Danske Bank: 'Yes, please' to the red report

The challenge

Group Internal Audit (GIA) has to deliver difficult messages to internal clients and regulators – and wanted to move away from the 'police officer' role towards that of adviser and challenger. GIA set three goals for around 77 staff in Denmark and 25 colleagues from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland and the Baltic states, among others:

• to work deliberately on trust and relationships as part of communication
• to deliver clear and difficult messages, so the client says 'yes, please' even to a red report
• to handle resistance and difficult conversations – step by step rather than through 'grand unveilings'

Our approach

A two-day intensive course in which participants worked on their own real cases and used role-play to practise storytelling, handling resistance, leading difficult meetings and trust-building communication.

The result

Everyone gained practical, proven tools and a shared language that is now used every day. GIA found a new way to present its work, with the audience at the centre and GIA as the helper. The result is greater trust in GIA's role as both adviser and auditor.

‘The course gave us simple but effective tools we can use every day. Our mindset has been challenged and we've seen what we can do differently. For example, we've started holding a "dress rehearsal" before meetings and conversations where we expect to need to be particularly well prepared.’

– Dorthe Tolborg, Chief Audit Executive, Danske Bank