Bank Julius Baer Case Essay

Before the arrival and leadinghip of Stuart tenner ( tour), situate Julius Baer, North America (BJB-NA or the go with), the largest independently-owned European cliquish hope in the United States, faced financial difficulties. By mid-2001, a global market prevail overturn caused a peculiarityificant decline in Julius Baer aggroups (JB or the Parent) performance. In 2001, JBs stock legal injury was down by over 40% darn the Parent experience a 39% decline in net profits, 9% amplify in operating expenses and an increase of 14% in employee headcount.BJB-NA, the crown muffin of JB, was barely m superstarymaking tho no one inside the federation k new-fashioned its true financial condition. JB had always been led by a share of the Baer family until January 2001. Despite significant family ties at JB, BJB-NA did not earn a infrangible leader to drive the attach to. There was a lack of clear raft or direction for the beau monde. BJB-NA did not sharpen on profitability as a measurement of success. The attitude some BJB-NA was more almost retention the peace than creating any conflict or hostility. Even with a passive work environment, employee morale was low.Employees tended to blame different parts of the Company for their problems. The agonistic environment in the High Net Individual (HNI) mystic banking orbit increased dramatic entirelyy during the 1990s. BJB-NA was a boutique private bank in a line of work where bulge support firms dominated the competitive landscape. As such, the key factors for success in the HNI market were now recognized as variantiation (not cost lead), improved lymph gland relationship management, broad return range and hearty knob-responsiveness.BJB-NA strived to be a partner organization that differentiate itself from the competition by satisfying the needs of its customers. The breathing organization expression consisted of BJB-NA organized into four regionally-establish teams. Poor communicatio n existed throughout the Company as the staff didnt know what was going on and there was undersized cohesion among units. BJB-NA operated on a need to know nucleotide. Team leaders were not responsible for their own budgets, as it was not known if their teams were profitable or not. To further support the lack of accountability at BJB-NA, the Company did not have a agreementatic performance valuation carcass and lacked a compensation system tied to customer growth and returns. Bonuses were approximately guaranteed and all bonus decisions were made by Banks transcend leadership. Most likely, there were employees who flew under the radar if they underperformed since the Company never set(p) anyone off. passs Changes and Evaluation ten arrived at BJB-NA and immediately fixed out an action plan to turn around the Company. One of ecstasys best early moves was his selection of Denise Downey to head the Segmentation field of operations Team.Downey was well respected by the emplo yees that she led and was able to thoroughly appraise the organization and de broodr results to the Company and Adam. Based on the Segmentation Study, Adam wanted BJB-NA to really stand-behind its promises to be a partner organization. He support full transparency and a strong focus on measured results and accountability. Specifically, he focused on the following three opening nights Refocus the Company strategy Adam emphasized that BJB-NA shift its focus to Europeans, Asians, Canadians and Latin Americas who live outside the U. S. who had U. S. ground asset management needs.By targeting particular(prenominal) geographical and customer segments, it allowed the Company to specifically focus its strategy and resources sooner than dispersed itself too thin to satisfy a larger, diverse customer base. In addition, he asked some longstanding personal clients who were not profitable to pen up their accounts. Not only did this change the Companys customer focus, further also, it signaled to employees that Adam had confidence and high expectations for BJB-NA. Establish new performance expectations Adam developed productivity assumptions that would hold employees more accountable.He established measurable criteria related to carry value, relationships and accounts. Previously, Company employees truly did not know their clients. As a result, it was difficult for management to identify top and low performers. Adams established criteria that pushed Relationship Managers past their comfort zone. Before Adam took the helm at BJB-NA, almost everyone received bonuses regardless of their performance. Tying a bonus program with a building performance evaluation system incentivizes those who bring success and growth effectiveness to the Company.Modify the organization structure Adam slightly altered the structure of BJB-NA by having a client-segment focus within existing geographic areas. As such, the decision making processes were now decentralized to from each on e of the regional teams. Previously, the advisory and product services departments worked with all regions. After Adam took charge, he assigned advisory teams to each of the different regions to further strengthen customer relationships. Recommendations BJB-NA recognizes that its future success hinges on one important factor its clients.Our consulting firm wants the Company to further expand and shock its clients beyond what Adam has already planned. Our apostrophize is a client-centric strategy that focuses on two key initiatives (1) Aggressively recruiting top talent to enhance client acquisition and performance (2) Overhauling the compensation device and performance measures. Each initiative, tended to(p) by supporting tactics, exit align to elevate the client experience, resulting in deepening wallet share, increase warm referrals, and building the BJB-NA brand in supreme customer service. I.Recruiting the Right Talent. Recruiting the right people to manage and instruct BJB -NAs clients will be critical to sustaining long-term growth and increasing assets-under-management. Recruiting will align with the Companys geographic approach to partitioning by adopting three tactics Local talent recruitment a successful private banker needs an outgoing, service-orientated personality, and the ability to connect with emf and existing clients. In connecting with clients, it becomes mandatory that future private bankers will be recruited from topical anesthetic regions.This strategy will generate bankers who know the local customs and cultures, speak the language, and are refer in the community. As a result, it creates comfort and familiarity for potential clients. Recruit from bulge bracket private banks Company acquisition is not a feasible option at this time. However, employee/talent acquisition is an unconstipated better method to help improve the Company. Bulge bracket private banks are typically a part of much larger conglomerates, lots weighed dow n high-level corporate strategies and red tape. To attract bulge bracket private bankers, BJB-NA should promote an entrepreneurial environment that offers autonomy and flexibility while still offering resources found at larger firms.Recruit from ultra-boutique private banks BJB-NA should actively target private bankers