At ING DIRECT, innovation creates value for our customers and in many parts of the business through the implementation of ideas.  To us, innovation implies teamwork, change and risk.  Innovation happens when a team or an individual approaches an issue differently and applies a new or creative angle to their thinking.  It’s a process where we problem solve by identifying and developing opportunities within complex situations, and at ING DIRECT, we do this through: open source challenges, ideation and facilitation.

We regularly collaborate with various schools across Canada on open source challenges, including the Rotman Marketing Association at the University of Toronto and the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.  And last summer we ran a Forward Banking Innovation Challenge on Facebook where Canadians were asked to submit ideas on banking innovations.  These types of initiatives have helped validate our research, explore new marketing campaigns, helped generate product and service innovations and even assisted with simulating Gen Y students to start simple savings plans.  We’re always looking to work together with fresh minds to identify how we can help Canadians live better lives.

Idea incubation is another critical component of our innovation program.   It’s important to foster that inquisitive part of our brain which asks if there might be a better way to do something or approach a challenge.   We encourage employees to readily share product and service challenges on the Orange Spark, an internal portal we created in 2008 to give everyone an opportunity to communicate their thoughts on how we can improve internally or unique ideas that will make our client experiences even better.  This ideation process provides an opportunity for colleagues to collaboratively explore the root cause, prior to identifying creative solutions. Since its inception, the Orange Spark has received over 2,000 ideas, which have transformed into more than 250 implemented business solutions improving our products, processes and the overall client experience.

The quest for innovative solutions calls for a willingness to accept risk and celebrate failure.  To recognize the creative thinkers who were willing to take the first plunge with an idea on the Orange Spark, each quarter we give out the Penguin award to the individual willing to put themselves out there, whether their idea was well-received or not. Without the willingness of the First Penguins to challenge us to think differently, many great solutions would go completely undiscovered.  Even when ideas completely fail, there are valuable lessons to be learned and golden nuggets to be found.

Cultivating an innovative spirit is integral to our culture and truly helps us push boundaries to develop new and better ways to do things.   We have a dedicated team of trained facilitators who design brainstorm sessions to assist teams across the organization with a broad spectrum of challenges, from creating new product names to the complete reengineering of a process.  Over the past two years, our facilitation team has engaged more than 1,000 employees in sessions designed to utilize innovative thinking and techniques to solve challenges or capitalize on a specific opportunity. The persistent participation from our employees has defined the success of our Orange innovation programs. While innovative thinking is not the solution to all our problems, it’s a great filter we can use to challenge ourselves to approach the way we do things differently.  To quote Thomas Jefferson, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

Mistake 1

Early in my working life, I started buying stocks primarily based on tips and conversations I had with friends. At times I made a quick return on my investment ($100 – $200), which obviously felt great. But on one investment, based on the reliable (or not) advice of a good friend, I lost $1500 in a few months, money that I had worked very hard to save and that I really needed. Not an easy pill to swallow!

I thought, maybe like everyone starting out, that making a quick buck would be easy, especially when the first and second successful investments worked well. It’s a process that can be a little addictive, even thrilling. I fooled myself in believing that it was a great gamble. But I learned very quickly that investing is simply not gambling. Investing for the quick hit in fact was a recipe for disaster.

There are no shortcuts to wealth, yet I wholeheartedly believed I could get there faster with these investments. I had to realize that I was addicted to the thrill. To put it simply it was a form of entertainment. So in order to take part of it, then I had to allocate some funds towards entertainment and just play the lottery. So I no longer gamble to invest, I have a simple automatic savings plan that takes money twice per month and systematically buys a few low cost mutual funds.

I realized a simple, smart, and steady plan was a much better pill for my financial wellbeing. The fact is it takes discipline and a commitment to save to experience a healthy financial wellbeing. It is more of a marathon then a sprint. And I now love marathons!

