

**[01:04:51]** which are unique.

**[01:04:54]** The last point is that we were the first bank

**[01:04:57]** in our geographic area to introduce the so-called

**[01:05:01]** virtual influencer, called Baby Blue,

**[01:05:05]** who attracted quite a bit of attention

**[01:05:08]** even on the Czech rap scene.

**[01:05:11]** I'll send you a short video that will show it...

**[01:05:15]** Ok, I just came across the craziest marketing campaign

**[01:05:19]** I've ever seen in Czech-Slovakia.

**[01:05:23]** They released a track with Sole, Forever, featuring Baby Blue.

**[01:05:27]** At first, I thought Baby Blue was some singer

**[01:05:31]** pushed by Fandom. But then I checked her Instagram

**[01:05:35]** and found out she is a CGI influencer.

**[01:05:38]** That means they simply created a profile

**[01:05:41]** and made up a character.

**[01:05:45]** They put that character on the feature track

**[01:05:49]** and then put the character on Instagram,

**[01:05:53]** as Baby Blue, with a link to open

**[01:05:57]** a student account at Tatra Banka.

**[01:06:01]** So the bank created a marketing campaign, created a brand,

**[01:06:05]** specifically for that campaign, called Baby Blue,

**[01:06:09]** and put it in a rap video clip. Understand? A bank.

**[01:06:13]** A bank. So now I'm not sure if Baby Blue is a product

**[01:06:17]** of the bank or a product of Fagden,

**[01:06:21]** but in any case, it's brilliantly twisted.

**[01:06:32]** So I'm excited that we're brilliantly twisted.

**[01:06:36]** One concept. Reinvention cycles. A very interesting story.

**[01:06:40]** A few years ago, completely by chance,

**[01:06:45]** a lady appeared in Slovakia who is an authority in strategy,

**[01:06:49]** named Nadia Zek-Sembajeva,

**[01:06:53]** and she introduced us to a philosophy called Reinvention.

**[01:06:58]** She says that big companies, to operate and succeed in today's fast-changing world,

**[01:07:04]** need to operate within three-year Reinvention cycles.

**[01:07:10]** In other words, every three years such a company should stop

**[01:07:16]** and find itself anew and come up with some big concept.

**[01:07:21]** What was absolutely eye-opening for us,

**[01:07:26]** but very surprising, was that we,

**[01:07:34]** and that was done in 2018,

**[01:07:38]** when we looked back at what we had done,

**[01:07:42]** we exactly found our Reinvention cycles

**[01:07:46]** without even being aware of them.

**[01:07:50]** And it has a perfect three-year cycle.

**[01:07:54]** Simply from Brand Promise through the implementation at Raiffeisen Bank,

**[01:07:58]** Book of the Bank, Employer Promise.

**[01:08:02]** This concept actually says that this is a so-called

**[01:08:06]** energy booster, that if you bring

**[01:08:10]** a new theme every three years, it shakes the organization,

**[01:08:14]** if the organization is not shaken, its energy level drops,

**[01:08:18]** but this brings a new theme, boosts it,

**[01:08:22]** and this is a pure concept for increasing the capacity of that engine,

**[01:08:26]** which I keep talking about.

**[01:08:30]** So those were seven concepts. I have three short notes

**[01:08:34]** with which I would like to close my input.

**[01:08:38]** The first one.

**[01:08:42]** Whatever we want to implement from a culture perspective,

**[01:08:46]** it's not that simple. We have to be very sensitive

**[01:08:50]** about when we do it. And that sensitivity goes in two directions.

**[01:08:54]** In my opinion, the maturity condition must be met,

**[01:08:58]** which I already pointed out, that we were not mature,

**[01:09:02]** before EVP, it was not possible. Certain things can only be implemented

**[01:09:06]** at a certain time. And the second condition,

**[01:09:10]** which I would always pay attention to,

**[01:09:14]** is the organization's absorptive capacity. In other words,

**[01:09:18]** you cannot implement many such concepts at once,

**[01:09:22]** or shortly after each other, until the organization is able to absorb them.

**[01:09:26]** What is hinted at here, or the attempt at the graphic idea,

**[01:09:30]** is an upward spiral.

