About this series: In 2024–2025, Eraneos conducted research into the behaviors of effective leaders. Based on the insights gathered, we created a three-part article series exploring what today’s leaders in Finance need to truly make an impact.
Our leadership survey highlights three key priorities for leaders: strengthen communication structures, foster employee engagement through storytelling, and proactively address organizational impediments. This article focuses on the first building communication structures that go beyond simple information sharing.
In the financial sector, where accuracy, trust, and timeliness are critical, poorly structured communication leads to inefficiency, risk, and misalignment. Instead, organizations must design predictable channels, leverage visual management, and make meetings purposeful. Below, we explore how financial leaders can translate these principles into action and create the clarity needed for agility and cohesion.
Why communication matters in the financial sector
The sector operates within a complex regulatory environment and constant pressure for digital innovation. Effective communication is essential to meet both challenges and opportunities.
- Regulatory compliance and risk management: Structured communication ensures regulatory updates and procedures reach the right teams promptly, minimizing the risk of non-compliance and penalties.
- Enabling transformation and innovation: New technologies require understanding, alignment, and adoption across departments. Clear communication fosters shared knowledge and smoother implementation.
- Customer trust and service consistency: Employees who have access to timely, reliable information are better equipped to deliver consistent service—essential in a trust-based industry.
- Operational efficiency and error reduction: Miscommunication slows down critical processes. Clear flows of information and the use of visual tools like dashboards streamline operations and minimize mistakes.
“Strengthen communication structures, foster employee engagement through storytelling, and proactively address organizational impediments.”
Translating principles into practice
Insights from our leadership survey reveal several ways financial executives can build stronger communication frameworks.
- Go beyond reports and meetings: Supplement traditional formats with visual tools, such as KPI dashboards or flowcharts, that provide real-time clarity and reduce the need for lengthy status updates.
- Review every meeting’s purpose: Evaluate each meeting: is it needed, who should attend, and what should come out of it? Clear agendas, shorter time blocks, and actionable follow-ups make meetings far more effective.
- Define the communication cascade: Ensure there’s a structured flow of information between strategic and operational levels. Everyone should understand how decisions are made and how updates reach them.
- Manage escalations constructively: Unstructured escalations create disruption. Define clear pathways and roles, so urgent issues are handled calmly and by the right people, before they become crises.
- Establish rhythm and predictability: Replace ad hoc meetings with a regular cadence—like daily updates, weekly check-ins, and biweekly alignment sessions. Predictability gives teams space to focus and reduces stress.
Case in point: NIBC’s agile transformation
During its agile transformation, Dutch bank NIBC identified fragmented communication as a major obstacle to agility. In partnership with Eraneos, the bank implemented a unified Agile Way of Working. A key pillar was creating a predictable communication cascade, supported by quarterly planning events that connected business and IT across all levels.
Centers of Expertise helped embed consistent practices, while simulation games brought the new planning process to life. These interactive formats helped teams internalize the new way of communicating and clarified roles and responsibilities.
What NIBC learned
By focusing on structure, rhythm, and collaboration, NIBC laid the foundation for greater adaptability and cohesion. Communication became not just an operational tool, but a driver of transformation.
- Structured cadence reduces noise: Regular, time-bound planning events replaced reactive escalations and provided a clear rhythm for decision-making and collaboration.
- Shared platforms connect people: Agile working groups and cross-functional forums bridged gaps between business and IT, aligning priorities and creating faster responses.
- Hands-on learning accelerates adoption: Simulation games made the new communication structure tangible and relatable—ensuring faster understanding and smoother rollout.
The path to agility starts with clarity
NIBC’s journey underscores a key lesson for financial leaders: robust communication is not just a support function—it’s a strategic enabler of agility. When communication flows clearly and predictably, teams align faster, decisions stick, and organizations move forward with confidence. As financial institutions face increasing complexity, the ability to communicate with purpose, clarity, and structure becomes a defining advantage.
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