Warner Manning: Influencing by example

HSBC CEO Warner Manning is a man driven by his passions. Whether he is leading the local HSBC establishment to success or inspiring his staff to push themselves to the limit either for charity or in sports, he is with them at the front lines, spurring them on to the finish. Indeed, the bank has never had a leader like him before – someone who convinces his staff to see his way and yet also willing to listen to their ideas. It is a work ethic that has had a great influence on everyone at HSBC.

HSBC COO Elaine Dichupa says Manning has revitalized the HSBC organization with his drive, energy and spirit.

"For the last 3-1/2 years, our CEO has really done great in giving the bank a good image," says Dichupa. "I can’t think of anything controversial or anything that he had to go out there to explain. He’s been very good. He’s one of the guys kasi."

Manning says it’s all part of the job. "You’ve got to be there hands on," he says. "You’ve got to be involved at all levels."

Picture this:

• In his first year in the Philippines, he launched "Watch Warner’s Weight," a personal challenge to lose 20 pounds for the benefit of Children’s Hour. He lost 23 pounds and gained for the charity P228,128.91.

• In 2004, he ran 15 kilometers from the HSBC branch in Binondo, Manila to the HSBC Savings branch in Bonifacio Global City for charity.

• In April 2005, he embarked on "Tree-athlon with Warner" where participants ran 10 kilometers, biked 20 kilometers, and planted trees at the La Mesa Watershed. Proceeds from this "tree-athlon" were donated to Children’s Hour and Bantay Kalikasan’s reforestation efforts at the La Mesa Watershed.

• Early this year, he encouraged fellow sports enthusiasts to participate in "Charity Challenge for the Children’s Hour," a full triathlon that raised over P2 million in charity.

This enthusiasm for children and the environment has been his biggest preoccupations, encouraged by HSBC’s policy of giving back to the community.

"There’s always been a priority for children and children’s education because they are the future of the Philippines and the countries that we operate in," he elaborates.

He adds, "We’re interested in the environment because we want the world to be sustainable. And we have lots of environmental policies… If we lent to the mining industry, the requirements of that financing will be that they comply with environmental laws."

The HSBC CEO went on board HSBC Philippines in 2002 after stints in Hong Kong, the United States and Brunei. In his years working with banks, the culture "is about changing faster than the competition."

"The theme that we have in HSBC is doing things differently, and we embody that in a number of things that we do. Doing things differently means changing faster than the competition."

To foster a more open working environment within the bank system, he instituted a first name-basis policy within the HSBC offices, a policy he believes would not have been accepted easily in some parts of the world.

"There is so much respect for elders, especially within the family, in Filipino culture," he explains. "We want to break that down in an organizational sense. It’s been successful because now everybody calls me Warner. They feel comfortable, and they feel they can talk to me."

Such openness has led to positive changes with the way the bank runs its business. HSBC employees responded to Manning’s call for ideas by offering proposals on how the bank’s operations can be improved.

One suggestion forwarded by a call center representative proposed altering the voice instruction for telephone inquiries. Rather than asking clients to press the "hash" key, the new voice response requests them to press the "number" key.

"That immediately avoided hundreds of wasted calls a month because people were saying ‘Excuse me, what’s this?’ And that’s what we mean by changing faster than the competition. We had nearly a thousand responses after that," he explains.

His maverick way of running HSBC’s operations has the bank’s employees rallying behind him. Not only has his staff joined him in his sports endeavors, they have also taken up his call to raising funds for charity.

"The HSBC Sports and Social Club used to think about two things: the annual Christmas party and the summer outing. Now, they are building houses for Gawad Kalinga. They are out doing all sorts of charity and things, and they feel rewarded," he adds.

It’s a good thing that Manning is a sports- minded individual. Although he has a healthy interest in sports, it’s had "a lot of chance to grow in the Philippines."

Although you’ll see him behind his desk by 8 a.m., he has already had a whole round of exercise by that time of the day. He wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day to follow a strict sports regimen that keeps him fit and full of energy.

"Monday is bike day. Tuesday is run day, except that I ran and swam this week. Wednesday is swimming, and Thursday is biking," he recites.

And there are no free days. The Saturday of the week of our interview, he was going to Subic to try a full triathlon ("It’s for personal reasons."); Sunday is his golf day.

He names businessmen Fred Uytengsu and Ernie Lopez as his mentors, while he claims responsibility for getting Fernando Zobel to keep fit, too.

"Actually, a lot of my staff now are now involved," he says. "They are going to Subic. The guys have been training. So, it does rub off. It has influenced them."

And to top that, a fellow HSBC CEO in another country is organizing a walkathon for a local charity there. "It starts off by saying ‘Inspired by Warner’s idea in the Philippines’," he declares with pride.

Talk about influencing people.

"In fact, they invited me to go over there to walk," he says. "I couldn’t. I sent a little money instead."