By McPherse Thompson, Assistant Financial News Editor
IN HER 21-year career as a banker, Minna Israel, the incumbent deputy managing director of the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) Jamaica, has developed a relationship with both her internal and external stakeholders that is probably unparalleled among many businesses in corporate Jamaica.
For one thing, she most likely has had to contend with haughty and impish customers, but she never had reason to even mention any of the kind, let alone attribute such behaviour to anyone - except nudging those condescending ones whom others believe need a radical transformation in their attitudinal outlook.
She has not specifically said so, but rather than vilifying people for their patronising idiosyncrasies, her buzzwords and mantra have been customer service, the pillar on which the petite, high-spirited, warm and genteel banker hopes to continue her climb up Jamaica's corporate ladder.
An alumni of the College of Arts, Science & Technology (CAST) which is now the University of Technology (UTech), the University of the West Indies (UWI), University of Ontario and the University of Michigan, Miss Israel has also demonstrated the need for continuing professional education an as indispensable attribute especially in today's global business environment.
PROFESSIONALISM
But what was it that propelled the powers-that-be to install her as second in charge of BNS Jamaica, arguably one of the best Canadian-based international banks? In a few words, partly the professionalism she has brought to bear on the job, her commitment to customers, as well as her determination to ensure the bank meets its objective of remaining the market leader.
Miss Israel's struggle to reach the enviable position of deputy managing director of Jamaica's most successful bank followed a career path which spanned nine years at Royal Bank and the last 12 at Scotiabank. It all began in 1976, she said, after she graduated from CAST where she pursued studies in Business Administration, majoring in Banking.
She landed her first job as an accountant, then the number two position, at Royal Bank Jamaica Limited, where she learnt "all the routine aspects of banking." She then moved to Royal Bank's head office as branch operations officer, a job that entailed communicating with the various branches on strategic issues, policies, as well as monitoring the branches' performance.
After five years in that position, Miss Israel, with sponsorship from the bank, enrolled in a three-year Management Studies programme at the University of the West Indies and rejoined Royal Bank in 1984.
SYSTEM CHANGES
For the next two years, Miss Israel worked on a number of projects for Royal Bank, including implementing a number of system changes, and "then I realised I wanted more, I decided that I could contribute more. That wasn't the area I wanted to work in, it was more a staff job, more internal, I wanted more external focus, a customer focus and that opportunity wasn't there at the time so I left and went to Toronto, Canada." She took time off for a few months and then enrolled at the University of Western Ontario where she pursued her Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and General Management.
In 1989, Miss Israel rejoined the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto and completed what she described as an extremely extensive training programme in corporate account management in the corporate and multi-national bank.
Then the opportunity presented itself for her to fulfil her aspiration to return to Jamaica. By then Royal Bank had completely pulled out of Jamaica and, fortunately, she said, she met a senior executive from Scotiabank who was on training in Canada and who, after discussions and an interview, invited her to come back to Jamaica to work for Scotiabank.
"It's very important for me to work with an international organisation and this was an opportunity," said Miss Israel, speaking with the Financial Gleaner from her ninth floor office at Scotiabank Centre in downtown Kingston.
She recalled that in 1991, Canada was in a recession and there were concerns "that a number of us corporate managers would be relocated to small business management," a job which she thought was not tailored for young, bright MBAs like herself. The sexy job then was considered to be corporate, multi-national banking in which they could work with big figures because the orthodoxy was that "you are successful when you are managing large corporate accounts and I really fell in love with the corporate relationship."
Miss Israel also recalled that having reviewed the offer to join Scotiabank, "I grabbed the opportunity." She spent some time at BNS in Toronto and in August 1991, she headed for the Kingston office where she was placed in the corporate bank as an Account Manager, mainly dealing with large commercial businesses. Six months later, she was promoted to Senior Relationship Manager, becoming the first woman to head the section.
"This transition period was apparently used as a test to see how I could transfer all that knowledge that I had gained in Canada to the local environment," she said, adding that the "evaluation was made not just internally, but by the business community."
