Joanna White is National Australia Bank’s newly appointed State General Manager nabbusiness SA & NT. She is responsible for lending, deposits and funds management to South Australian and Northern Territory businesses.
Can you tell us about your career and how it led to National Australia Bank?
My first leadership role, after completing a B.Comm at the University of Alberta, was with Proctor & Gamble’s Grande Prairie Pulp Mill in Canada. As a maintenance and production manager I was responsible for a team of 40 mechanics and steam engineers. After completing my MBA at Harvard I joined global strategy consulting firm Bain & Company. On my first day I was offered the opportunity to transfer to Sydney for six months.
I accepted and never went back. I took an interest in Bain & Company’s pro bono activities and in 2002 I established The Australian Charities Fund with colleagues from Bain. As founding General Manager and then CEO, I led the team which introduced workplace giving programs to over 60 Australian companies and raised more than $10 million for more than 200 Australian charities each year. I joined NAB in 2007 as Group Manager Corporate Responsibility and led the development and implementation of NAB’s School’s First program.
This was followed by roles including Strategic Adviser to NAB’s Deputy Group CEO Michael Ullmer and General Manager Business Lending, for which I was responsible for NAB’s business lending products and pricing. I was appointed NAB State General Manager nabbusiness SA & NT in June 2011.
What have been the highlights of your career to date?
There have been three key highlights:
1) Establishing the Australian Charities Fund: The opportunity to establish a start-up company gave me a unique insight into the world of SMEs. I built a team from the ground up and established an organisational culture that our team wanted to work within.
2) Initiating NAB’s Schools First community program: Over the past two years, Schools First has provided more than $10 million in financial support to school-community partnerships Australia-wide.
3) My appointment to State General Manager nabbusiness SA & NT: After a few years in a head office environment I missed talking to customers. I accepted this position because I wanted to be in front of customers again.
What are the most rewarding aspects of your job?
Spending time with my team and our customers. I aim to spend at least two days per week in NAB’s SA Business Banking Centres, meeting with and listening to our customers and team members I love the influence NAB is having with our break-up campaign and our focus on providing fairer banking.
I am building on this at a local level by continuing the focus to ensure our bankers understand our customers and their businesses and work with them to better meet their needs. A particular focus for me is SA’s SMEs. SMEs are an important driver of South Australia’s economy and I believe banks could do more to support these businesses. Nationally, NAB is the #1 lender to small and medium businesses, and I hope SA businesses will consider whether we can meet their needs.
What services does nabbusiness provide?
nabbusiness looks after the banking needs of NAB’s business customers. We provide businesses with tools for growth as well as solutions to streamline and improve their cash flow. This covers everything from business loans, asset finance and debtor finance through to everyday banking services, foreign currency transactions, interest rate risk management and specialist advice in key industry sectors. NAB’s team of experienced bankers works with our business customers to help them find the products and services that will best match their needs. Most of us are familiar with NAB’s widely publicised break-up campaign.
What was the thinking behind it?
For over two years, NAB has demonstrated our commitment to offering our business and personal customers a better deal. We were the first to abolish of a range of fees for personal and business accounts, remove over limit fees on NAB credit cards and recently abolished mortgage early exit fees on NAB home loans. Over the past three years we have invested in 350 new business bankers and 20 new Business Banking Centres nationally.
During the GFC, we continued to lend to businesses when other banks didn’t. Specifically, between November 2008 and November 2010, according to APRA, NAB grew lending by $8 billion, when others dropped by $55 billion. We no longer see ourselves as being “just another bank” so we decided to take a very public stand with our break-up campaign. It has been hugely successful and well received by our customers Australia-wide.
What are your views on business in South Australia?
South Australia is heading towards exceptional times. This excites me, but it holds its own challenges as I don’t think we’re quite prepared for how good it’s going to be. I foresee challenges for the State’s business community in finding enough skilled staff. This is something I plan to discuss with our business customers and, from NAB’s own perspective, I will also be looking at ways that we can continue to attract quality people to our local team. I am confident that we will get it right and that South Australia will enjoy prosperous times ahead.
What are your views on leadership?
I learnt quite early in my career, in the Procter & Gamble pulp mill, that leadership isn’t about having the most technical expertise or all the right answers. I prefer to focus on creating an environment where diverse points of view are sought, expressed and debated. I see my primary role as a leader to support and encourage the people I work with and to ensure they know that their contributions are essential and valued.
My role with the SA and NT teams is to help build and develop their thoughts and ideas and to assist in providing the organisational support to make our plans come to life. I also have a particular interest in women’s leadership and would like to do what I can to encourage more women to become involved in leadership opportunities in SA.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
My husband Chris and I are currently getting to know South Australia. We have appreciated the opportunity to move here and enjoy what this state has to offer. The lifestyle is fantastic, it’s easy to get around and the friendly nature of South Australians has been very welcoming. I particularly enjoyed a recent hike in Waterfall Gully and a visit to the Central Markets.
