Inside ANZ, the changes apply first to staff classified as Group 2 or higher, which covers a large slice of its middle and senior leadership. Management pay for this group will now be shaped by a new five-point performance rating introduced for the current financial year.
The system explicitly connects individual performance, conduct and rewards with how the broader bank performs. ANZ is positioning the framework as a way to hard-wire cultural expectations into everyday management decisions.
The bank is also weighing a second phase that would spread similar bonus rules to Group 3 and below, capturing many more managers and supervisors. That broader rollout would likely require detailed negotiation with unions, and ANZ signals it is at least a year away.
Extending the model would mean far more frontline leaders feel direct financial consequences for how they lead and behave, not just what they deliver. It would also deepen the link between team-level culture and enterprise-wide performance measures.
If ANZ pushes ahead with the wider rollout, the bank will use pay as a primary lever for culture, not just a secondary incentive. Tying rewards to a structured rating system aims to reduce discretion and make expectations more transparent.
Other institutions are watching closely, because middle-management behaviour often undermines top-down culture programmes. The key unresolved tension is how far unions and staff will accept culture-linked pay when negotiations begin.