Of that job, Miss Israel said she enjoyed it fully. "I got very close to my customers, truly what they call customer intimacy. I included them in all my plans. I was very accessible, I was very available and I think I brought to that job a level of professionalism which was not common in Jamaica at the time and also the fact that I delivered above expectations. So I was very successful as a senior relationship manager and I loved the job. It was such a fun job and the customers were just fantastic."
She singled out such customers as Mayer Matalon and Grace, Kennedy's Peter Moss-Solomon as two influential businessmen with whom she has sat and listened, then coming up with relevant solutions to suit their business requirements. "And making sure too, that while doing that the bank wins. It was a profitable relationship for the bank, while at the same time for them they were saving money and they were getting a high level of service," Miss Israel said.
According to her, "I find that successful banking is built on relationships and once you cement these relationship and you gain their trust everything else will fall into place. "That job was very rewarding," she said.
After a stint in that position, she was promoted to Assistant General Manager of the Corporate Bank, a position she held for two years. "That was more a staff job, more internally focused, on credit adjudication, rather than on the customer. It was more focused on the bank's credit portfolio and making sure that the risk was being managed," she explained.
Scotiabank then promoted Miss Israel to the post of District General Manager, which placed her in charge of all 13 of the Bank's branches in Kingston and Morant Bay, St. Thomas. That job, which she undertook between 1998 and 2000, entailed working with branch managers "to ensure that we maintain our dominant position in the market," she said.
But the Bank felt her expertise was needed elsewhere and sent her back to the Corporate Bank where she took up the position as General Manager between 2000 and 2002. "That was such an easy transition because I was there before and knew most of the customers and the corporate market welcomed me back."
In mid-2002, another opportunity presented itself and she was sent back to Toronto, Canada to undertake further training. "That was an extremely rewarding experience," she said, pointing out that the networking and exposure there "enabled me to pretty much be far more efficient." She returned to Jamaica earlier this year and last month was appointed deputy managing director of Scotiabank Jamaica.
Miss Israel, asked what influenced her to pursue a career in banking, said it also began at CAST, having been sent to do her internship at a bank. "I got a closer look and I spoke with a number of people in the bank," she said. "I was very assertive. I met with very senior people and I talked to them about a career in the bank and the future of the bank and at the end of the day I realised, yes, that was what I wanted."
She gave credit to William "Bill" Clarke, Scotiabank Jamaica's managing director, for his insight in investing a lot of money and time towards training personnel at the bank. He has focused a lot on training and development, identifying high potential officers, making sure they are properly trained and given opportunities, said Miss Israel, adding that "oftentimes, no matter how you are trained and no matter how your are capable, if you don't have that leader who recognises that and make that a part of their philosophy, it's not going to happen."
Emphasising the need for constant training, Miss Israel said that in 2000, she enrolled in an intensive general management courses at the University of Michigan Business School as part of her continuing professional education.
Her vision for Scotiabank Jamaica, she says, is consistent with Mr. Clarke's and the entire executive team, "which is to ensure that we maintain our dominant position, improving our sales delivery so that we can build sustainable and profitable relationships for our customers, being the leader in customer satisfaction, continue to provide our staff with the opportunities for growth and development, and ultimately provide our shareholders and other investors with the expected returns. How we can make our customers better off financially, that's our goal."
She noted that the Bank has been successful partly because it has "the most talented and committed group of staff at all levels, and despite the problems, not just here but globally, they are so motivated to do a good job, to achieve our goals." What motivates them? "I think what motivates them is that and it's not just money, it's not just the fact that we are probably the employer of choice in terms of financial remuneration it's management's ability to provide the coaching and mentoring and our ability to listen to their needs."
Staff are also motivated by the fact that the Bank undertakes an annual 'viewpoint' survey in which they evaluate their 'bosses' and outline their concerns. In addition, Scotiabank has employed a dispute resolution officer/manager, specifically to listen to staff concerns and address them before those concerns become problems.
