Uniquely Coutts – Jo Minns

Jo Minns loves shoes. So much so, that last week she bought three pairs of red shoes all on the same day. “I have been called the Imelda Marcos of Coutts before,” laughs Jo, “but in my defence, I’d just downsized from 117 down to 87 pairs!”

Shoe-loving Jo joined Coutts five months ago as HR business partner, Wealth UK and Wealth Solutions and hasn’t looked back since. Not that she’s had much time to. Within a week of starting, Jo was in front of a roomful of senior managers presenting how the business would be restructured to suit clients’ changing needs.

“That was probably one of my biggest challenges to date. Speaking to a group of managers about changes to a business I was new to was tough,” recalls Jo.

These changes included a headcount reduction across the business, plus a restructure to how the wider Wealth Management division, which Coutts is part of, is organised.

“It’s been a very challenging time,” admits Jo. “Employees are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but I think the amount of change that people have been through shouldn’t be underestimated. The senior team are listening to concerns and acting on them.”

"One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is to not underestimate the culture here, because it’s easy to think that Coutts is another part of RBS, but actually it feels really different."

Jo’s main responsibility is to support Michael Morley, the new Coutts CEO, and provide the strategic HR input, depending on what’s happening in the business. She adds: “I need to understand what the people implications will be, whether that’s around growth or a restructure, which is what we have been going through.”

After five months in the role, Jo is pleasantly surprised with how well HR is respected at Coutts and ‘always has a seat at the table’, but more importantly, it confirms that employees continue to be at the top of the agenda.

“I’ve worked in businesses before where I’ve really had to challenge to get my voice heard, whereas at Coutts there is an absolute expectation that I will be involved in decision-making.”

Another part of Jo’s role is to ensure employees remain engaged, which has also proved tricky following the media attention on RBS. But Jo remains positive. “In the past, the financial industry used financial rewards to keep people motivated but we simply do not have the scope any more.

“Instead, we have to think about what makes people want to be part of Coutts, and how we are going to create an environment where people want to come to work and do their best.
“We are reliant on our employees to help move Coutts, and in turn RBS, forward to rebuild the Group’s standalone strength. Coutts employees play an important role in doing that,” insists Jo.

With over ten years experience in HR (six years at RBS and four within the telecoms industry), Jo has a wealth of knowledge she can draw on.

"I'd be running a piano bar on the beach in Vietnam - the lifestyle would be nice and relaxed and I’d get to play the piano everyday"

“When I first came to RBS, I was in shock about how much slower things seems to move because of regulation and just the way the financial service industry differed to telecoms. “I was in telecoms during the build-up of the dot com bubble and after it burst, so it was a different pace when I moved into banking.”

The same could be said of her move from RBS Global Banking & Markets to Coutts. “One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is to not underestimate the importance of the culture, here because it’s easy to think that Coutts is another part of RBS, but actually it feels really different.

“There’s much more of a family feel here, which is fantastic,” she smiles. But she also feels that Coutts benefits from being part of a bigger organisation, like RBS, as long as ‘Coutts doesn’t lose sight of its identity’.

Jo is passionate about her work, but equally has a ‘home time is my time’ philosophy, which ensures she can enjoy her other passions. A keen musician, Jo plays the piano, cello and the recorder, and is currently teaching herself to play the bass guitar.

Travelling is another passion, but she is still undecided about the next destination. “If I have my way, we will be going back to Japan. It’s the most amazing place I have ever been to, and just so different to anything I have ever experienced.”

And if she wasn’t working in HR, Jo knows exactly what she would be doing. “I’d be running a piano bar on the beach in Vietnam – the lifestyle would be nice and relaxed and I’d get to play the piano everyday,” she says, without a doubt.

For now though, that dream is a long way off, but shoes on the other hand are a nice pick-me-up. “My favourite pair is from Alexander McQueen but my next purchase will definitely be a pair of Christian Louboutins, after all a girl has got to have shoes,” she laughs.

By Rupa Sudra