Mistake 2

Although I am a Canadian, my family and I lived in the States for several years. When we returned to Canada, we bought a house very quickly. Within 6 months while driving around one afternoon, my wife and I saw a house that was absolutely perfect for our family. We decided to buy it right away and planned to sell the first. We didn’t realize at the time that the market had slowed down considerably, and it took us a very long time to unload it.

We spoke to a few agents and some advised to rent the first house. In fact we got an offer very quickly. So we saw this as a great way to turn the experience into an investment opportunity.

It turns out however this decision was not thought through well enough. Our income property became quite a burden for us. Not so much a financial burden but being a landlord has its complications and it is not for everyone, certainly not for us. We bit more than we can chew or even wanted to chew at that time.

We learned how important it was to remember our personal goals and priorities, and to stick to the plans we had put in place. We simply should have pressed on with selling the property.

–

Basketball Coach John Wooden once said, “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” I made some mistakes, I think we all do and I am grateful for those experiences because they have shaped my attitude towards money and how my family and I handle it. I hope my final thoughts will bring some useful insight:

There are no shortcuts to wealth – slow and steady wins the game

Gambling is not investing – play the lottery for fun instead

Don’t take on more than you can handle – don’t complicate your life with too many investments

Never act impulsively – might sound like a cliché, but always think and rethink before you act

We live in truly extraordinary times. Leaders are beginning to question years of old practises and supposed conventional wisdom. Well, one with wisdom should know when it is time for a change. And the time is definitely now.

In my previous post, I discussed the topic of trust, which is vital to solidifying any team and ensuring a winning level of engagement. I urged leaders to connect with people at all levels of the business, to get up from their desks, get out of their offices and get to know their teams on a personal level.

I’d like to take a modified perspective from my previous post because there are others ways to build trust and to increase engagement. Of course, I have my own view but I am extremely interested to know what measures CEOs are taking to ensure employees feel comfortable talking to them. Comfortable enough to give them the straight talk about what can be better.

For years, CEOs have been isolated in ivory towers and behind mahogany desks. They’ve been feeding the notion that leaders are somehow different than the rest. That they should keep themselves at arms length, even be feared. That access to them is some sort of privilege. That expressing emotion, frustration, humour, etc. are not CEO qualities. In my case, even if I wanted to behave this way my kids wouldn’t seem to care much. Kids can be very grounding, but that is a story for another day.

The fact is that CEOs, leaders and the rest of the people in an organization are quite the same. The challenge today is proving that humanity exists at the top. With this long standing stereotype in place, the challenge is reminding your team that you are accessible, that you listen, and that you want to hear from them directly. There can’t be enough clarity or repetition around this message. Not when we’ve been trained for years to believe otherwise.

So, are YOU “all in” when it comes to open communication? How open is your open-door policy? How comfortable is your team in talking to you?

I believe many leaders are there already. But some still tip toe around this much-needed change. It’s not easy to put yourself out there. But leadership is about having the courage to move the needle for an entire organization despite your fears. There are various ways to test that commitment.

I do not have an office. I sit at an open desk with various people and departments around me. Human Resources to my right, our Strategy Team to my left. No walls, doors or barriers between the team and I. Anyone can drop by and chat. So I wanted to test something out. I held official “open house” hours. I cleared my calendar and sent a company wide email inviting colleagues to visit. The reaction was interesting. Some colleagues were perplexed by my request and explained how they felt that they could walk by anytime to chat. And some showed great courage to ask questions and share concerns about the business and the changes going on around us. It was very encouraging feedback, and an important reminder to the team of my serious commitment to openness and transparency.

I have another story you might find interesting. On our intranet site “the Orange Grove”, I shared with the entire organization a simple post asking if there was anything about our business that our employees would like to “bitch” about. This may sound unconventional to some, but why wait for reviews and surveys to find out how your team is feeling? And will surveys actually reveal what is really happening at the water cooler? These conversations are happening right now as you read this blog post. So why not find out directly what ticks off and aggravates your team during their day, and what you can do about it?

