Matos has become the lightning rod for fear and blame among the staff, who have created a weekly Reddit thread dedicated to the personality and strategy of the unexpected outsider who took up his position as the bank’s chief executive in May.
ANZ is the smallest of the big four Australian banks.Credit: Natalie Boog
The thread reads more like an ANZ staff community therapy session, populated by posts from workers concerned about whether they are in the firing line, mixed with tales of colleagues who have already been made redundant.
Having come from HSBC and missing out on taking the top job there, Matos was not apprised of the peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the Australian banking market. Nor was he familiar with the coffee stains on the hallways of Parliament House in Canberra, like most seasoned bank executives.
Appointing an outsider to lead an Australian bank comes with risks but also opportunities.
Looking through the miscommunications and abysmal staff morale, it seems Matos is on a mission to overhaul the underperforming bank – which is the smallest of Australia’s big four.
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He replaced Shayne Elliott, who finished a 10-year stint as chief executive but left several issues to resolve – the most immediate of which was to address the bank’s risk culture.
In April, management consultants Oliver Wyman delivered a scathing assessment of ANZ’s risk culture, and found managers had turned a blind eye to cultural failings. The bank created a new role of “group head of non-financial risk program delivery” to brief Matos on progress – so repairing the bank’s reputation with regulators will be a key priority.
ANZ has been forced by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to hold an additional $1 billion in capital and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is yet to decide whether to pursue the bank in court over a bond trading scandal.
The issue is not a question of whether the bank is in sore need of change – it clearly needs an overhaul – and Matos has been clear that this is his goal.
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In a staff note last month, Matos said the bank had to bring its productivity and costs “in line with industry standards and shareholders’ expectations”.
“I want ANZ to win. As a leader, I like to build, I like to transform, and I don’t want our bank to be average,” Matos told his people in a note to mark his first 100 days in the role.
But to cut anywhere near 5000 people would be a big swing. Corporate Australia is littered with stories of companies that cut too deep and damaged their franchises.
Unfortunately, thousands of staffers are wondering whether they will become lobster lunch.
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