Assignment # 1

Job Analysis and competency models IA (Investment Advisors)

Who uses IA?

a. Basically banks, brokerages, insurance, financial institutions and other agencies use IA. Clients are sought out either thru warm referral, cold call or solicited by the financial institution to an IA.

What is an IA?

b. Basically an IA is a person who sells stocks, mutual funds, bonds, GIC, and other investment options for a client. IA is used by people who have significant asset base then a typical candidate. People with usually $100,000 or more of investments are usually the minimum amount of money that IA looks at. The upper end of investments is in the millions to unlimited in investments.

When do you use IA?

c. IA is used for people with significant asset base. A person with less than $100,000 in disposable assets would not need an IA. In addition an IA would not likely take a person into there portfolio if they had assets of less than $100,000. Other types of less complex financial services employees can assist these clients better.

Where do you find IA?

d. IA can be found in the phonebook, thru referrals, via financial services firms.

Why use an IA?

e. IA is used for people with significant assets to invest. Usually these clients have sophisticated financial options available to them. People that are IA usually have a post secondary education. They are licensed to sell mutual funds, stocks, bonds, insurance and options.

4.1 Contributions of individual job outputs to organizational outputs

What are expected changes in external environment?

a. As wealth continues to increase and baby boomers need more access to complex financial solutions, IA will be in strong demand. Usually IA target older clients due to the nature of there greater wealth. Some clients are in generation X and Y but they are remote compared to baby boomer generation

Align staffing, development plans to ensure proper succession planning?

b. Recruitment for IA is an open ended continues process. Financial firms are always looking for experienced IA. Successful IA are usually long term employees, but those who do retire succession planning is required due to long term standing relations with portfolio of clients. Due to expertise required to be an IA, succession planning and constant recruitment for new IA is important.

Identify expected structural changes in organization?

c. With increasing consolidation, mergers and acquisitions the financial services industry is dynamic. Departments with IA are in a separate business unit usually in brokerage side of financial services. This is a specialized unit and requires its own dedicates support staff, technology and specialists.

Understanding how expected changes will affect recruitment and selection process?

d. Every country has different rules for IA. For example to trade stocks in Canada you require different certification versus trading stocks in USA. As stock markets are acquired or merge this changes how to recruit. For example when TSE moved to fully electronic trading, many traders lost there jobs. The technological impact and development has greatly influenced IA. Also recent trends include many people doing self directed investments with discount brokerages. This type of threat on the typical IA has changed the supply and demand of IA.

Job versus position

IA is a position and not a job, it usually reports to itself as you manage your own book of clients. If you are fortunate enough to inherit a book of clients from the firm you should count your blessings in the IA world.

SME (Subject Matter Experts)

IA are SME, they have highly specialized training in the stock markets, portfolio management, mutual funds, bonds, insurance and other financial instruments like options.

IA needs to take formalized training and certification. This is actually required by law to trade certain types of investments that are regulated in Canada. Different exchanges in USA, London and other countries require licensing as well.

Work-orientated job analysis

The only thing that matters in IA, is that you are bringing in new business to the firm. This means finding new clients by any means possible. Your objective is to sell your services to as many clients as possible. The bigger your book of business and network is the better. Technology employed includes telephone, computer, software programs, trading programs, tracking programs, database mining and scheduling.

Worker-oriented job analysis

IA needs to be highly competitive, self driven, motivated with good time management skills. Usually they need a thick skin due to the amount of rejection they take. IA has to be smart, adaptable, hard working and analytical. They also need to be good with computers, good communicators and highly cognizant of the stock market. Very few people are truly qualified to be an IA due to its demanding job requirements.

Is there any BFOR for IA?

no BFOR for the role of IA

Using a numeric ranking skill from 1-3, 1= beginner, 2 = intermediate, 3 = advanced

Knowledge

The most important thing IA need to know is they need strong understanding of stock market (3) and people skills(3) and the ability to learn quickly(3).

Skills

Many skills are required to be successful IA. Computer, people, investment, multitasking, planning, sales, coping, interpersonal skills are all must haves. Without these skills all at a (3) level the probability of succeeding as an IA are remote.

Abilities

Due to the highly competitive nature of IA strong natural abilities are needed from the onset. Surviving as an IA from my experience is based on natural selection. The ability to adapt, evolve and produce results is critical for this role. A person must be extremely confident and exude confidence.

