Learning Transformation and Change Management at GREF in Madrid

At the thirty third GREF Conference, learning and development leaders from the financial sector met under a clear promise. Connect, inspire and transform. The event, hosted with the support of Santander and CEGOS, focused on strategy, learning trends and the future of development in financial institutions.

In this context, Ferran Tort (Change Management Expert, Psychologist and TEDSpeaker) shared a keynote titled Three secrets to generate real, measurable and sustainable transformation through learning. His message combined psychology, Change Management and practical tools designed for organisations that want training to translate into new behaviours, not just slides and certificates.

From training events to real transformation

Ferran started from a simple observation. Most organisations invest heavily in training, yet only a small part of that investment becomes visible change in the way people decide, collaborate and lead. The gap between learning and behaviour is usually not about content. It is mainly about Mindset, focus and everyday habits.

Instead of presenting learning as isolated activities, he invited the audience to think in terms of a long term change journey. That journey needs a clear psychological foundation, a strategic focus and a practical way to anchor new behaviours in daily work.

Mindset as the engine of learning and Change Management

The first pillar of his framework was Mindset. Drawing on the research around Growth Mindset, Ferran reminded participants that how people see their own potential influences every learning process. When teams believe they can develop new skills through effort, feedback and good strategies, they are more likely to experiment, ask questions and stay engaged when things are difficult.

Applied to learning and development, this means

• People with a Growth Mindset see new tools, regulations or technologies as challenges they can learn to master

• People with a more fixed view interpret every difficulty as proof that they are not capable

Ferran invited the audience to review the questions they ask themselves and their teams

• How can we learn this faster

• How can we adapt to this new context

• How can we support each other while we learn

Questions like these move conversations toward responsibility and solutions. For Ferran, Growth Mindset is the cultural soil on which every training, academy or leadership program must grow.

From generic objectives to meaningful focus

The second pillar addressed a very common problem in corporate learning. Vague objectives. People attend a program, enjoy the experience and then return to business as usual because nothing has been translated into concrete commitments.

Ferran revisited the classic SMART approach for setting goals and placed a strong emphasis on one element that is often forgotten. Relevance. It is not enough for a learning goal to be clear and measurable. It must also matter to the person who learns and to the organisation as a whole.

He suggested three questions to bring focus and meaning to any learning initiative

• How does this objective connect with our business strategy

• Why is this goal important for the person who is learning

• What will we observe in day to day behaviour when this learning is alive

For example, instead of a generic objective such as improve communication, a more powerful focus would be something like

Within the next three months, every manager will apply the feedback model learned in the training at least once per month with each team member and document the main agreements.

This kind of objective helps learning and business move in the same direction.

Micro habits that make change stick

The third pillar of Ferran’s framework focused on how to make new behaviours last. Many people come back from an inspiring workshop with a notebook full of ideas, yet a few weeks later everything looks exactly the same as before.

To address this, Ferran spoke about the importance of working with micro habits, inspired by the idea of one percent improvement popularised by James Clear in Atomic Habits. The principle is simple. Small improvements, repeated with consistency, produce large changes over time.

Ferran translated this philosophy into a practical invitation for organisations

• Start small and concrete

• Link each learning experience to one simple behaviour per person

• Make that behaviour visible and easy to track

• Recognise micro progress, not only big milestones

Some examples he shared as inspiration

• After a leadership program on coaching, a manager commits to asking at least one powerful question in every one to one conversation

• After a session on wellbeing, a team commits to a three minute check in at the start of each weekly meeting

• After training on feedback, each person commits to give at least one specific recognition to a colleague every week

These actions are easy to apply and easy to maintain. Over time, they shape culture and performance much more than a single intense learning moment.

An integrated framework for future ready leaders

What made Ferran Tort’s intervention resonate at the GREF Conference was how these three pillars fit together into a coherent Change Management approach

• A Growth Mindset culture that welcomes learning and feedback

• Clear and relevant goals that connect learning with strategy

• Micro habits that bring consistency to the change process

When organisations work on these three dimensions at the same time, their learning initiatives stop being isolated events and become engines for transformation with measurable impact. For the financial sector, under strong regulatory and technological pressure, this approach is especially valuable. It allows institutions to develop future ready leaders who can adapt to new contexts, integrate AI into their roles and keep a human centred view of clients and teams.

Conclusion

The thirty third GREF Conference confirmed its role as a key meeting point for professionals in learning and development within financial services. The contributions of different organisations, together with the intervention of Ferran Tort, highlighted a clear message. Training creates value when it transforms how people think, decide and act.

By working on Mindset, strategic focus and micro habits, companies can move from theoretical learning to behavioural change that supports culture and business goals.

If your organisation wants to prepare future ready leaders through psychology based development and Change Management, this is a good moment to explore how Ferran Tort can support your teams with high impact trainings that strengthen mindset, adaptability and innovation.

Contact: manager@ferrantort.com

Whatsapp: +34 699163188