'The royal commission was right': Acting NAB CEO Phil Chronican

James Thomson
Mar 1, 2019
AFR
Acting NAB chief executive Phil Chronican has wasted no time in putting his stamp on the business, making customer remediation his top priority and declaring his senior leaders must obsess about customer services.
Mr Chronican officially starts as acting chief executive on Friday, having replaced Andrew Thorburn, who resigned with chairman Ken Henry after the pair were brutally criticised by the banking royal commission for not appreciating the depths of NAB’s cultural problems.
But in a note sent to his top 100 leaders on Thursday evening, Mr Chronican made his views on the commission clear.
Phil Chronican: “I am focused on making sure we compensate customers as quickly as possible; and on fixing the issues that caused the failure.” Louie Douvis
“The royal commission is right. There is a big gap between where we are today, and where our customers, shareholders and the community expect us to be,” he said.
“I am focused on making sure we compensate customers as quickly as possible; and on fixing the issues that caused the failure.”
Mr Chronican said the key to “driving the cultural shift that our customers and the community demand” was a focus on customer service.
“We need to bring the same obsession to customer outcomes that airline companies do to safety. We must deliver an exceptional experience, ensure our products and services provide fair value, and be uncompromising on accountability, quality and standards.”
Mr Chronican, who reiterated the same message on a call with the bank’s top 500 leaders on Thursday night, has also cancelled two major leadership events – one for the bank’s top 600 leaders, and another for the top 100 leaders – to ensure executives are focused customers and frontline banking staff during the current period.
“We are the bank’s most senior leaders: we need to run the bank – and we need to change it.
“We need to own this. It starts and stops with us.”
Mr Chronican also paid tribute to Mr Thorburn, who finished at the bank on Thursday.
“I want to acknowledge his time as CEO and thank him for his substantial contribution to the bank. Andrew led a major transformation of our bank, divesting legacy assets and focussing on our core business. He was also deeply committed to making NAB a better bank for customers.”