Facing change strengthens our identity
Published on 06.10.2017 CEST
Herbert J. Scheidt, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Digitization and globalization are profoundly changing our human behavior and the way we live our lives, day in and day out. That means that for companies like Vontobel, openness to change has become essential for future success. In a world where so much is changing so quickly, one constant remains certain: our identity and our values, which serve as a faithful compass in our daily work, underpinning why, and how, we do things.
© Photo: Noë Flum
We at Vontobel have used the past few months intensively to peer into ourselves and define the core of our identity and the values we embody. Undergoing this process, our intention was not to reinvent Vontobel, but to better understand who we are and what we stand for. We intensively involved our employees in this process, so that our common ideas of our self-conception could grow even more solid. Our employees are committed and want to lead Vontobel successfully into the future – in the interests of our clients.
Looking inwards, we recognized that Vontobel has already developed many strengths in the past that we want to take advantage of and expand. For example, we have long demonstrated a tradition of entrepreneurial thinking, which we want to continue cultivating and promoting. As we interpret this, we have a strong conviction in the capabilities and expertise of our employees. We thus grant them scope for action, but from each individual we also demand personal responsibility for these actions. At the same time, we do not chase after every short-term trend, but instead take a long-term perspective, carefully weighing what we will do, and how we will do it, before we make our decisions. But once we have made a decision, we remain steadfast. We also speak our minds clearly, even when it is uncomfortable and goes against the reigning consensus. We will always do this in the interest of our clients, and with the aim of finding the best solution for them.
In other words, Vontobel remains Vontobel. We stand for the success of our clients, for quality in everything we do, for financial stability and entrepreneurial success. Our self-conception, our belief in the possibilities of the future, and our aspirations for innovative solutions point the way to continued future success and reinforce our identity.
About Herbert J. Scheidt
Herbert J. Scheidt has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vontobel since 2011. He served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer from 2002 to 2011. Prior to this, he held various international management positions at Deutsche Bank over a period of two decades.