1) Due to the extremely delicate nature of work for an IA you are basically managing people’s money and life savings. So there are certain x factors that cannot be easily obtained. One must professional in appearance, extremely confident and extremely decisive. This industry also has a bias for people who are older. If you had $100,000 to 1 million dollars of your own money to invest would you trust a new grad or a seasoned professional? Also the year 1 to 2 you are on salary after that you immediately switch to full commission environment and this is where most IA are naturally selected out. Only the best move up the ranks and there compensation levels are extremely high. If you’re not making over $100,000 after year 2 you should get out of being an IA. It is not uncommon for top tier IA to make up to and over 1/2 million a year to uncapped compensation.

Title: Investment Advisor (IA)

Category: Sales/Business Development/Financial Services/

Your responsibilities include:

*Build and expand relationships with prospects and existing clients to ensure retention and service excellence.
*Maintain ongoing marketing strategies to build business with appropriate clients while maintaining sales targets.
*Refer potential clients to other areas of firm when appropriate.
*Create and maintain investment strategies.
*Provide investment services and advice to affluent clients using Firm Securities products and services.

We are looking for individuals with very strong prospecting and hunting skills to develop their own book of clients from scratch. This role is ideal for a high performing sales professional with a strong entrepreneurial spirit who is comfortable in a commissioned sales role.

**Firm is committed to continuous education and provides extensive, industry-leading training for new and veteran Investment Advisors.*

Major Activities/ Job Description: 

Do you have what it takes to be an Investment Advisor?

Do you possess the following skills?
• You are sales-oriented, self-motivated/managed;
• You thrive on interacting with people and know how to turn situations into "win-win" opportunities;
• You enjoy the challenges of seeking out new customers through associations in the community and referrals from previously satisfied customers; and
• You know how to leverage the knowledge and experience of firm partners in order to build customer loyalty and trust.

As an Investment Advisor, your role is to independently attract the financial assets of affluent individuals and small institutions. Working with the team of highly sophisticated Investment Advisors, you will provide a wide range of investment vehicles and advisory services and offer financial, insurance and estate planning advice. You are self-assured, outgoing and confident when initiating contact with others. Along with having a strong sense of responsibility you are extremely self-motivated and have a strong work

*Must have entrepreneurial spirit in building a book of clients through networking, cold calling, prospecting, referrals, seminars etc.
*Strong communication and presentation skills.
*Must be action orientation and results focused.
*Preferred: Proven success in sales and business development.
*Preferred: Completion of the CSC & CPH. (Canadian Securities Course, Conduct and Procedures Handbook)

Job Complexities/ Challenges:

- Ensuring accuracy in accepting and placing buy/ sell orders from clients.
- Responding to client enquiries regarding their accounts and investment information.
- Responding to multiple information requests from clients and Investment Advisors.
- Responding to changing priorities.

Physical Demands/ Working Conditions:

- Open concept work environment with exposure to noise, distractions and interruptions.
- Visual attention to VDT screen.
- Manual dexterity to operate a keyboard.

Attributes:

- Service oriented
- Initiative
- Efficient
- Results oriented
- Analytic/Systematic Thinker
- Adaptable

- You must have prior legal authorization to work in the location for which you are applying.
- Relocation assistance is not available with this opportunity.

Location of Position(s):
Calgary

Doing a single interview and obtaining pertinent data on the role of IA was required by class assignment. Given the highly specialized experience required of this role, it was wise to interview a senior IA. The insights and experience would have been greatly skewed by someone who was junior in an IA role.

Given the geographic location of this role, Calgary is a good location to conduct an interview. There is high concentration of wealth in this city and baby boomers. Therefore there are lots of IA in this city. Regardless of which city the general job qualifications of IA in Canada are generally the same. They would differ in other countries due to the different licensing of different stock exchanges.

Legal defensibility of this job analysis would be reasonable and sufficient. Considering that as an IA you are dealing with stocks and other financial instruments that require you to be licensed. This means you could ask a candidate to have there CSC + CHP as a prerequisite to employment. Verification of transcripts can and should be obtained.

The recruitment and selection process for this job analysis is extremely rigorous. There is a telephone interview. Then there is multiple tests to vet out the right attributes. After that there are at least 2 interviews before a selection can be made. Working in financial services will require a credit check and a criminal record check. This is because you are dealing with people’s money and possible retirement savings.

Given the extremely challenging role, compensation must be gauged and effectively evaluated against current metrics. The job market in Canada for IA is competitive. Therefore initial salary compensation ranges for entry level IA is to get competitive baseline compensation. However once they switch to a pure commission environment then true compensation levels are difficult to measure.

Obtaining an IA from another house with a book of business is usually the preferred method of recruitment. They usually have experience which is extremely important with IA. Usually IA client lists pick the IA over the firm. So they trust the person more than the institution they represent.

