Organization Name: Tangerine
Industry: Financial/Banking
Web References: http://tangerine.ca, http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-strategy/leadership-qa-peter-aceto/, http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/tangerine-gives-employees-mobility-nudge-towards-community-volunteerism/49394, http://nudgerewards.com/, http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/01/30/a-bank-executive-they-call-the-social-media-ceo/
Description of how social media is used for business performance
Just as the name “Tangerine” is unique in the Canadian banking industry, their approach to banking, employee engagement and social media, are no different.
The Tangerine website features a link to their Forward Thinking blog which can be used to access articles on the following topics such as Savings, Spending, Insights and Perspectives. In addition, whether you’re a Client or just browsing the vast world of the internet, you can access the “CEO Blog”. Just as the title suggests, it’s a blog written by their president and CEO, Peter Aceto.
Being an authentic personality in addition to being active and transparent on social media, has lead to Peter being recognized as the “Social Media CEO”. It’s unheard of to think that with just a few clicks, you can ask a question or provide feedback to the CEO of a Canadian financial institution. Not sure what to ask? There’s lots of information you can find online through Peter’s posts including articles he shares and tweets or blog posts about his passions as a leader. Visit https://forwardthinking.tangerine.ca/en/#!/authors/paceto/1 or tweet directly at him @PeterAceto via Twitter.
A quote from forbes.com reads “Aceto believes effective communication across social media platforms is more critical today than ever before. ‘Successful leaders will no longer be measured just by stock price. Managing and communicating with shareholders, employees, government, community, customers, will be table stakes in the future. They are talking about your business anyway. Why not be included in the conversation?’”
The value that Aceto places on communication and transparency paired with Tangerine’s aggressive efforts to be an industry leader in innovation come hand in hand. It’s clear that with open communications, conversations about business needs and the feedback of clients, employees within Tangerine are given the right information to make the right improvements. As John C. Maxwell said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way”.
An example of the innovation that stems from the amount of engagement at Tangerine (whether an employee or client) is:
1. The launch of Voice Banking and Touch ID™
These features are being introduced as part of their strive to meet clients wants for an easier, empowered banking experience. On October 1st, 2014, Tangerine announced they’d be the first Canadian bank introducing new biometric technology used to verify their clients identities via their mobile application. This innovative solution uses voice and fingerprint technology to provide additional security via the touch of a finger.
2. The use of Nudge Rewards for community volunteerism
Nudge Rewards is used to create communication between a company and employee which can “Harness the power of your employees’ smartphone to deliver information, drive engagement and mobilize the team”.
It can be used to track details about participation in volunteer activities, collect feedback form employees and send polls. This is another example of how Tangerine uses social media to meet their sustainability initiatives and involve their employees in the process. Instead of only provided financial help, they take the opportunity to have employees get involved and connect in communities which helping Canadians.
In an interview with itbusiness.com the community investment manager, Jaqueline Emes, says “‘There’s a direct positive impact for us when we’re out in the community,” she says. “It’s helping us show our presence as we are an online bank, we don’t have the same presence as the bricks and mortar banks have.” Plus it just makes employees feel good to give back, she says, and more connected to their workplace”.
Lessons for others
- The importance of using social media for employee engagement is transparency within your company. Promotes innovation which is important to an organization that wants to be a leader in their industry.
- Providing clients and employees with the opportunity to provide feedback and hear insights from the CEO of a company lead to transparency and assurance in improvements and changes.
- Being active in social media as a company can create a community and open communications that can ultimately benefit your business
Submitted by: Amanda Ganie, SMBP Student, University of Waterloo
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director, Social Media for Business Performance.