Strong leaders must set the tone for the team to muster up the courage to share and feel safe in doing so! So let your team in, break down the barriers and truly commit to an open-door policy, whether you take that figuratively or literally.

Getting a grasp on the true reality of your business without any filters is a huge benefit to any leader, particularly a CEO. With this you will build openness, transparency and trust. Consequently you will experience a substantial shift in the overall engagement levels of your most prized resource – your people!

Technology is changing everything about our preferences, what we want and how we live our lives. And it is altering almost everything we know about business. It’s fair to say that IT is now embedded in all business decisions. Or at least it should be.

For IT executives, these are exciting times but also very demanding times. Consider this to get your mind thinking: The “I” in CIO is about innovation, integration, imagination, and intelligence, not just information. A thought recently shared by @ValaAfshar and I think it hits the nail on the head!

If you believe this line of thinking, you’ll realize that CIOs are under a great deal of pressure. Historically, the role of CIO was thought to be complicated, narrow and specific, one that is very focused on being a technical expert. You could relate it to the role of an accountant, a lawyer. But that’s no longer the case.

Now traditional business models are quickly becoming obsolete and technology is often the catalyst. Technology is far more than the thing that enables the business strategy – it is part of the strategy. Today, a great CIO needs to be as in tune with the business, its customers and the overall strategy as he or she is in the latest trends in technology.

This works both ways. A CEO who does not fully appreciate and understand the impact of technology on any business is missing the point of what is remarkably exciting and fascinating about the world we live in today. Quite simply, if a business is not innovating, it will most certainly be left behind – something I’ve blogged about before.

So I believe that it takes two. Yes, it’s a cliché, but there is no simpler truth for what makes the CEO and CIO relationship work – or other areas of the business such as Marketing and Human Resources. And that is precisely why it works for us at ING DIRECT.

Because we ask questions like, how can technology help our business grow? Does this innovation make sense for us? Does it represent our values and corporate culture? Does it meet the needs of our customers?

So our view is different. It is far less about the technology and more about the value proposition for our customers. I don’t think Charaka (our CIO) and I ever have conversations about specific technologies – even with a natural interest in technology, he might lose me after a few too many acronyms. Our chats always reflect the need to provide value for our customers and employees by making things simpler for them.

Successful CIOs uncover how CEOs think. They are bilingual in the languages of technology and business. They weed out the latest technology trends to find the ones that deliver on the business strategy, and meet the expectation of the corporate culture and its customers.

And ultimately they win the trust and support of their CEO and everyone in the business.

 What would you give up for $250? That’s the question we asked over 1500 Canadians. The answers are quite interesting and reminded me of what I love about this country.

You know, Canada has been a nation of Savers for a long time, but in recent years we seemed to have lost our way. It’s clear that spending is at an all time high by the soaring levels of debt we are seeing. But Canadians DO want to save! 81% actually do, and said they would be willing to give up some things in exchange for a larger savings account.

52% of those surveyed don’t save regularly. Of course, some have big financial responsibilities, but are we being realistic about what we feel are the things that are ‘hard to live without’. Maybe the $6 fancy special coffee indulgence – which I enjoy from time to time by the way – or the hairdresser appointments or the sporting events we absolutely have to partake in.

There is clearly plenty we can give up on. And it’s encouraging that Canadians seem to be open to sacrificing some indulgences to save an additional – and realistic – $250 a month. With simple planning, budgeting and by making small changes to day-to-day spending habits, Canadians have a great chance to build their savings in a simple systematic way.

But we also need reminders, and at times, a little motivation to move along the road to financial wellbeing. A lot has changed since ING DIRECT began advocating on behalf of consumers 16 years ago, giving Canadians choice and arming them with the information they need to take care of their hard earned money.

And we continue to do so. We want Canadians to get back to the simple act of saving so they can see their nest egg grow. This is why we created the ING DIRECT Savings Sale. Taking advantage of these savings opportunities and setting up an automatic savings program are very easy ways to help grow hard-earned money in a simple, thoughtful and steady way.