Due to the nature of this business there are not many trade secrets divulged in becoming a star IA. This must be on the job training and passed on in a sink or swim environment. If you are so fortunate to get a mentor in this role you should count your blessings. However, due to the extremely competitive nature of IA, there are few mentorship opportunities. In fact after the training there is often very little additional performance management and feedback. The results are the only thing that matter once you are up to speed. Continual training occurs in new technologies and new certifications. For example, CFP, CFA and other designations that can supplement the role of an IA but these are optional and not mandatory for the job function.

Probationary periods are usually 1 year. It takes a significant amount of time to get up to speed. Once the one year period has elapsed then full IA move to full commission environment. That is when the probation period ends. If the numbers don’t match up for the managers then it’s probably not a fit. IA have a high turnover and burnout rate due to the stress of this type of role.

Performance measures and duties to be evaluated are based solely on the numbers. Number of sales generated, number of new clients added to your book of business and increase in the size of your portfolio that is managed. These are all hard metrics.

The environment of this job is in an office setting. There is no danger pay or possibility of hurting oneself unless paper cuts occur. The working environment is competitive and usually in a bull pen environment for larger firms. Top IA may eventually get there own office. Smaller branches will usually have IA with there own office. Due to the nature of the business leading edge computer equipment and programs must be used at all times. Systems such as Bloomberg, star quote and ultra modern technology are required. Without these tools an IA would be in serious trouble to effectively complete his job. Other things that would be required a land line phone and possibly a blackberry.

Relationship building is a critical component of this role. It’s all about building relationships for IA. Basically you’re managing people’s money so it’s very important to have exceptional interpersonal skills. People must trust you to do your job effectively. Your manager and coworkers must trust you and you. Given the nature of this work you would not be micromanaged. You are responsible to complete tasks on your own there is a great degree of flexibility for this role. If you need to leave the office you just set your own schedule. The markets are open set times for trading, but you are not monitored for breaks or appointments. Usually to be successful at this role there is a lot of extra hours required. This is part of the IA culture and it is not generally paid for.

After conducting this interview I had no idea how rigorous the process was for creating job descriptions, finding candidates and selecting an appropriate job fit. It seems for every role either simplistic or complex the rigors of science and art can be applied to recruitment and selection. Recruitment and selection must be quantifiable, measurable, reliable and reproducible.

Also something that I never realized till recently was that it a hire must be legally defensible. In this particular case extra screening must be given to candidates that work in the financial services industry. An extra duty of care is required when screening people for this type of roles dealing with money. Even if properly screened out employees can and will commit crimes. For example the French trader who lost a bank over 7 billion dollars was a bad hire in hindsight.

Also I learned about labor relations and unions in recruitment and selection. This particular role would never qualify for a union job. Due to the nature of the business and the specific job function private sector non union environment is the best fit.

Also legal requirements for this role would have to hire an individual who is an adult of 18 years or older. This type of role of IA could not be performed by a minor.

Interview method is the most effective way of gathering data on a potential candidate. Other methodologies would not be the most appropriate course of action. There are cons to this approach also being extremely time consuming. The recruitment cycle to find a qualified candidate could be many months. Also this recruitment process is expensive, but the kind of organizations that recruit IA have very deep pockets. A dedicated HR person would be required in conjunction with a manager to conduct the interviews. Leaving the recruitment function to only one group in this scenario would prove to be highly inefficient and illogical. Having just the HR person conduct the interviewing and hiring might prove to be impractical. Unless the have experience as an IA they might miss some key attributes in the screening process. Also if you only have the manager interview for an IA, you might get biases occur. The manager may not be aware of all the current labor codes, laws and recruitment and selection processes.

Therefore recruitment and selection is a highly complex activity. There are numerous traditional and modern methods of recruitment. They must serve the interests of the firm and the candidate. As the war for talent continues the need for human resources best practices must be embraced. This type of recruitment and selection is also dependant upon the job, firm and fit. Given this scenario job analysis and job descriptions help facilitate this function.

Assignment # 3

Calgary Public Library Recruitment Paper

by

Alan Dar, Nora Sergeant, Nora Ott, Sarah Newell

Assignment #3

presented to Wayne Thomas

in Recruitment and Selection 80353

Management Certificate

Business and Professional Programs

University of Calgary

March 2008

The organization that we will be discussing is the Calgary Public Library (CPL). The main branch is located at 616 McLeod Trail, across the street from City Hall. There are sixteen branches located throughout the city. Currently there are over 500 full-time equivalent positions in the organization.

