ASSESSMENT RESULTS 2020

• Given the challenges posed to everyone by Covid-19, but also the value to firms of being able to learn about how their organisation was responding in an unusual environment, the 2020 BSB Survey was run in September. This was later than the usual May window, meaning that changes in results in 2020 relate to a period of 16 rather than 12 months.

• More than 73,000 banking sector employees across the UK responded to the BSB Survey in 2020 – the fifth such annual assessment exercise.
• The largest cumulative improvement in scores over the 2016 to 2020 period has been on questions relating to leadership and responding to employee feedback.
• In 2020, and averaged across all firms, scores improved after a sideways trend in the previous two years. The largest gains came on responding to employee feedback, leadership, and health and wellbeing.
• 88% of employees said that they felt accepted and able to be themselves at work.
  • This proportion was similar among both women and men.
  • 91% of employees identifying as White British felt both accepted and able to be themselves at work. Among other employees this proportion was lower, falling to 78% among those identifying as Black/Black British.
  • We asked respondents whether they had a lasting physical or mental condition or illness that affected their daily activities. Among those who did not, 90% felt both accepted and able to be themselves at work; among those who did, only 77%.
• When asked to describe their firm, employees were much more likely in 2020 to use words such as ‘supportive’ and ‘caring’.

• On average across all firms, scores tended to improve between 2016 and 2017; trend sideways in 2018 and 2019; and improve again in 2020. This picture remains the same after adjusting for changes in the composition of firms involved in the Survey during that period.
• The greatest cumulative improvements since 2016 came on questions relating to leadership and responding to staff feedback.
  • 77% of respondents believed in 2020 that senior leaders meant what they said, compared with 62% in 2016.
  • 72% said that leaders took responsibility, especially if things went wrong, from 58% in 2016.
  • 73% said that their organisation responded effectively to staff feedback, from 57% in 2016.

• Scores (averaged across all firms) rose in 2020 on each question in the BSB Survey.
• In a year dominated by Covid-19 and changing workplace arrangements and different ways of communicating using different technology, the largest improvements related to feedback, leadership and wellbeing.
  • 73% of respondents said that their firm responded effectively to staff feedback, compared with 63% in 2019.
  • 72% said that leaders at their firm took responsibility, from 66% in 2019.
  • 20% said that working at the firm had a negative impact on health and wellbeing, from 25% in 2019.

Large firms, smaller banks and smaller building societies

• As well as the overall picture, we were able in 2020 to separate firms into three groups: large complex (systemically important) firms; smaller (non-systemically important) banks; and smaller (non-systemically important) building societies.
• Within each group there was a wide range of scores.
• By group, Survey scores were slightly higher on average in 2020 for larger firms than for smaller banks or building societies, in particular on competence, respect and responsiveness.
• Employees at smaller building societies tended on average to be more positive than those in other groups on questions relating to customer focus.

Business areas

• Employees who worked in Retail Banking (and in particular, in the Retail Branch area) tended to be more positive across the core 36 questions than those who worked in other business areas. Those working in IT tended to be least positive.
• The improvement in scores in 2020 was evident across all main business areas.
• Over the period since 2016, Retail Banking has seen the largest cumulative improvement (compared with Commercial Banking, Investment Banking and Functions).

• Prior to March 2020, two thirds of employees worked primarily onsite in the office or branch. Following government guidance to work from home, this fell to just under a quarter; 72% of respondents worked primarily from home during lockdown. Those who needed to work onsite were primarily in customer-facing roles and in Retail Banking.
• Asked about the post-March period, more than 90% of employees said that they had been treated fairly, that their line manager had supported them and that they were proud of how their organisation had helped its customers (or clients or members) during the crisis. 90% felt that senior leaders at their firm had managed the impact of the crisis on the business well, and 87% that their organisation had appropriately supported their health and wellbeing.
  • Employees who worked primarily from home during lockdown were more positive on each of these questions than those required to work onsite.
  • Employees working in Commercial Banking or Functions were, on average, more positive on these questions than those in Investment Banking or Retail Banking.