Case study
NatWest
Video, simulation and smart data combine to transform pay and bonus reviews at the UK’s leading retail bank.
Key results
12,000
90%
93%
61%
£5m
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Background
NatWest undertook a bold transformation of its pay and bonus review process, moving away from a centralised, rating-driven system to one that empowered leaders with greater autonomy and accountability.
Challenge
2025 marked a significant shift for NatWest in the way leaders across the business tackled pay and bonus decisions. Moving away from a centralised process driven purely by performance ratings, the new system empowered leaders to make fair and more differentiated pay and bonus decisions.
For leaders at NatWest this meant greater autonomy and greater accountability. To support such a large strategic shift, the bank needed a comprehensive learning solution that provided leaders with a clear understanding of the new process and both the skills and confidence to make it happen.
NatWest understood that a standard online or face-to-face solution wouldn’t cut it, and set out to create a media-rich learning campaign that spanned multiple impactful and effective formats. What's more, the bank needed to make this happen fast. And that’s where Learning Pool come in…
Solution
- Virtual kick-off event
- Viral trailer
- Video-based simulation with 16 variations
- 32 actors and 128 video clips
- Additional practice through AI-powered conversations
The team at NatWest kicked off the learning campaign with a live virtual event that reached 7,450 leaders across the organisation. Acting as an introduction, the launch event helped leaders get to grips with the basics of the new pay and bonus review approach and instilled a strong desire across the population to practice and learn more - an impressive 78% of attendees felt inspired to act immediately.
Meanwhile, Learning Pool were preparing an ambitious virtual simulation that would enable NatWest’s leaders to practice many of the key elements covered in the launch event. Developed in just 14 weeks the programme involved 32 actors and the creation of 128 video clips to create a deep simulation that had 16 variations and hundreds of different outcomes.
Developed in Articulate Storyline, the simulation enabled learners to define a personalised experience according to their roles and team size. Within this adaptable framework, learners navigated conversations with up to 32 meticulously crafted characters each with a nuanced backstory, performance profile, and set of expectations. This depth enabled learners to navigate authentic scenarios, making critical decisions about pay and bonus rewards based on contextual employee information.
Crucially, the design deliberately avoided simplistic ‘win’ states. Instead, it emphasised the importance of fairness and the need to make evidence-based decisions, even when those decisions elicited uncomfortable reactions.
The diverse cast of characters was engineered to respond realistically to various pay outcomes, forcing learners to confront the consequences of their choices. For instance, the contrast between one manager’s initial delight at a high payout, despite being a standard performer, and her subsequent irritability when a more evidence-based decision was suggested, highlighted the complexities of managing differing perceptions within a team.
In contrast, a high-performing employee’s potential reaction to perceived unfairness would offer a different, equally important learning moment.
Similarly, certain characters were strategically designed to test audience biases. One character was written to appear overconfident and smug to seem ‘unlikeable’ but with evidence to suggest he's a high performer. Another on the same team, is affected by illness and yet still underperforms despite accommodations and support, testing fairness and empathy versus consistent standards. These characters force learners to confront their biases and strive for objective, evidence-based decisions, promoting a more inclusive and equitable approach to performance management at NatWest.
Learners got to experience the impact of these decisions in the video reactions of employees adding weight and consequence to their choices. They would have the opportunity to further practice these conversations using an AI simulator that assessed their ability to actually conduct the conversation with an employee.
Early in production, the team created a trailer that ‘went viral’ in the organisation to build a buzz around the upcoming simulation launch.
Finally, the simulation was designed to report more in-depth learner activity allowing the team at NatWest to see the journey learners took and the decisions they made. This piece of the puzzle was vital in ensuring that supporting training activity was properly targeted and the bank could get an early indication of how well learners understood and could employ the new process.
Together all these immersive elements allowed managers to explore the consequences of different decisions, receive feedback, and build capability in a psychologically safe environment.
The response to NatWest’s new pay and review approach both amongst leaders and employees has been outstanding. And, thanks to the data tracking applied across all elements of the campaign, we are able to see just how crucial the learning has been in delivering this change.
- 12,000 leaders have completed the learning with the majority (91%) doing so within the first 9 weeks.
- 71% of leaders felt that it was easier to apply the process than in previous years (despite the new system requiring greater autonomy).
- Real change in pay and bonus distribution with 58% of colleagues receiving a discretionary increase, beyond market adjustments and bonuses awarded across the full 0-100% range.
- Pay increases were more meaningfully distributed, avoiding the previous tendency to cluster around a matrix midpoint.
- 61% reduction in pay and bonus review appeals saving the business time, money and improving employee sentiment.
- Employee sentiment improvements across all major manager and pay criteria (see table)
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About NatWest
Use Cases
Upskilling
Industry
Financial Services
Audience
28,000
Employees worldwide
Location
Global
Products