The BNS deputy managing director, emphasising the importance of external as well as internal customers, stressed that "we have to continue to listen to our staff, we have to solicit their ideas. We have a programme we call ideas in action particularly for frontline staff. They know what the customers want, the customers talk to them. Some customers talk to me, but I don't meet every customer, and they (staff) tell us, and they make suggestions for change, we implement them and where we do, if we either make some money or save some money, we reward the staff for that as well and of course the customers benefit."
A CONTINUOUS JOURNEY
For Miss Israel, "it's a continuous journey, something that we have to do continuously, talking to the staff more, and that is going to be a big part of my job - really going out there and talking to them, articulating our goals, our strategic direction and making sure there is a shared mindset."
Asked about the condescending attitude of some staff, she said "we are going through a big training programme now on not just the technical capabilities, but also the attitudinal, behavioural skills."
She said that although new staff members undergo orientation, "we can't just do that and think they'll be OK. They are supposed to exhibit the attributes that we want. It has to be ongoing. I know Rosie Pilliner, who is our senior general manager for service, that's her number one priority. That's Bill Clarke's number one priority to make sure that we have the right staff to serve our customers. And where we expend a lot of money on ongoing training, if at the end of the day there are some people who can't conform with our values and our goals, then we just have to part company with them, for the sake of maintaining our customer relationship."
However, Miss Israel said: "I think our staff, they identify with our goals. I think there's a lot of enthusiastic support for achieving our goals, but in all cases you will find a few bad eggs a few people who will have to work a little harder. That's going to be one of my big tasks going forward. The main thing though is leading by example, so it's not just training the general staff, but training every supervisor. I'm really passionate about that," she added.
Exhibiting over the years what she said has been "a very inclusive leadership style", Miss Israel said customers and staff felt very comfortable giving her feedback, knowing that she will act, "and that's going to be critical going forward, to maintain that customer intimacy."
The support she has received since her new appointment has been overwhelming, not just from customers, but from staff, who told her they were prepared to support her to achieve the bank's goals. "With that kind of commitment from the staff, from customers and the ongoing communication with them," Miss Israel is confident she will be successful in her new endeavour.
She also noted that the competitive landscape has increased especially within the past two years, and that Scotiabank has to seek to get more business from customers who have shared relationships in the banking sector. "Our challenge is to ensure we provide the level of service and innovative products so we can get a disproportionate share of their business," she said. "This is going to be an exciting period and the opportunities far outweigh the challenges."
Did Minna Israel envisioned that she would have been elevated to such a senior position? She said that as soon as she realised that Scotiabank had a philosophy of rewarding its people, and having regard to realisation that hard work pays, "I thought I had a good shot at it." She added that many people have worked hard in companies and have not been recognised, but she was confident that with BNS' meritorious promotion philosophy she had a chance to break the glass ceiling. In that regard, she also gave credit to Mr. Clarke and the bank's chairman, Mayer Matalon for the confidence reposed in her.
Is she scared? "No. I'm excited. My inclusive leadership style facilitates continuous, ongoing feedback from both customers and staff. They know I'll listen to their views, they know I'll act on them and that's critical going forward. I think the support I've gotten already is tremendous and it's really a job of a lifetime, a job that encompasses all the things I love, all the things I'm passionate about customer interaction, customer intimacy, customer service, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. So it really puts me in the forefront to do what I love most. It's a great opportunity to excel at what I know best. And I look forward to it."
THE WINNING FORMULA
With "excellent people in every level of the organisation, an excellent executive management team, branch managers, a committed staff hey that's the winning formula, isn't it, to ensure that we serve our customers, which is our ultimate goals," Miss Israel said.
In terms of the Bank's contribution through its Foundation, "I think this is an area on which we have not done as good a job as I would like in terms of marketing our contributions to the community," she said, noting the various areas to which it has contributed.
That is an area on which Miss Israel would also like to focus. But for now, she has decided to dedicate herself to "communicating to staff our strategic direction, our goals, our objectives and our values and getting them to become extremely enthusiastic about identifying with the goals and achieving them."
