How a Thriving Culture Can Enhance the Customer Experience

The birches have just bloomed, and waves are washing ashore. Here in the west coast town of Varberg, tranquility can be found even in the otherwise stressful everyday life. Surf enthusiasts test the waves of the Kattegat, children play football, and families go for spring walks.

Varbergs Sparbank was founded in 1836 and has been working and contributing to preserving the unique tranquility and the familial atmosphere among the town's residents ever since. They have chosen to focus significantly on their staff and place great importance on their work culture. By working from the inside out, they influence their surroundings with values such as togetherness, closeness, and commitment.

"Our wonderful culture is truly embedded in our walls," says private advisor Athena Wadseth. "It is a very open operation, and we have a caring culture. It's great fun to work with such people, where we support each other and bring up both the good and the bad to improve."

Despite the already good culture, they decided in the spring of 2020 to invest in Winningtemp. They wanted to make the work climate even better and continue to develop.

"Previously, we had a tool where we measured our temperature once a year. But we noticed that it didn't give the right answers," says HR manager Christina Jannesson. "It only tells you how you feel on the day you answer it. So we started looking at platforms that could help, and we found Winningtemp. At first, I was skeptical about answering questions every week considering the time it requires, but we tried it anyway. We quickly realized it didn't take much time at all, and it had a very positive effect."

Someone who has really embraced the power of Winningtemp is Anita Novaković, Head of Private Banking.

"It is a very convenient system. It's easy to overview and find what you need," says Anita. "Now we can take the pulse often, so if a trend goes down, we can do something about it immediately, while we can also boost and strengthen a trend that has gone up. Winningtemp also makes it easier to act based on facts instead of guessing. Plus, I love that we can praise each other; it contributes to both joy and spreads great energy. I really like the whole concept!"

With Winningtemp, managers can quickly get information about the well-being of their employees. HR can then see how each team is doing and offer support where needed. Christina adds, "It's easy to bring up Winningtemp in conversations with the managers and gives them a good basis for discussions in their groups. It's so tangible, so palpable. For me, Winningtemp has been an eye-opener. A fantastic tool to quickly help managers address both problems and successes, to actually celebrate."

It didn't take long before the effects of Winningtemp were seen.

"We have a very high response rate; we are at around 93-94%," reveals Christina. "The biggest result we have seen is that we can address issues faster now. As soon as something is bothering someone, we can quickly tackle the problem. We have seen clear positive changes in several units where they have actively worked with the questions. We have also started using milestones in connection with our employee conversations, and we have only heard positive comments so far. It makes it easy to have discussions and talk about relevant points, so this year's salary discussions have been much easier in that respect."

In the fall of 2020, Sweden's Sparbanker won the award for "Sweden's Most Satisfied Bank Customers," and the question is how much a positive work culture spreads to the customers.

"We are not salespeople; we try to build trust by, among other things, having happy, satisfied, and secure employees," Christina continues. "I think it reflects on the customers, making them feel safe and trust our advisors. Everything is interconnected. Several job applicants have said that our positive culture is felt as soon as they step through the doors, which says something."

"If you are a happy employee who enjoys your work, you also make good business, which in turn creates better relationships and more satisfied customers," concludes Athena. Perhaps it is precisely this inner culture that makes Varberg such a special town. People take care of each other, see each other, and help those in need. Just like in a well-functioning workplace, the work starts with the people—in this case, the staff at Varbergs Sparbank.

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