**[01:09:34]** There is an upward or downward spiral

**[01:09:38]** that your organization can follow.

**[01:09:42]** The downward spiral can be very simply explained

**[01:09:46]** by the principle of cost reductions.

**[01:09:50]** When you want to optimize and reduce costs,

**[01:09:54]** it can be done to a certain extent, but if you overdo it,

**[01:09:58]** and cause...

**[01:10:00]** that cost reduction will cause decreased revenues,

**[01:10:04]** which will then cause further cost reductions,

**[01:10:07]** and that will again cause decreased revenues,

**[01:10:10]** where a company falls into the so-called deadly spiral.

**[01:10:14]** You really need to be very careful about that,

**[01:10:16]** but we just want to use it as an example.

**[01:10:19]** There are also examples of an upward spiral,

**[01:10:22]** where when you introduce concepts that are energy-boosting,

**[01:10:26]** they lead you up that spiral.

**[01:10:29]** So this is something you need to be sensitive to

**[01:10:33]** and take into account

**[01:10:35]** when we talk about cultural concepts.

**[01:10:40]** The second very important note in my whole story

**[01:10:45]** is internal communication.

**[01:10:47]** You might not believe me, but we were so unaware

**[01:10:52]** that we only established separate internal communication three years ago,

**[01:10:57]** when we realized that if we don't communicate properly,

**[01:11:01]** both in terms of content and form,

**[01:11:04]** we simply won't achieve what we need.

**[01:11:07]** Internal communication plays a huge role in large companies.

**[01:11:11]** We have an app where news is constantly published.

**[01:11:16]** The app is the only way, there is a chat with the board,

**[01:11:20]** there is an intranet, there are quarterly videos,

**[01:11:23]** there are a million touchpoints through which endlessly and endlessly

**[01:11:27]** we try to communicate and explain to people the context of what

**[01:11:32]** we do, so they understand our philosophy.

**[01:11:37]** And my last note to finish is this,

**[01:11:41]** that culture is not copyable, it is unique.

**[01:11:47]** You can't take it from another company, transfer it, and pretend

**[01:11:50]** that this is how we will continue. Simply put, you can't change

**[01:11:53]** people's identities, you can't change a company's identity.

**[01:11:58]** That's why it is also the strongest differentiating factor.

**[01:12:04]** I am deeply convinced, based on my experience,

**[01:12:09]** that this is the only path to sustainable long-term success

**[01:12:16]** and it is much stronger than some cold transformation

**[01:12:22]** of organizations into uniform, efficiently functioning machines

**[01:12:28]** based on templates and rules.

**[01:12:31]** What my experience has taught me is this understanding,

**[01:12:36]** that I know a company is much more a living organism than a machine

**[01:12:42]** and you need to handle it accordingly.

**[01:12:47]** Thank you very much for your attention.

**[01:12:55]** I would normally give a big round of applause now.

**[01:12:59]** And thank you very much for this, Michal,

**[01:13:02]** because that lecture was absolutely amazing to me.

**[01:13:05]** Especially in the context that I really have the chance

**[01:13:09]** to look inside. That means it really is like that.

**[01:13:13]** I wanted to ask, before we move on to questions,

**[01:13:18]** and I definitely encourage everyone watching us,

**[01:13:22]** to ask a question via the slide.

**[01:13:25]** At the start of your presentation, you said

**[01:13:28]** your perspective shifted from the left hemisphere to the right.

**[01:13:32]** Do you recall a moment when that happened, or what caused it?

**[01:13:37]** I definitely know it wasn't a single moment.

**[01:13:40]** It wasn't a revolution, it was an evolution.

**[01:13:44]** And that evolution came from the fact that...

**[01:13:48]** It always helped me a lot when

**[01:13:51]** I suddenly got a higher level of responsibility.

