Institutions in the financial sector are facing a far-reaching transformation. A sustainable realignment will be successful if it is anchored in the mindset of those involved and thus in the corporate culture.

In the Mindful Finance Institute we combine:

• In-depth expertise in financial sustainability

• Extensive experience with change processes, mindfulness methods and corporate culture        

Financial sustainability is becoming the cornerstone of financial institutions’ future business models. We are building on this.

The starting point is to determine where you stand. Where does your company stand, especially in terms of sustainability? Which stakeholders are relevant, what contributions do they make? What makes your company tick, i.e. what do managers and employees think about values, success, risk, sustainability, digitization? 

Together with our partners, we have tried-and-tested analysis tools at our disposal that provide you with the necessary factual basis for determining your goals and designing your realignment.

Facts allow us to see the essentials: What needs to be done? It is precisely a factual basis that is so often missing when it comes to sustainability and corporate culture.

A. Stakeholder analysis as well as materiality analysis for sustainability

Who are your relevant stakeholders? What interests do they pursue? Stakeholder mapping and stakeholder surveys give you a secure basis for goal setting and decision making.

The materiality analysis is used to identify the sustainability issues that are significant for a company and its stakeholders. It includes the environment analysis, the company analysis, and the analysis of stakeholder expectations.

In this way, topics relevant from the company’s perspective are compared with topics relevant from the stakeholder perspective. On this basis, fields of action for the area of sustainability are identified in a materiality matrix.

Our partner M3TRIX is considered a competence center for sustainability and possesses the field-tested analysis tools as well as extensive experience in corporate application.

B. Corporate Culture Analysis

We measure corporate culture with a scientifically based analysis tool in the four core dimensions “Performance”, “Power”, “Purpose” and “Positivity”. This provides you with information about the four dimensions based on several key performance indicators

• Value culture
• Digital culture
• Sustainability culture
• Risk culture

in your company. This will allow you to lay a foundation for the targeted development of the corporate culture.

Our partner IWU/emotion banking has many years of experience in corporate culture analysis. The analysis is carried out online without too much time expenditure.

C. Resilience Analysis Managers/Employees

How employees personally deal with crises and high stress levels is a key factor in determining the company’s performance and its ability to withstand crises.

Although subjectively felt, stress and strain level can be scientifically determined. Heart rhythm variability measurement (HRV measurement) is currently the most recognized method.

Our partner Firstbeat has developed the Lifestyle Assessment, an analysis tool that helps clients better manage stress, improve recovery and exercise properly. The 72-hour HRV analysis enables a clear assessment of

• the stress-recovery balance,
• the regenerative effect of sleep and
• the health effects of physical activity of the participants.

Building on this, you can develop new habits of self-care and self-regulation with our support.

We accompany you on the path of transformation towards an innovative and sustainable corporate culture.

Getting Started

In 1-2 day board and management workshops, we work with you and your executives – after a sustainability quick check – to develop the itinerary:

• What do you need to know about sustainable finance? From materiality to taxonomy – what is relevant for you? What new business opportunities does sustainability offer, what risks are there?
• What value system, what attitudes are necessary for this? How does it fit with your vision and mission? Can sustainability offer a new meaning?
• And the crucial question: How do you create the necessary readiness for change to anchor sustainability in the corporate culture?

At the end, you will hold a concrete road map in your hand that shows you your way into the new world of sustainable finance.

The Transformation Process

Road map and results of the corporate culture analysis reveal the framework and content of the multi-stage mindfulness-based transformation process. Culture change is an iterative process of changes in the context and the mindsets of those involved.

We design, steer and moderate the personnel and organizational intervention processes for cultural development. Team development and personality development go hand in hand here.

In our experience, culture change requires shifts in the attitudes and assumptions of managers and employees regarding

• the development of awareness and collective intelligence in decision making
• the cultivation of agility and risk-conscious innovation in corporate development
• the anchoring of social and environmental orientation in investment decisions
• the development of a work culture of engagement
• the anchoring of meaning in daily work to strengthen resilience – both individually and organizationally.

Mindfulness forms the basis of these skills and can be understood as a core competence for the necessary mindset change. See also our white paper “Transformation in Finance – How Mindset Change Contributes to Sustainable Culture Change”.

1. Systematic competence development through customized programs. For details on content, see “Learning room”.

2. Agile working and sustainability knowledge online

The implementation of sustainability in the everyday business life of managers and employees requires, among other things, the examination of relevant sustainability issues. The “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG) of the United Nations, form something like the core of sustainable development.

With the online platforms “The Mission” or “SDGpreneur” from our partner Questo Prosulting, managers and employees learn not only agile collaboration, but also what dimensions sustainability has, what relevance it has for the future success of the company, and how sustainability can be integrated into the everyday life of your bank/insurance company.