Non management employees are required to join CUPE Local 1169. Management employees belong to MASSA (Management and Support Staff Association). Conditions of employment for Exempt Management positions and the Director are established separately and administered by the Board.

The Calgary Public Library Board is appointed by the City of Calgary and is governed by the Alberta Libraries Act, the Alberta Libraries Regulation, the City of Calgary Bylaws and other relevant legislation. The Board has the authority for full management and control of the Library and develops policies related to its framework, governance and operations.

The majority of funding comes from municipal and provincial taxes. The City of Calgary provides 65% of the funding, the Province of Alberta provides 30% of the funding and the remaining 5% is acquired from fundraising, fines and fees. A budget is prepared every year and is presented to the City for approval. The Library is mandated to stay within the approved budget.

The Calgary Public Library states their company vision and mission statement as follows: Vision: A world of information and ideas within reach of every Calgarian

Mission Statement: To enrich lives and build community by ensuring universal access to resources for information, learning, inspiration, and enjoyment.

According to the Calgary Public library, the values they posses and reflect in their actions include: customers and colleagues, knowledge and learning, accessibility and openness, excellence and leadership, diversity and collaboration, innovation and commitment, accountability and integrity, our environment and sustainable resources management. The Calgary Public Library prides it’s self on having a very positive and respectful environment. While this may be the company culture of the CPL, it seems money talks and a positive company culture is not enough to attract much needed librarians.

The problem that we will be discussing is the difficulty in recruiting Librarians who are the backbone of the organization. Job holders of this position participate in the planning, organizing, implementing and evaluation of all library services and collections in a branch or department. They asses the information needs of internal and external customers. They carry out collection development and supervise collection maintenance. Programs are planned, executed and evaluated by level 1 Librarians. When required the Librarian will assume responsibility for the routine operations of the branch or department. The training, supervision, and evaluation of staff are the responsibility of the librarian. The librarian is required to serve on committees and task forces, and to carry out special projects and prepare reports. At all times the librarian is responsible for keeping abreast of current library developments, particularly in customer services. This position requires a degree from an accredited library school (MLS). Previous experience is an asset but is not required.

The challenge of recruiting for the Librarian 1 position is fairly significant.

Due to the specific education requirements, there are a limited number of schools that libraries can recruit candidates from. For example there are only 6 Canadian Universities that offer this program. These universities include U of A, UBC, U of T, UWO, McGill and Dalhousie. When recruiting from these schools it would most likely be necessary for a successful candidate to relocate to Calgary. Calgary’s current economic boom has created a higher cost of living. With the starting salary paid to Librarians, a recent graduate with student loans will find it difficult to make ends meet.

The environment that CPL recruits from is highly competitive. When the candidates are about to graduate they have numerous competing offers from other libraries. There has been an increased demand for Librarians in Calgary. With other libraries competing for a limited target group, competition has become greater. Mount Royal College is becoming an accredited degree institution, and will have to hire more Librarians. Expansion to a new Library at the U of C will see more Librarian positions created. Many baby boomers are set to retire in the public library shortly. With regards to organizational context CPL has only started its succession planning in recent years. Therefore they have been in a reactive mode to an urgent problem. In the next 5 to 8 years the Calgary Public Library will be building a new Central Library. They will need to increase the number of Librarian positions at this time.

Also there are different types of libraries from private sector, to public sector. A recent survey of library students showed that fewer than 6 in 10 would likely apply to public libraries as their first job. New Librarians prefer to apply to special libraries. The hierarchy of choice goes from universities, to colleges, to schools and last to public libraries. The role shift and changes to this job make it more of a generalist position and the trend is to become specialized.

Budgets prohibit the provision of training for a job that requires significant training throughout the career. More and more recent library school graduates are applying to educational libraries because they can provide this training at little or not cost to the new Librarian. In order to save the cost of benefits, more part-time positions have been created. New graduates or those already in the work force cannot support themselves with part-time hours.

Recognition of the work load expectation by Librarians at other institutions and by new graduates is a deterrent. A librarian is required to work evenings and weekends. There are no flex days, no performance bonus and no perks.

Compensation ranges are not competitive due to budget constraints. All increases must pass through a rigorous approval system. The Library must work within an approved budget and cannot increase salaries at will.

There is a persistent stereotype image of the librarian as old fashioned and dull; the job is not though of as exciting or challenging.