**[01:13:56]** And the higher the responsibility and thus the more complex system

**[01:14:01]** I was in charge of and responsible for,

**[01:14:06]** I had to somehow take care of it.

**[01:14:09]** Gradually, I started to realize emotionally

**[01:14:13]** that this is actually the path

**[01:14:16]** that can be taken as the only way, provided

**[01:14:21]** you have a long-term interest in success.

**[01:14:27]** For short-term goals, other paths are more effective,

**[01:14:32]** than those paths of template efficiency.

**[01:14:39]** In the case of striving for long-term success, I think

**[01:14:44]** this path is much more effective,

**[01:14:48]** if not the only possible one.

**[01:14:51]** Now a fireworks of other thoughts lit up in me.

**[01:14:56]** I'll ask, so one can let go.

**[01:15:01]** You actually have to trust the people and the whole system.

**[01:15:06]** Is that right, or am I misunderstanding it somehow?

**[01:15:10]** That is an absolutely necessary prerequisite.

**[01:15:14]** I myself wouldn't achieve anything in this matter at all.

**[01:15:19]** My role is the one who should understand it

**[01:15:26]** and be an enabler so that the people who live with it

**[01:15:32]** and feel it much more intensely,

**[01:15:36]** have space to realize such ideas.

**[01:15:40]** An example is what I mentioned about the unsuccessful

**[01:15:46]** and successful process of implementing the employer promise.

**[01:15:52]** That is actually the answer to your question,

**[01:15:56]** that the successful moment only came then,

**[01:16:00]** when we gave up at the top management level of the bank.

**[01:16:05]** The ambition to come up with ideas and convince people about them.

**[01:16:10]** The right approach was exactly the opposite.

**[01:16:14]** And our task is to listen to these voices

**[01:16:20]** and feel what is right,

**[01:16:24]** and try to somehow manage that energy in this sense.

**[01:16:31]** When I, and I often remember this,

**[01:16:35]** actually first got in touch with you somehow,

**[01:16:39]** and back then it was Katka Reisenbuchlerová,

**[01:16:43]** from the very beginning and all the time I feel the energy of winners.

**[01:16:48]** I feel this energy here.

**[01:16:52]** And you actually also mentioned

**[01:16:56]** that you work with people who are globally at the top.

**[01:17:00]** That's actually not common at all.

**[01:17:04]** Often people want to play in the first league,

**[01:17:08]** but they work with a district league team.

**[01:17:12]** Again, this mindset, try to explain to me where it came from.

**[01:17:16]** And when you work with people of this caliber,

**[01:17:20]** it already defines where you want to head.

**[01:17:24]** We have one of our values,

**[01:17:28]** which is demandingness.

**[01:17:32]** And even if you ask in a survey

**[01:17:36]** which value is the strongest lived within the bank,

**[01:17:40]** it is precisely demandingness.

**[01:17:44]** It's somewhat genetically given that we

**[01:17:48]** historically emerged on the Slovak market from scratch,

**[01:17:52]** from nothing. We were a bank that was founded after the revolution

**[01:17:56]** and entered a space where there were big banks,

**[01:18:00]** which basically had a monopoly position in the market.

**[01:18:04]** Then the banking market of course changed, but we are the only bank

**[01:18:08]** that managed to get into the top three banks

**[01:18:12]** from zero. And that can't be done

**[01:18:16]** without having the ambition

**[01:18:20]** to do things so that just being comfortable is not enough.

**[01:18:26]** And this gradually became

**[01:18:30]** part of our DNA,

**[01:18:34]** and that's why we can

**[01:18:38]** actually come up with such a bold idea

**[01:18:42]** to approach a Harvard professor

**[01:18:46]** to work on strategy with us and he actually

**[01:18:50]** and he also relaxes and

**[01:18:54]** he is quite happy about it,

**[01:18:58]** because it's something new for him too.

**[01:19:02]** So yes, that's really how it is. We really try

**[01:19:06]** and that drives us a lot, the challenge.