So it’s time for Canadians to take action. If you are part of the 64% of Canadians who would sacrifice three months of entertainment (eating out, going to the movies, watching sporting events) to save $250, or maybe you are one of the 53% who would give up one month of cell phone use to see your savings grow, then now is the time to realize the potential of saving $250 (or more) a month!

I’ve used this quote by David Chilton before but it is worth repeating. “The reference group you often need to be most wary of is not your affluent friends, or even your wealthier work colleagues; it’s you, yourself.” So get out of your own way, and get to saving! After all, it’s a very Canadian thing to do.

This sums up the atmosphere at our most recent rally at ING DIRECT. It was the 4^th annual rally we’ve organized since I’ve been the CEO. We call them our “Orange Rallies” for a reason. I suppose we could call them the ING DIRECT annual meeting, but that’s what everyone else does and that wouldn’t be indicative of our culture.

We pride ourselves on being a challenger brand and it is our orange culture that we cherish, value and defend. We are a young team, 16 years old in fact and we operate quite differently from the over 150 year old financial institutions we compete against. And we are committed to maintaining that difference.

So once a year we rally together our entire team of over 1000 employees. (In reality, we need to do it in a few sessions because we are available to our customers 24/7.) We huddle, we talk, and we get excited. We celebrate our past successes, I share our vision and strategy, we help each other absorb the message and we reset for the year. I love the idea of everyone rallying together to help us win.

Over the years we held different types of rallies, some with the help of external speakers like @rontite and @preetbanerjee, but this year felt much more personal. With the sale of ING DIRECT, the 2013 Orange Rally belonged to our orange team, to celebrate our successes, align ourselves and provide clarity on the strategy for our very exciting future. I personally needed to reaffirm the importance of teamwork and collaboration for ING DIRECT.

The fact is if we don’t collaborate we won’t be in business. We have to remain nimble, flexible and entrepreneurial. We have a collective fund of intelligence within the team, you probably do too, so what are leaders doing to ensure access to that fund? Phil Jackson said it really well: “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”

Leaders need to create a collaborative environment within the business. We all felt it at this year’s rally when each member took to the drums lead by a dynamic team called Drum Café. It was quite powerful and lots of fun! But I’m aware that a highly energetic few hours once a year is not going to sustain the magic day in and day out.

I am completely certain that a CEO can lead, and can set the tone but this is not nearly enough. To win, we need leaders all over the business interacting, clarifying, inspiring, making decisions – leading! Leaders at all levels need to take the initiative to make our vision happen.

I think that more business leaders than ever understand what Max McKeown wrote, “Strategy is not a solo sport – even if you’re the CEO.”  To which I would add, especially if you’re the CEO!

All the best to you and your team!

Peter.

At ING DIRECT, our mission is to coach and educate Canadians so they can become smarter investors. The current dialogue in financial media regarding mutual fund fees is something we’re very pleased about, as it aligns well with our mission. Canadians pay some of the highest mutual fund fees in the world, and we feel there’s a great need for more transparency and awareness on this topic. For some background, you may want to review this 2011 study in which Canada received an “F” grade for mutual fund fees and expenses, coming in last place out of the 22 countries under the microscope.

So with that said, the question becomes, what can we do about it?  The first step is to make sure we actually understand the fees we’re paying for our investments. This can be a bit confusing, but let’s break it down. All mutual funds have a Management Expense Ratio (MER) which is basically the cost of managing the fund. The MER includes the management fees paid to the fund company, the trailer fees paid to the advisor or dealer, and the operational expenses associated with managing the fund. It’s important to note that the MER is built into the price and return of the fund, whether our investment increases or decreases in value. Since this fee is embedded, it’s easy to overlook. It’s kind of like gasoline taxes – they’re built into what we pay at the pump, so many people don’t realize how much of the price of gas is made up of taxes. Some funds also have front-end, back-end, or deferred sales charges, on top of the MER. And as this recent Globe and Mail article puts it, the mutual fund industry is taking an unfair slice of your investments.