A major resource analysis problem is the lack of current updates, real time and leading edge technology. A critical problem with the current recruitment strategy is the CPL website. Currently CPL does not have any jobs posted on their website. Furthermore, the jobs are not listed on enough external websites. CPL needs to improve its recruitment practices and put into place measures to ensure it retains future generations of Librarians who will demand better working conditions.

On the plus side, CPL is a learning organization that appeals to individuals with high education, strong morals, and a desire to help people. The library pays 60% towards the Local Authorities Pension Plan. They offer an Employee Assistance program and pay 70% of a Blue Cross Plan that covers health, dental and eye care. Librarians receive 4 weeks vacation in their first year. The job is fairly stable and secure for those employees who value this as a career anchor. For those seeking employment with an environmentally friendly organization CPL is a leader in this field. For those seeking challenging and varied work projects, CPL will fulfill those needs. Some departments and branches offer Casual Fridays and all staff are exempt from paying registration processing fees and fines. Since 63% of the current work force is of the Baby Boomer generation it is estimated that in the next 5 years many employees will be entering the final stages of their working lives, including a significant number who occupy management positions. The opportunity for new Librarians to become managers within a very short time is a reality.

All new and vacant positions must be posted internally on the Intranet to satisfy the Collective Agreement with CUPE Local 1169. HR sorts and selects candidates with the appropriate requirements and sets up interviews. The Director chooses the candidate with the best qualifications for the job. Many existing jobs are filled internally. This will then create a new vacancy and the internal process begins again.

Eventually there will be a vacancy that will not be filled by internal applicants which is put out for external recruitment. Job ads are posted on Library association websites. A separate email box has been set up to expedite the process for external candidates. The Director presents the benefits of working for the Calgary Public Library at library schools across Canada. He solicits promising applicants and interviews potential hires. HR will do the background checks and will make the offer. Walk-in and Write-ins are accepted. Employee referrals are welcomed but no recognition or compensation is offered. Newspaper ads are placed only when other recruitment methods have not produced a suitable pool of applicants.

The following looks at recruitment recommendations based on an analysis of CPL needs. Immediately update the current website and place all job postings on the website. Use all major career websites that students, graduates and professionals use to conduct job searches. For example workopolis, workopolis campus, monster, monster track, career click, Calgary job shop and university career sites for all schools that have library science program. Establish a presence at career fairs and actively recruit domestically and internationally. Market and recruit using new technologies such as Utube, Facebook, MSN Chat and Yahoo Messenger to reach the new wired, educated target market. Rebrand and remarket the old image of a librarian to an exciting career into the 21 century. Develop coop programs for students in university or masters programs. Students can test drive the CPL with the culture, values and work experience before they graduate. Offer to pay for the masters of Library Science to graduates and make them sign a 2 year contract. Lobby to develop a 1 year online degree at Athabasca University for people who want to change careers. Recruit foreign trained librarians and relocate them to Calgary. Resources are limited so direct monies from fundraising, bingos, casinos, raffles and corporate sponsorships to increase revenues for recruitment and retention. Retention strategies to keep future staff might include flex days, education assistance, telecommuting, job sharing, increasing compensation and perks. Have a human resources professional from the technology generation of X, Y or Z to recruit and retain these people. Develop a performance management system to track and evaluate the success of the new recruitment and retention strategies. Develop SMART goals, metrics and keep management and human resources updated on a weekly basis. Align performance system with goals, strategies and objectives of the CPL. Ensure that mangers and staff know the targets of recruiting. The technical and resource gap is a significant problem that must be solved immediately. Due to a union environment there may be lag time and significant resistance to major changes in the hiring, compensation, recruitment and selection of librarians. Labour relations experts might have to reclassify librarians as management. Also managing expectations and outcomes of the new ideas will be important. Perhaps bringing back retired librarians and hiring them as consultants would be another possible solution. Regardless of the outcome, this itch must be solved soon. Since the new information economy is here, many people from all walks of life depend on librarians. Librarians provide a great service and function to society. We need to maintain, attract, develop and cultivate librarians in the 21 century.

Calgary Public Library, (2007). Vision/Mission. Retrieved March 24, 2008, from Calgary

Public Library Web site: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/library/vision.htm

Calgary Public Library, (2007). Branches/Hours. Retrieved March 24, 2008,from Calgary Public Library Web site: http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/library/branches.aspx

Calgary Public Library Leadership Institute. (2005). 8Rs Canadian Library Human Resource Study Kathleen De Long & Allison Sivak.

Internal documents:

CPL Board Book (2006). Report to Finance & Personnel Committee: Review of Recruitment and Staffing 2005

                   CPL document Librarian Job Description (2007)