**[01:19:10]** Maybe sometimes too much, then we have

**[01:19:14]** a bit of a risk of overloading

**[01:19:18]** and not knowing when it's enough and maybe

**[01:19:22]** not knowing what not to do, because we want to do everything.

**[01:19:26]** But this is the trait that defines us.

**[01:19:30]** Maybe I'll

**[01:19:34]** go back, because

**[01:19:38]** you say it so modestly that someone relaxes

**[01:19:42]** to work with you. You are the best bank in the world.

**[01:19:46]** You simply do things that others

**[01:19:50]** not only banks but other companies can only dream of.

**[01:19:54]** For me, the question is, you invest a huge amount of resources

**[01:19:58]** into these things.

**[01:20:00]** into things that actually move you forward.

**[01:20:02]** It is definitely a strategic decision.

**[01:20:04]** So again,

**[01:20:06]** it actually

**[01:20:08]** defines that you decided

**[01:20:10]** to take this path and actually invest in it.

**[01:20:12]** So you see education as an investment?

**[01:20:14]** I assume so. We definitely see

**[01:20:16]** education as an investment.

**[01:20:18]** Leadership is one of the absolutely

**[01:20:20]** key contexts,

**[01:20:22]** of our concepts.

**[01:20:24]** We believe that leaders

**[01:20:26]** at all management levels are

**[01:20:28]** concepts that

**[01:20:30]** are

**[01:20:32]** owners

**[01:20:34]** of small subcultures

**[01:20:36]** and they are the ones

**[01:20:40]** who are with those people

**[01:20:42]** every day. They

**[01:20:44]** understand them, know,

**[01:20:46]** how to develop them

**[01:20:48]** and simply these are concepts,

**[01:20:50]** which

**[01:20:52]** with all possible

**[01:20:54]** methods we support

**[01:20:56]** and of course we like what we have.

**[01:20:58]** I'm still fascinated,

**[01:21:00]** when you mentioned

**[01:21:02]** actually the rotating responsibility

**[01:21:04]** for the given priorities.

**[01:21:06]** That's something that

**[01:21:08]** actually, to put it simply,

**[01:21:10]** makes a lot of sense,

**[01:21:12]** but I haven't seen it anywhere else.

**[01:21:14]** So try to

**[01:21:16]** say a bit about it.

**[01:21:18]** How it came about and how it is,

**[01:21:20]** if it's commonly established now.

**[01:21:22]** Yes.

**[01:21:26]** I thought of it.

**[01:21:30]** And I remember

**[01:21:32]** the situation

**[01:21:34]** when I came with it to colleagues

**[01:21:36]** at the board and told them,

**[01:21:38]** that

**[01:21:40]** I would like to do it this way

**[01:21:42]** and what they think about it.

**[01:21:44]** And I remember first

**[01:21:46]** the scared faces,

**[01:21:48]** who looked at me,

**[01:21:50]** but that fear

**[01:21:52]** was only for a moment,

**[01:21:54]** because when we talked about it,

**[01:21:56]** actually

**[01:21:58]** everyone

**[01:22:00]** liked it. Of course with some

**[01:22:02]** background questions,

**[01:22:04]** like okay, now we won't

**[01:22:06]** interfere with competencies,

**[01:22:08]** because there is a line member,

**[01:22:10]** the person responsible for that business will introduce themselves

**[01:22:12]** and now someone else from the side.

**[01:22:14]** Who will do what there,

**[01:22:16]** how it will be set up.

**[01:22:18]** We don't have to finalize every detail.

**[01:22:20]** First, we agreed,

**[01:22:22]** when we divided

**[01:22:24]** the segments by quarters,

**[01:22:26]** and for me,

**[01:22:28]** there were several fascinating moments.

**[01:22:30]** The first was,

**[01:22:32]** that when the quarter ended,

**[01:22:34]** and we had a board meeting,

**[01:22:36]** when we had to agree,

**[01:22:38]** that we would divide it

**[01:22:40]** for the next quarter,

**[01:22:42]** suddenly there was

**[01:22:44]** a huge emotional wave,

**[01:22:46]** that we are not doing it.

**[01:22:48]** I have now managed

**[01:22:50]** to get deep into that segment.

**[01:22:52]** I am starting to understand it now.

