BBVA receives a digital talent award for its cultural transformation
BBVA has been internationally recognized in the third annual Digital Talent Awards, presented by Accenture and the daily business newspaper El Economista, in collaboration with Spain's Human Resources group. The bank has earned the award because of its adaptability in the digital age, as demonstrated by its cultural change, leadership style, and most importantly its transition to an agile approach to work.
"BBVA has accomplished an unprecedented cultural change. Its agile transformation is based on the creation of multidisciplinary, fully autonomous teams who are empowered to execute. All of which makes us more effective in delivering quality solutions to our customers and enhancing our commitment to our employees," said Carlos Casas, BBVA’s Global Head of Talent & Culture. "This award recognizes BBVA's commitment to changing the way the organization works from top to bottom,” he added.
Members of the jury for the award included top executives in Spain from Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and others.
For years BBVA has been transforming its approach to work. This honor represents further acknowledgment of the bank's transformation process, whose first step was the definition of a new mission: “To bring the age of opportunity to everyone.” The second step was to define the values that would lead the bank to the fulfillment of its mission statement: “The customer comes first; we think big; and we are one team.”
Its agile transformation is based on the creation of multidisciplinary, fully autonomous teams who are empowered to execute. - BBVA
According to Accenture, BBVA stands out for its organization-wide introduction of agile methodologies as an approach to work. In fact, BBVA is one of the first companies with more than 100,000 employees to turn itself into an “agile” organization. Currently the bank boasts approximately 30,000 employees who are using agile techniques in their day-to-day, and this number is on the increase every week.
Consequently, the award recognizes the bank's Agile Transformation in Talent & Culture initiative, which radically transforms the structure, processes, and relationships of the company's support teams. This new agile organizational model enables the bank to create solutions for its customers more quickly and efficiently, while enhancing its commitment to its employees.
BBVA is also breaking new ground with the introduction of new employee profiles, such as those dedicated to big data and blockchain experts. To fulfill these resource needs, BBVA does not limit its search for talent externally, but is actively dedicated to skilling-up its existing employee base in specific technologies like big data. A prime example is the bank’s Data University program, which trained 240 professionals in 2018 and forms part of the global strategy to provide data analysis skills to 2,100 employees over three years. Additionally, more than 1,500 employees across the organization have received training to become ambassadors for Design Thinking.