Page 127 - Anne Bruce - Building A HIgh Morale Workplace (2002)

Hard-Core Morale Cases 107

who could care less about the people in the trenches.
People at our bank felt very uncared for and their self-
worth was pretty low. These were the toughest employee

morale cases I ever had to handle and frankly I didn’t
handle them well because I didn’t have the tools or sup-
port to change things.
One idea I had was to create a formal employee

development program that prepared people for succes-
sion opportunities. I knew if we could offer something like
this to our people they would see that we were taking an
interest in them and their future. Unfortunately, the sug-
gestion was never given the green light and that’s when I

resigned.

Despite the challenge in today’s banking environment, there
are some banks out there with progressive and responsive lead-
ers who are doing it right—like at the Bank of Montreal.

Bank of Montreal Gets It!
You might say that the Bank of Montreal is an atypical financial
institution. In a world of initiatives focused on the bottom line,

Bank of Montreal’s culture is all about innovation and people.
Bank of Montreal is known for recognizing that employees
are the most important part of its future. The bank states that
their people, at all levels within the organization, are both part-
ners and facilitators of their success and that all employees are

encouraged to develop a sense of proprietorship in their work.
That sense of ownership is evidenced throughout the ranks by
consistently high employee morale.
According to one of the bank’s financial services managers,
“Bank of Montreal is strongly involved in continuing education

with their employees.” The financial institution has long been
committed to serving customers in a dynamic workplace of
high employee morale where managers are committed to train-
ing and lifelong learning for their workers and ongoing career

development is a big part of that.
Bank of Montreal is a respected leader in encouraging