**[01:22:54]** We can't give up on it now,

**[01:22:56]** I need to see,

**[01:22:58]** whether what was given up on now

**[01:23:00]** and this was also said by

**[01:23:02]** an IT board member

**[01:23:04]** or the chief risk officer,

**[01:23:06]** that before this emotion,

**[01:23:08]** simply the insight

**[01:23:10]** of the board members

**[01:23:12]** and even that,

**[01:23:14]** they liked it,

**[01:23:16]** or at the quarterly goal evaluation,

**[01:23:18]** the board member

**[01:23:20]** comments on the quarter.

**[01:23:22]** And for that comment,

**[01:23:24]** you need insight into

**[01:23:26]** what is happening in that segment,

**[01:23:30]** You have to understand the topic,

**[01:23:32]** you have to choose the right words.

**[01:23:34]** And when the board members for the first time

**[01:23:36]** communicated and commented on the segments,

**[01:23:38]** which before had never,

**[01:23:40]** as if in detail,

**[01:23:42]** had no chance to experience,

**[01:23:44]** that was

**[01:23:46]** a wow moment for me,

**[01:23:48]** that it’s amazing

**[01:23:50]** and I felt the impact it had

**[01:23:52]** on the audience,

**[01:23:54]** how it

**[01:23:56]** has huge potential

**[01:23:58]** to align the institution.

**[01:24:00]** After five years, it’s

**[01:24:02]** completely routine,

**[01:24:04]** and no one

**[01:24:06]** questions it in terms of

**[01:24:08]** whether it should be that way or not, it should be.

**[01:24:10]** It’s part of our existence.

**[01:24:12]** It’s, again, in my opinion,

**[01:24:14]** learning that

**[01:24:16]** people have to learn something new

**[01:24:18]** and it just works. I’ll move on to questions

**[01:24:20]** from the audience. You showed

**[01:24:22]** fantastic numbers there,

**[01:24:24]** 88-87%

**[01:24:26]** of people

**[01:24:28]** understand

**[01:24:30]** how their goals contribute

**[01:24:32]** to strategic ones, which is

**[01:24:34]** an incredible thing to me.

**[01:24:36]** Here’s a question from Jaroslav,

**[01:24:38]** how to convey company culture to employees

**[01:24:40]** so it doesn’t sound like manipulative propaganda,

**[01:24:42]** so that employees truly

**[01:24:44]** believe in it and somehow

**[01:24:46]** internalize it.

**[01:24:52]** We probably know why that question

**[01:24:54]** came up, because in many companies

**[01:24:56]** the experience is a bit different.

**[01:24:58]** So you have been talking about it the whole time,

**[01:25:00]** so try to comment on it somehow.

**[01:25:02]** Exactly, that was the point

**[01:25:04]** of my

**[01:25:06]** input.

**[01:25:08]** It takes many things.

**[01:25:10]** Maybe I'll start

**[01:25:12]** from the conclusion,

**[01:25:14]** that

**[01:25:16]** on one hand,

**[01:25:18]** maybe

**[01:25:20]** management in that company

**[01:25:22]** needs to understand that culture

**[01:25:24]** is not declared, but

**[01:25:26]** a truly lived culture

**[01:25:28]** is extremely important,

**[01:25:30]** because it really

**[01:25:32]** creates the strength of the company.

**[01:25:34]** The second

**[01:25:36]** factor,

**[01:25:38]** which is very important,

**[01:25:40]** is to understand

**[01:25:42]** that we can't just decide now

**[01:25:44]** to change the culture to this kind

**[01:25:46]** and have it done in three months.

**[01:25:48]** Simply put, it's

**[01:25:50]** about prioritization,

**[01:25:52]** about feeling those things,

**[01:25:54]** in what order they should happen,

**[01:25:56]** and then about endless

**[01:25:58]** delivery

**[01:26:00]** and explaining

**[01:26:02]** that information,

**[01:26:04]** and not just explaining, but ensuring

**[01:26:12]** and the reality that people feel,

**[01:26:14]** that what we explain to them

**[01:26:16]** and say is really true.

**[01:26:22]** And that

**[01:26:24]** sequence

**[01:26:26]** of things is extremely important.

**[01:26:28]** It's about not overloading the

**[01:26:30]** system

**[01:26:32]** and not introducing

**[01:26:34]** formal concepts.

**[01:26:36]** We went through

**[01:26:38]** especially HR.

**[01:26:40]** Concepts are

**[01:26:42]** very risky

**[01:26:44]** because they can be

**[01:26:46]** introduced formally.

