Running head: MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN TD BANK GROUP

Management and Leadership in TD Bank Group

Julia Kuznetsova

MADS 6600

Instructor: Dr. Zarbi

May 21st, 2013 Management and Leadership in TD Bank Group

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to exemplify how organizational managers and leaders create and maintain a healthy organizational culture and recommend two strategies that organizational managers and leaders can use to improve this culture. As an example I selected a Canadian multinational corporation – The Toronto-Dominion Bank.
The Toronto-Dominion Bank is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto. It is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets, and is the sixth largest bank branch network in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank, which were founded in 1855 and 1869, respectively. The bank and its subsidiaries have over 79,000 employees and over 19 million clients worldwide. (http://www.td.com/about-tdbfg/corporate-information/corporate-profile/profile.jsp) The company is ranked at number 86 on the Forbes Global 2000 2010 listing. In February 2011 it was named one of Canada's top 10 employers by the Financial Post. (http://www.tdbank.com/aboutus/about_us.html)
Organizational structure overview
TD Bank group has a strong, independent Chairman with a clear leadership mandate in corporate governance. The responsibilities of corporate governance are assigned as follows:
• The Board oversees management, considers and approves, on a continual basis strategic alternatives and plans, and approves all major strategy and policy recommendations for TD Bank Group
• The Board is responsible for setting the tone for a culture of integrity and compliance throughout TD
• The Board, its committees, the committee Chairs and the Chairman of the Board operate under written charters setting out their responsibilities
• The Audit Committee of the Board, not management, is responsible for the relationship with the shareholders’ auditor. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
The Board of Directors and the management of TD are committed to leadership in corporate governance. Corporate governance policies and practices are designed to focus on responsibilities to shareholders and on creating long term shareholder value. TD’s policies and practices meet or exceed applicable legal requirements. Managers continuously monitor all proposed new rules and modify policies and practices to meet any additional requirements. An overview of our corporate governance structure is set out below. (http://www.td.com/about-tdbfg/corporate-governance/corporate-governance-structure/practices.jsp)

Healthy organizational culture
To build a healthy organizational culture managers make employees engaged in what they do, empowered to make a difference, excited by opportunities to develop and grow to their full potential, and recognized for their unique contributions.
Leaders aspire to be increasingly inclusive by identifying and eliminating barriers or biases. The company celebrates and welcomes difference and work to constantly improve employees’ experience.
The TD culture has many elements: drive to deliver exceptional customer service; passion for the environment and for giving back to the communities; and determination to create a unique, diverse, respectful and safe workplace for employees to grow and develop. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Employee Feedback
To measure employee engagement managers use employee feedback. They track employee engagement through TD Pulse, a company-wide internal survey conducted twice a year and open to every employee, including those on leave, in all countries of operation. The surveys are managed by an independent third party. In addition to the list of survey questions, employees are asked to tell us “two things TD could do to make this a better place to work. Entry and exit surveys are used to better understand how employees rate their experience of joining TD or choosing to leave. Through all of these surveys, common feedback, issues or trends are used to identify opportunities and guide future improvements to the employee experience. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Additional Channels
Organizational managers of TD Group listen to employees and gather feedback in a variety of ways, ranging from surveys, one-on-one discussions, meetings with executives, and 360° feedback to managers, to HR/ employee meetings, town halls and cross-country road shows.
For employees who may not be comfortable speaking directly with their manager or human resources, the following options are available to help address issues or concerns:
• employee ombuds office: offering employees a safe place to be heard, with confidential, neutral, off-the-record assistance on work-related issues;
• The Employee Complaint Resolution Process: clearly defined and easily accessible through intranet, the process ensures that the complaint is formally documented, received by the right people and handled quickly without fear of reprisal. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Respecting Employee Rights
When it comes to employee-management relations, leaders adhere to the highest standards and strive to create a positive working environment where employees don’t feel the need for third-party representation. Managers prefer to work directly with employees; however, they respect their right to choose third-party representation. (TD 2012 Corporate Pesposibility Report, 2013)
Health and Safety
TD Bank Group aims to keep staff healthy and safe wherever they are working. Employees and managers play a valuable role in maintaining TD’s excellent Health and Safety (H&S) record. Some of our initiatives include:
• best-practice ergonomic standards, which are applied to branch and building design and refurbishments;
• tools to support employees working away from a typical office environment; • a comprehensive H&S training program, including mandatory courses for all managers and H&S representatives; and
• a dedicated intranet resource with information on a range of health issues and communicable diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation in TD bank group is designed to be fair and without discrimination. The majority of employees receive a base salary and an incentive compensation award. Typically, incentive compensation is based on a combination of financial and non-financial measures. For the majority of employees and executives, non-financial measures include Customer Experience Index. Individual incentive compensation awards are also based on individual performance, again evaluated on both financial and non-financial measures. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Supporting Work/Life Flexibility
Part of maintaining the physical and mental well-being of employees involves supporting personal decisions to help balance work with demands on their personal time. Leaders of TD Group recognize the importance of providing flexible work options to help managers and employees think creatively about how, when and where work is accomplished. ‘FlexWorkPlace’ is an initiative where employees can choose where they work, be it home, their normal TD location or another suitable working environment. (TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, 2012)
Conclusion
I made a careful study of organizational management and leadership in TD Bank Group and I can say that this company succeeds in building healthy organizational culture. But in my opinion there are a lot of directions in which the company can develop its organizational culture and make it more powerful. I also examined some other companies in this industry to compare their management and leadership stenches to management and leadership picture in TD Bank Group. Based on these researches and also on my own experience and knowledge acquired in the class I think that the following strategies should be applied:
1) Increase the level communication in the company. I think that communication is a fundamental key to the healthy organizational culture in the company. Every step of business activity from day-to-day work process to top managers’ decision-making process in based on communication. That’s why I strongly believe that communication services in organization should be constantly developing. The company should make investments in social media and diversify channels available for employee communication. For example, open forums, instant messaging and webcasts should be provided for employees. A social media tool which provides access to discussion forums, wikis, blogs, status updates, etc. will help employees to feel engaged and collaborate on projects and maximize their skills, knowledge, research and ideas. Moreover such social media tools will strengthen the sense of community among employees.
2) Support Diverse Communities. Support for diversity is vital to build healthy organizational culture. There is a high diversity in TD’s local neighborhoods and the programs and organizations that TD Group supports should reflect TD’s own diversity priorities. The company can take following steps:
• Help new immigrants with their job search in Canada, through partnerships with the Immigrant Employment Council
• The company’s policy should promote diversity through investments in education, financial literacy and creating opportunities for young people
• Support anti-discrimination campaigns in schools and youth communities
• Sponsor educational projects which introduce students to such relatively unknown part of Canadian history as Black History
• Sponsor multicultural festivals.

Bibliography http://www.td.com/about-tdbfg/corporate-governance/corporate-governance-structure/practices.jsp. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 20, 2013, from www.td.com. http://www.td.com/about-tdbfg/corporate-information/corporate-profile/profile.jsp. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 21, 2013, from www.td.com. http://www.tdbank.com/aboutus/about_us.html. (n.d.). Retrieved 05 21, 2013, from www.tdbank.com.
(2012). TD 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report.
(2013). TD 2012 Corporate Pesposibility Report.