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Connecting employees to create value in investment banks

• More than most organizations, investment banks struggle to leverage their talent across business units. Yet their need to build connections is more pressing than ever, given their clients’ growing demand for integrated services.
• Far from trying to blow up silos, banks should use quantitative methods to map the informal networks among their employees, use deep-dive interviews to investigate opportunities for collaboration, and ruthlessly focus on the economics.
• In pursuing cooperation among business units, a bank should first ensure that its top team is closely aligned; introduce initiatives to develop organization-wide people, knowledge, and capabilities; and concentrate its efforts on a handful of cross-cutting themes.