**[01:26:48]** So tick box, yes,

**[01:26:50]** we have succession planning,

**[01:26:52]** performance management,

**[01:26:54]** talent management,

**[01:26:56]** we have whatever, but

**[01:26:58]** for these concepts to work

**[01:27:00]** and make sense,

**[01:27:02]** to be practical, for people to

**[01:27:04]** see them as a benefit,

**[01:27:06]** is completely different from

**[01:27:08]** just ticking a box.

**[01:27:10]** So

**[01:27:12]** doing things with understanding

**[01:27:14]** of these

**[01:27:16]** nuances and what

**[01:27:18]** I

**[01:27:20]** perceive is

**[01:27:22]** that in large companies

**[01:27:24]** there is a dominance

**[01:27:26]** of left-brain

**[01:27:28]** managers. Managers who

**[01:27:30]** perceive or look

**[01:27:32]** at the company

**[01:27:34]** very strongly,

**[01:27:36]** at least

**[01:27:38]** unbalanced strongly

**[01:27:40]** through numbers

**[01:27:42]** and through

**[01:27:44]** things of this kind

**[01:27:46]** and how

**[01:27:48]** the other side

**[01:27:50]** for them

**[01:27:52]** either wasn't so natural

**[01:27:54]** or so inherent, or it is even

**[01:27:56]** they don't understand, or they don't attach that much

**[01:27:58]** importance.

**[01:28:00]** And by that,

**[01:28:02]** what I have to be clear about from the start is,

**[01:28:04]** that in the top management

**[01:28:06]** of the company there simply will be

**[01:28:08]** for this, for this philosophy

**[01:28:10]** understanding.

**[01:28:12]** I think you perfectly answered

**[01:28:14]** the question that was there. That means,

**[01:28:16]** how

**[01:28:18]** to implement this, where

**[01:28:20]** the engine runs only at

**[01:28:22]** low speed, where to start. So

**[01:28:24]** the answer is probably with top management.

**[01:28:26]** Yes, and

**[01:28:28]** in the effort to find

**[01:28:32]** the first

**[01:28:34]** strong concept that

**[01:28:36]** shows people that

**[01:28:38]** when we do this, then

**[01:28:40]** things improve, and when it becomes

**[01:28:42]** routine, then come

**[01:28:44]** up with something else.

**[01:28:46]** I actually find it

**[01:28:48]** very important and I'll add a bit

**[01:28:50]** to our learning

**[01:28:52]** organization, and that is the absorption capacity

**[01:28:54]** of the organization. In my opinion, that is

**[01:28:56]** the alpha and omega, when actually this at the moment,

**[01:28:58]** when it's not properly overcharged

**[01:29:00]** or the field isn't prepared,

**[01:29:02]** it simply can't work.

**[01:29:04]** It's very easy

**[01:29:06]** to overload a big company.

**[01:29:08]** I still live

**[01:29:10]** with the fear that we do it too.

**[01:29:14]** Here's a question, what do you think about a four-day

**[01:29:16]** workweek, Michal?

**[01:29:18]** It's like this...

**[01:29:28]** We can answer that

**[01:29:30]** as individuals,

**[01:29:32]** just as a person,

**[01:29:34]** sure. I think it

**[01:29:36]** could have

**[01:29:38]** a positive effect

**[01:29:40]** on

**[01:29:42]** the rejuvenation

**[01:29:44]** of the organism

**[01:29:46]** of people who

**[01:29:48]** work five days

**[01:29:50]** or during three days

**[01:29:52]** versus four.

**[01:29:54]** The energy balance

**[01:29:56]** could be better and it might actually have

**[01:29:58]** no negative, but rather a positive effect.

**[01:30:00]** But I don't know if I would generalize it.

**[01:30:03]** We mostly solve this through the home office concept and more freedom.

**[01:30:08]** We give people freedom in the sense that sometimes it's good,

**[01:30:12]** sometimes they work 12 hours and then there's a day when 4 hours is enough,

**[01:30:17]** or maybe even a day off is totally fine to

**[01:30:25]** compensate for the previous workload.

**[01:30:28]** Maybe I'll return to what I said,

**[01:30:34]** that the more freedom and fewer rules is, in my opinion, the trend

**[01:30:41]** we should be looking at.

**[01:30:47]** I'll ask one last question.

**[01:30:50]** When I read this and look at the awards,

**[01:30:54]** how you operate and what's next.