So why is this important? When it comes to investing, fees are a key factor towards our portfolio’s long-term performance and can really eat into our returns. The bottom line is the less we pay, the better off we’ll be. To put this in perspective, over a 25 year time period, high fees can consume upwards of 80% of our initial investment. And more importantly, this can translate into those fees directly pushing back our retirement date by two to three years.

The good news is that the fees we pay for our investment portfolio are one of the few things that we can actually control. By contrast, interest rates, inflation rates, and how the markets perform are more like a weather forecast – we can try our best to predict what’s going to happen, but ultimately it is not within our control.

We are not saying that all fees are bad. Rather, we believe it’s time for Canadians to understand the importance of mutual fund fees, and we feel we can play a valuable role. By coaching Canadians to make educated decisions, we can help investors understand the value they’re receiving (or not receiving) for the mutual fund fees they pay. As a whole, the industry needs greater accountability to align fees with value provided, and more transparency around disclosure about the impact of mutual fund fees on long-term performance.

Not sure how much you’re paying in mutual funds fees? Take action. Call your bank or investment advisor and ask them to specify all of the fees you’re paying for your mutual fund investments. Then ask yourself, “am I getting fantastic value for what I’m paying?”

In summary, we like where this dialogue is going, and we’re more than happy to play our part.

There’s no question that we all dream and envision how life will be like when we’re older. You know, less hectic, maybe a cottage up North, perhaps a home down in Florida, less or no work, and travels to plan.

But what exactly are we doing to ensure this happens? Not much when two-thirds of Canadians don’t have an RSP or have made no contributions to their retirement savings in 2012!

Here’s the irony: The same two-thirds are in fact worried about their financial wellbeing during retirement. When I see this it makes me think of the provocative view of Thomas Edison who said, “Vision without execution is hallucination.”

What’s more, Canadians have admitted that neglecting retirement savings has taken a toll on their emotional health. 26% of Canadians who did not make RSP contributions in 2012 described themselves as feeling concerned, stressed, anxious, hopeless or overwhelmed about it.

On the flip side, 29% of those who actually contributed to their RSPs in 2012 described themselves as feeling calm, while 20% feel safe and another 20% describe feeling confident.

People want to feel calm, safe and confident! How do you want to feel?

I came across this article in the Globe and Mail recently that describes the connection between our retirement savings plans and our psychology. It suggests that saving using RSPs is most beneficial for our long-term goals because of their impact on our financial behaviour and habits. As a student of psychology, I couldn’t agree more.

We know that Canadians are eager to retire early but very few have the financial habits to support their early retirement dreams. But it’s not all bad news. There are many Canadians who are actively paying off debt and saving for other goals, like paying for their child’s education. All of which are of course important priorities, but often they are done at the expense of saving for retirement.

It’s important to strike a financial balance between the short term (a vacation to Hawaii in the spring), medium term (renovating your kitchen or saving for your child’s university education) and long term (your retirement) so that contributions to an RSP are not overlooked. I have said this on numerous occasions – saving or planning for retirement doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t have to be big, but it does have to start!

There are several financial institutions, family, friends or even online tools that can provide great information to help you and your family think about money and how to plan your financial future. But the first step toward change, toward positive results or execution of any goal, is always awareness.

So arm yourself with the basic information, set goals and make a commitment to see your plans through. And consider the words of Tony Robbins when he said, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”

Whenever you are ready to slow down, be sure that the vision you have set for your life has been given the best chances to be realized. It is your life and you deserve to enjoy it. It’s not easy but saving in a steady simple way can lead to the happiness, calmness and confidence you deserve.

