天美传媒

BBVA Chairman Francisco Gonz谩lez has a number of tips for building good corporate governance and an ideal board of directors, but he stresses one, in particular: 鈥淒on鈥檛 bring friends into the company.鈥澨�听

Gonz谩lez spoke about corporate governance during recent talks with professor Jordi Canals in Barcelona and Eric Weber in New York.听

For Gonz谩lez, one of the pillars of successful, and ethical, corporate boards is independent members without conflicts of interest who have the relevant knowledge and experience and sufficient time to devote to the bank. 鈥淏oard members,鈥� Gonz谩lez said, 鈥渕ust feel independent from the executives. That is the most important thing.鈥� (He noted that the bulk of BBVA board members are brought in by headhunters.)听听

Gonz谩lez, who was named BBVA chairman in 2001 and will step down in the coming months, is in a unique position to offer corporate governance insights. BBVA was for years during his chairmanship one of the very few large European banks with a significant number of external board members. Canals said that this distinction helped give BBVA a competitive edge in the areas of 鈥渢ransparency and accountability,鈥� which took on added importance during the Great Recession. The bank has also pushed technological boundaries under Gonz谩lez鈥� leadership.听听

Paramount to Gonz谩lez and the culture he forged at the company are three bedrock principles that steer the company toward transparency. These rudders are an unfailing adherence to the law, the fulfilment of moral obligations to society and ensuring that the bank and its activities can stand up to any and all public scrutiny. Gonz谩lez said that while much of this adherence lies in the chairman鈥檚 hands, the cultivation of a top-tier board made up of independent thinkers is the indispensable ingredient in good governance. The BBVA board today is 鈥渘ot composed of billionaires,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut rather of common-sense people,鈥� from an array of professional backgrounds. What they all have in common is a drive to intricately understand the company and work diligently for its success.听听

鈥淪ome people think being on the board is a great gig because you don鈥檛 have any real responsibilities and yet you get all this money,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o those people, I say: 鈥楧on鈥檛 become a member of the board.鈥欌��听

Gonz谩lez said that once dedicated directors with a willingness to work hard do join the board, companies must provide them with training so as to integrate them with a culture and sense of mission they may not fully grasp. It鈥檚 crucial at this juncture to let board members voice any opinions and questions they have. At BBVA, the director will then quickly get to know the company, inside and out, thanks to the three or four meetings that take place each month and last up to six hours.听听

Mistakes (Though Not Many) Welcome听

A board with a mandate to shape a company鈥檚 mission will make tough decisions, not all of them good ones. 鈥淲e [at BBVA] make mistakes, of course,鈥� said Gonz谩lez. 篓Well, not many! But we make some mistakes.鈥�听

In fact, Gonz谩lez admitted to a 鈥渉uge鈥� error the bank made in 2007 while adopting new digital strategies by ignoring the growing importance of cloud computing. Still, BBVA is widely seen as among the past decade鈥檚 more technologically prescient companies. The bank has also been at the vanguard in embracing the 鈥渁gile鈥� workplace movement. In short, this method calls for the creation of small, multidisciplinary teams (called scrums) to work together for short, intense time periods on hyper-specific projects. BBVA is in the process of expanding the agile framework across all its operations and nearly 140,000 employees. Gonz谩lez considers agility essential to not only boosting productivity, but also to confronting today鈥檚 profound socioeconomic upheavals.听听听听

听鈥淢y vision is that the banking system is dead,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, there are about 20,000 banks in the world. There鈥檚 no place for 20,000 banks in the world. And increased transparency means lower margins. So, you need size [to survive]鈥� and also nimble, or agile, practices that move beyond traditional functionality. It鈥檚 also important, he said, to remember that 鈥渢hinking bigger doesn鈥檛 mean thinking only in terms of size. It means thinking in terms of excellence.鈥�听