A partnership built on trust:
Defining values – and living up to them

The Bank has undergone an extensive process of change over the last few years. This change has affected numerous strategy issues and has also led to the questioning of just about everything having to do with corporate culture – i.e. how we act towards one another and speak to each other, the things that are important to us, how we make decisions, how open we are, and the type of environment in which we feel comfortable. In addition, sustainability and digitalisation are suddenly no longer buzzwords but have instead become key components of our strategy. As a result, Berlin Hyp is an entirely different company today than it was when this transformation process began in 2016.

Corporate values form the foundation of a corporate culture that is internalised by the workforce and management. Such values largely shape the identity of a company and serve as a guide for employees in their daily interaction with one another, and with customers and business partners as well.

We live in a challenging time marked by extensive volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (often referred to these days as “VUCA”). During the pandemic year of 2020, we experienced in a way never before seen just how fundamentally the conditions and requirements faced by society and companies can change. In such phases of transformation, clear corporate values serve as a source of guidance for both internal and external activities.

That’s because despite everything that has happened, or perhaps because of it, the expectations that customers, business partners, shareholders and even job applicants place on companies remain high. More specifically, these stakeholders expect companies to act responsibly in order to ensure long-term success. Here, the values that companies define and uphold serve as pillars of their corporate culture and a guide for the conduct of their employees.

To begin the process of defining our values, we asked ourselves the following: “Who are we, what are our ‘anchors’ (i.e. aspects that set us apart, make us unique and represent our strengths) and what are our ‘drivers’ (of which we need more in order to be the ‘most modern real estate financier in Germany’, whose goal is to finance sustainable residential and office space for people who need it)?

A group of employees from the Communications and Marketing, Human Resources and Cultural Change Management divisions then began addressing these questions. We identified the relevant internal perspectives and also analysed requirements relating to the market, employees and job applicants. In the end, we determined that there are actually few major differences between the views all of these stakeholders have of Berlin Hyp.

Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, we wanted to ensure a high degree of participation in the discussion of this important issue. We therefore conducted a range of digital workshops in which all interim results were discussed with the Culture Board, which is a unit that monitors our cultural transformation and whose members come from various departments and hierarchical levels. The results were also discussed with our Board of Management. The goal here was to obtain the broadest possible cross-section of views from throughout the company. The collaboration that followed offered a wonderful example of cooperation across hierarchies and departments – and thus also of the corporate culture we are seeking to achieve.

The extensive discussions led to the formulation of five consolidated values that everyone was convinced were “typical of Berlin Hyp” and whose application will ensure that the Bank can consistently continue on its path to becoming the most modern real estate financier:

Now we all face the challenge together of ensuring that we live up to these values and work to uphold them. That’s because nothing is worse than making claims that do not correspond to reality.

Along with the extensive measures we are taking to communicate our values internally, it is important that we now incorporate these values step by step into the Bank’s overall strategy and the strategies at the divisions. We also need to utilise the values in our management and human resources instruments and in activities that promote our corporate culture. In other words, there’s still plenty of work for us to do.

We are convinced that the only way to maintain success over the long term is to ensure that our values serve as a guide for the conduct of each and every employee and manager – as a firm component of their everyday activities.

This will take time and require a certain amount of effort. We know that we are not perfect yet, but we believe we’re on our way to getting there and we want to judge ourselves in future on the basis of the principles that underlie our corporate values.