I was surprised and pleased by the response because within a very short time many of our employees mustered up the courage to respond! I have spent my career proving that leaders at the top can be as real and accessible as anyone – but despite town halls, face-to-face meetings, regular communication, and no physical walls around me, some teammates still find it difficult to voice their concerns or even call me Peter! Good morning Mr. Aceto, the odd few still say.

I have always said that one fantastic benefit of social media is that through it, you have access to peoples’ dinner table conversations – an access that reveals how your customers and prospective customers view your business. We are privy to consumer insights that generate great ideas and in turn improve our products and processes.

It is with that same spirit that I sent out my right to bitch message to the team. No matter how open our culture may be, the water cooler conversations still take place. No matter how hard we try, there are still things about our business that are bothersome and irritate our employees. Why would I want this to continue? Annoyance turns into frustration and the next thing you know, your employees are seriously unhappy and guess who feels it? Your customers! So why not address the issues? Why not get the irritants out of the way? And why not as leaders, provide the forum for people to vent?

I was reminded by this little exercise that straightforward and authentic communication is most effective. Good or bad, I like hearing it straight, and I believe we all naturally do. This is the type of communication that builds trust, forms communities and ultimately breaks down fear. Once the first handful of employees chimed in, more built the courage to share.  Other team members started helping each other with solutions, and senior executives became aware of issues not previously discussed before and committed to fixing them. Like a snowball building momentum, size and speed. A little push from me is all it took.

Action items were devised and accountabilities taken to remedy items identified – we even brought back hashbrowns for our Friday morning Big Breakfast in the cafeteria! Who knew they were that popular?

We may not have solved major business issues by having this bitch session, but with my support, employees know that it is safe to be heard, and that dialogue is encouraged and feedback is actionable. And my senior team is reminded of the power that resides in having real conversations, honesty and open debate.

Whether it is Pandora’s box or a big can of worms you’re opening, the point is the cans exist, the conversations take place and there’s always room for improvement. I strongly encourage leaders to take the initiative, be an active listener and provide safety for your employees’ honesty.

I had some success early in life when it came to team sports but nothing to write home about. I always loved the game of hockey but I was really a basketball player. It was in university that I began to play hockey and continue to play a fair amount with my family, friends and teammates at ING DIRECT. I also coach both of my sons’ hockey teams.

We have hundreds of employees who regularly participate in various sporting teams at ING DIRECT. It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring people together from across the business who share a common love, including me. There is no better investment of my time than when I truly connect with my colleagues. And it happens in various ways. But in particular, the weekly hockey game with the team documented through social media has certainly provided valuable insights and a lot of fun.

I find that these activities break down barriers and remove, for the most part, the preconceived notions of “the CEO.” With all the open communication I push for at the office, I am still met with the occasional “Mr. Aceto” or “Sir.” I have spent an entire career proving that I am just as real as the next guy/gal but in an office, even without physical walls around me, the barriers persist. But on the ice, or in a locker room, it is an entirely different story. I would say that of those courageous enough to join our team games, anything preconceived vanishes fairly quickly.

I believe what we learn in team sports has a direct impact on business performance. There is a fluidity on the ice or the court that may not always translate as well in the office. If someone tries something for the benefit of the team but finds themselves out of position a teammate quickly identifies this and helps out. They adjust. It’s beautiful to see when it happens, now imagine when it happens in the business context!

Sports provide a training ground to practice and cultivate leadership abilities – to play with integrity, teach and learn from teammates and create a culture that people want to be a part of. It is an opportunity to inspire others to a common goal, motivate others to perform beyond their limiting beliefs and fuel passion for something we believe in. To me this ought to be identical to a day at the office.

Coaching my sons’ hockey teams, much like playing team sports, has also brought a great deal of insight into my work. “A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are,” said Ara Parseghian. The same applies for business leaders. We have the responsibility of transforming those around us in life and in business by the actions we take.

I love sports, both because of its personal benefits and its amazing applicability to business performance. The lessons learned and fun we have when on the ice together have certainly made ING DIRECT a better place to work, better for our customers and has a lot to do with our success!