**[01:30:57]** What are the next plans?

**[01:31:00]** Because I feel like you're already at the top.

**[01:31:03]** Wow, we have a million plans.

**[01:31:07]** This is not an agenda that should have a goal.

**[01:31:13]** It's all a journey, and that journey never ends.

**[01:31:16]** And even the fact that we are successful in some areas,

**[01:31:21]** gives us an even greater burden on our souls,

**[01:31:24]** to confirm that success in the future as well.

**[01:31:28]** We are constantly evolving, we are moving

**[01:31:32]** for example, in our innovativeness through stages,

**[01:31:36]** which always push it to a new level.

**[01:31:41]** Right now, we are heading towards

**[01:31:45]** shifting from innovations to innovations

**[01:31:49]** for customer benefit, which should be the clear

**[01:31:53]** and alpha and omega of how we want to look at things,

**[01:31:57]** which wasn’t quite the case in history.

**[01:32:01]** We are not deviating from what we have done,

**[01:32:05]** but we always try to find, considering the vibe of the times,

**[01:32:09]** where our concept and philosophy

**[01:32:13]** will have even greater value, and I’m not afraid at all

**[01:32:17]** that we would suddenly find ourselves at a point

**[01:32:21]** where we think we are at the end and nothing is ahead of us.

**[01:32:25]** Michal, thank you very much for your talk.

**[01:32:29]** The presentation was amazing. Thanks a lot.

**[01:32:33]** I will now move on to our next slides.

**[01:32:37]** Thank you very much for sending us feedback,

**[01:32:41]** which is very important in corporate culture and culture in general.

**[01:32:45]** So thank you very much for voting.

**[01:32:49]** If you add three words that came to mind

**[01:32:53]** while Michal was speaking, that would be great.

**[01:32:57]** We will make a word cloud of what you take away.

**[01:33:01]** I think it’s already running in some way.

**[01:33:05]** So I’ll try to skip to the next slide.

**[01:33:09]** Definitely don’t forget to talk about these things.

**[01:33:13]** Sharing things in a group is a very interesting form of learning.

**[01:33:19]** Remember, this is how you perfect the loop.

**[01:33:25]** So reflect, fill out our questionnaire,

**[01:33:29]** about what you take away, your aha moments,

**[01:33:33]** and feel free to fill out our form, which you can find under the broadcast.

**[01:33:37]** I remind you that on June 9th we will meet with another group of people around Red Button

**[01:33:44]** and we will talk about what was said here about company culture.

**[01:33:50]** So if you feel like it, definitely join us.

**[01:33:54]** And Red Button runs many projects every month.

**[01:33:59]** Every month we choose a book of the month.

**[01:34:03]** One of the members always picks it.

**[01:34:06]** The current one is Try Your Divinity.

**[01:34:09]** In June, Dáda Císařovská chose it.

**[01:34:12]** So that's the book of the month.

**[01:34:15]** Be sure to follow Edu dal.

**[01:34:18]** There are many shows that can enrich you.

**[01:34:22]** Here is the program, which you can also find on our website.

**[01:34:26]** What I'm looking forward to is that Brain&Breakfast doesn't end,

**[01:34:31]** it continues; we've kept the trend of broadcasting every month for 8 years.

**[01:34:35]** Next month, we'll meet with Mrs. Dana Drábová,

**[01:34:40]** whom many of you surely know.

**[01:34:43]** We'll talk about energy, about untamed energy.

**[01:34:48]** So I look forward to seeing you on June 17th.

**[01:34:51]** See you. Michal, thank you once again very much

**[01:34:54]** for taking the time. Have a great day everyone, goodbye and hi.

**[01:35:02]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:07]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:13]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:20]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:31]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:38]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:45]** www.hradeckralove.org

**[01:35:52]** www.hradeckralove.org