from smaller, boutique firms that have larger books, but have a need for a more global reach. common soldier bank clients are becoming more global, and with that, have a specific need for banks that have an international presence. BJB-NA provides a solution with offices in Asia, Hesperian Europe, Eastern Europe, and the United States.At the same time, by aggressively recruiting boutique bankers, BJB-NA will be able to expand its presence by getting the books of these bankers who may have a strong presence in untapped markets within the targeted regions. II. Restructuring Compensation and Performance Measures BJB-NA should introduce a compensation scheme that will not only be more beneficial for holding clients interests stolon, but also offer higher potential incentives for the Companys bankers. First and foremost, bankers will be paid based on client portfolio performance. No one will be paid on the basis of commission.While this tactic may seem counter-intuitive in the short-term, peculiarly in the midst of a struggling economy, it acknowledges BJB-NAs long-term commitment to its clients. separate positive externalities resulting from a new compenstation structure include differentiation from competition, potential referrals from clients, and attention to BCB-NAs innovative thinking. In short, BJB-NAs message is We nominate money only when our clients make money. Second, standard annual bonuses will be foregone. Employees would be accountable for their performance and compensated accordingly.BJB-NA will incentivize bankers by the value they add to their clients and related portfolio performances. This compensation structure ultimately rewards bankers who postulate of their clients and strive to grow their assets under management. Finally, BJB-NA should revise the place title of its company leaders. To accurately reflect the duties of the position, the title Team Leader should be changed to Managing coach (MD). MDs would have full P&L and people-management responsibilities of his/her individual branch. In addition, MDs could receive an additional bonus based on the branchs bottom-line performance.This change will push decision-making down to MD level, promoting entrepreneurship and autonomy. III. Management and Leadership Since Adam decided to resign from his position as the leader of BJB-NA, it is vital for the Board of Directors to select a alternate that will be able to implement the changes initiated under Adams tenure. As discussed, BJB-NA needs to aggressively put its clients before anything else in its business. The new substitution should be an experienced professional who deeply understands the Com panys clients and industry.Taking these requirements into consideration, we recommend that the Board of Directors pick Adams successor from a list of internal scenes only. Currently, the firm is in a farming of fragility. Employees are stressed and morale is low. With the initial round of layoffs that included six people, any move will be highly scrutinized and may have a long-term impact on the organization. Employees were already caught off guard duty with Adams resignation, especially after he led the restructuring efforts at an off-site meeting that seemed to build positive momentum.To replace Adams with an external candidate may put the Company in a state of flux. An external candidate would not have attended the restructuring meetings and participated in the Segmentation Study. He/she may have different views of how the organization should be changed. In addition, the HNI private banking industry is built around relationships. To bring on a new leader who hasnt built a stron g rapport with a majority of the Companys clients would make the leadership transition a difficult process. One potential internal candidate BJB-NA should consider is Denise Downey.Downey is currently the Head of U. S. Domestic Clients, but more importantly she led the Segmentation Study that evaluated areas of improvement needed at BJB-NA. Employees viewed Downey as a strong, effective leader who always delivers results. As a sign of trust, Adam gave Downey significant autonomy during her time leading the study. Elevating Downey to the C-suite level would be a fairly seamless transition. Downey has significant experience understanding the backup of BJB-NA since she already leads U. S. client group.With all of the client-focused changes that need to be implemented by Adam, Downey will be best candidate to effectively communicate the stairs needed during the transition period. For example, during her time as the Segmentation Study leader, Downey took the initiative to send updates to the entire bank. Alternate Approaches Deviating from a client-centric strategic plan could negatively impact BCB-NAs future success. Nonetheless, two other alternate approaches were considered. The first approach considered a compensation system where bankers would be paid covariant commissions based on fee-based transactions.The variable in commissions would depend on the grapheme of investment vehicles clients would invest in. This viable approach guarantees cash flows from transactions with no dramatic culture change. However, after careful consideration, this alternative was rejected since bankers would be incentivized more by selling a diversity of investment vehicles to clients rather than working for clients best interests. The second approach considered but rejected involved an overhaul of the organization structure.After the Segmentation findings, Adam seemed adamant about moving away from the geographic-focused organizational structure of the Company. As such, an alte rnative approach considered was to eliminate geographic departments and implement an organizational structure focused on client-type. One of the key success factors for companies in the private banking industry is to customize services based on the needs of customers. A BJB-NA client-focused structure based on client characteristics (such as wealth, age, income level) may be more advantageous, especially with raised expectations now required by Adam on bankers book of clients.Additionally, within a geographic organization, conflict may occur surrounded by local regional management and the executives at corporate. As such, this may transgress the opportunity for knowledge sharing and collaboration, values emphasized by the Baer family. However, as much as a client-focused structure might have its advantages, a geographic organizational structure still is the most effective for BJB-NA. dialogue is much more personal in geographic organizational structures. preferably of calling or videoconferencing with olleagues across the globe, it forces employees to sit next to each other to form collaborative teams, values preached by the Baer family. In addition, it allows employees to understand each others personalities and work styles. Besides the human capital element, geographic work teams allow BJB-NA to hire leaders familiar with the local business environment, something vital for the relationship-focused private banking industry. Not only will employees understand the client better but the clients will be more comfortable around employees who share similar interests and culture.