Speaking at the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) risk culture seminar in London yesterday, Garner told delegates: "All risks are human. The dark side of rule compliance is that it gives people the false impression that if they are following rules, they are doing the right thing. The danger is people can turn their brains off and blindly follow the rules."
Real change shouldn't be about more policies and regulations, he said, but about integrity and deep cultural change.
The financial services sector was caught in a "vicious circle of mistrust", he added, with many problems caused by "greed, arrogance and fear".
Garner said it was important that staff working in the sector felt they could bring their "whole selves to work" and act with "courageous integrity, even when the pressure is on".
On the subject of bankers' bonuses, which it was announced yesterday would be subject to caps, Garner said incentive "signals" were crucial.
"Your incentive scheme is the most powerful piece of internal communication that you have," he said. "If you are paying people to do something, you are telling them that it's the right thing to do."
He added that it was a shame that the bonus cap was forced rather than voluntary.
"Performance management is a bigger issue than pay, and I failed to find a solution," Garner admitted.
The event on risk culture was arranged by the IRM and explored all facets of risk and organisational culture, taking in many topics familiar to the HR community such as values, engagement and employee empowerment.
