Sexes equal in praise and criticism

Investment Executive‘s annual survey of personal bankers discovered that about 47% of respondents, or 151 of 320, were women, and there was little deviation from their answers and those given by male respondents.

One exception is Bank of Nova Scotia, where women thought more highly of the bank than their male counterparts. In nine of 16 categories, females responded with answers at least 0.5 of a point higher than men when IE asked account managers to rate their financial institutions anonymously on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest.

Male Scotia bankers gave the bank’s client management software an embarrassing 5.5, compared with an average of 7 by women. The overall efficiency of technology was rated a whole point higher by women, with an average of 7.1. Maybe men just don’t know how to use it? Or maybe women have lower standards? If these overall marks indicate anything, however, it’s that Scotiabank’s technology systems need a boost.

“The efficiency of technology needs some catching up; we’re not on the leading edge,” says a male Scotiabank employee from Mississauga, Ont. On the other hand, a female employee from Thornhill, Ont., is a little more forgiving. “Technology is lagging, but they are trying.”

Female Scotiabank employees also praise the company’s reputation and competitive strategy and feel less pressure to accumulate assets than men. Account statements, marketing and advertising, as well as general sales support received kudos from women, and all the categories received scores above the national average.

The flip side to this is at National Bank of Canada, where women were more likely to give lower scores than men.

In seven categories, including technology, women gave lower scores of at least 0.5 of a point. National’s competitive strategy, protection of client confidentiality and training were areas in which women tended to be less forgiving than their male co-workers. Female bankers at National say they also see fewer opportunities for advancement and more pressure to refer clients to the upper echelons.

“There’s not too much of that [opportunities for advancement] any more, I don’t see a lot,” says a female banker from Ontario.

National’s low ratings neutralize Scotiabank’s high ones in the overall survey, so it’s difficult on an industry-wide level to tell women’s scores from men’s. The most they deviate from each other is 0.2 point in any other category.

The equality ends there.

While women accounted for 73.2% of all bank employees in 1998, according to the Canadian Bankers Association, they are often passed over for promotions in the move up the corporate ladder. And while a presence of over 70% in the industry looks good, that number has fallen in recent years — to 73.6% in 1997 and 74.8% in 1996, for both full- and part-time female employees.

Technology seems to be the catalyst in the drop, since it’s causing a decline in the total number of front-line banking jobs, an area that has traditionally been dominated by women.

Of bank professionals, 51% are female, according to the CBA, and 49.2% of the industry’s middle-management positions are held by women.

Where the equity battle loses all ground is in the ranks of senior management — vice president and up. The CBA reports that only 20.3% of the upscale jobs are held by women, and only 4.8% make it to the top executive jobs. None is a chief executive officer.

The numbers are not representative of experience or production. Our survey found that women on average had 17.1 years experience in the industry, compared with 15.4 years for men. The average tenure in the same bank was 14.2 and 11.4 years, respectively.

Male account managers boast larger assets under management at $94 million as opposed to $57.3 million for their female counterparts. However, the gap between the number of clients they manage is much smaller, with an average of 1,115 clients for men and 958 for women.

“I don’t want to be CEO,” says a woman banker with Bank of Montreal, “but I would like to see more women at the top.”

“What would be better is pay equity,” the female banker says. “I know a guy here who’s making $10,000 more than me in the same position, and there’s no apparent reason.”

Inconsistent compensation levels irk almost everyone and the best way to equalize the workplace is through the paycheque. However, according to IE’s survey, women and men are equally satisfied or dissatisfied with their compensation, both rating it 7.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce employees gave their workplace the lowest score in the category, with a 6.5. Both sexes vented their discontent on the subject of pay.

“It is very poor,” says a male banker from Toronto. “They introduced retroactive rule changes in our December compensation — now referrals to such-and-such a partner do not count [for commission]. So we were doing our jobs thinking we’d be paid,” he snaps.

Providing opportunities to advance in the company and also increase compensation is another variable. Both men and women at Scotiabank see plenty of opportunities. “Scotiabank has always treated me fairly and I’ve been here a long time, almost 30 years,” says a Winnipeg woman. “There are lots of opportunities for promotions, you just have to take the bull by the horns and go out and get them.”