I recently read the annual reports of five major banks in the US and five in the UK. They project different images in the blurb written by their top management or more accurately written by their ‘annual report writers’.
Banks in both countries litter their annual reports with strong, solid, consistent and stable to assure shareholders and show their clients how safe their money is. But they sometimes stumble into unwitting humour. One bank claims ‘consistently excellence in’ whatever, perhaps too overdone, and another ventures into alliteration with ‘consistent client coverage’.
All the US banks show how unique they are in something. Uniquely positioned comes up often and many seem to believe they understand the unique needs of each client. They have unique advantages, unique strengths, unique business models and many have unique credit risks. They are all proud of something too. The list is long: proud of their company, employees, results and, of course, performance. Some others own up to unusual prides: a proud history or ‘proudly bank colleges across the state’, (it looks like a grammatical error: it is not). One is even ‘proud to break the news’, another ‘proud to attract’. Pride is popular.
All are driven by something, usually technology or productivity but only one is ‘driven to serve’. Many serve, inevitably, customers and clients. Other serves come up in reserves, observes and deserves. And of course they lead; but rarely from the front, more as one of the world’s leading financial institutions or in delivering leading capabilities or investment performance or whatever.
Great too is popular. They have a great company, great team, great infrastructure, great focus. One bank even has the greatest minds, evidently thinking alike. And three claim they are great places to work with another three best in class at something. They are fond of superlatives to describe themselves. Outstanding too comes up as expected in any bank with outstanding loans or balances outstanding, but using superlatives with their outstanding performance, outstanding rating and one boasts of an ‘outstanding operating committee’. Two are interested in wellness, one concentrating more on emotional wellness, as opposed to general wellness of their employees.
UK banks generally follow US ones in uniqueness, greatness and pride, though one of the UK banks does not mention pride (name withheld). UK banks boast as much in their great places to work, although they invent complicated classes, with a best in class global tech platform and a best in class employee value proposition. Not a single UK bank has an interest in wellness. They are less generous in using outstanding in the sense of excellence, even though one is a Top 25 Outstanding Employer and another hired THE outstanding candidate for a position in their top management (my capitals of course).
The UK bank’s leaders lead with leadership as much as their US competitors. One has a unique combination of leadership that of combing global scale and local leadership. Another has a flagship leadership development programme and one wants to become the precise but complicated customer-focused digital leader. Flags fly and ships float in UK banks. They have flagship projects, flagship branches, flagship courses and one even has a flagship building. Only one US bank owns up to a flagship: the intellectual ‘flagship generative AI product’.
US banks prefer outstandingly great while UK banks fly the flag of the flagship. Different words same purpose: inspire confidence and sound reassuringly strong, solid and safe. However, the corporate self-description presented as sober financial communication and their fondness for superlatives make me smile.