I met Jim during a social event. The fact that he knew who I was before we shook hands immediately put him on my good side. And once I realised he’s a reader of this column, he had all my attention :-)
 
Jim suggested I share with readers what makes ING special. Luckily for me, there are a lot of things that make ING special! In two weeks' time, we will celebrate the 13th edition of the ING Night Marathon Luxembourg. That’s a pretty special day. And in short we will kick off the application period for the ING Solidarity Awards 2018 – another amazing event.

There is one other thing that really makes us stand out and is much more difficult to copy: the Orange Code. The Orange Code is the manifesto that describes who we are and how we work. ING's operations touch many lives: customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and society at large. Balancing the rights and interests of all involved is crucial to our ongoing viability. To act in ways that can stand the test of time; to live up to the values we hold as true. By being explicit about our values, we tell the world this is how you can expect us to behave.

The Orange Code places integrity above all else and is composed of two parts. First, the ING Values, the non-negotiable promises we make to the world. These are principles we stick to, no matter what: we are honest, prudent and responsible. We will not ignore, tolerate or excuse behaviour that breach our values. To do so would break the trust of society, our customers and our colleagues.

Secondly, the ING Behaviours, our way of being that makes us different from the rest. The commitments we make to each other every day:

1.You take it on and make it happen.
2.You help others to be successful.
3.You are always a step ahead.

ING’s distinctive culture is based on the Orange Code. It allows us to be entrepreneurial, open, collaborative, dynamic and energetic. Not only on paper, mind you. The Orange Code is supported by a compliments tool, kudos, that allows employees to give each other compliments based on the ING Behaviours. Since its launch in mid-2016, more than 200,000 compliments have been given. Kudos was named “Innovation of the Year” at the Digital Communication Awards in 2017.

Kudos to Jim for the inspiration! Your trust and kind words help me to be successful :-)