Mergers and Acquisitions

My first opportunity to learn the banking industry came while I was searching for my third, six-month cooperative education experience while attending Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. My first two cooperative education experiences had placed me with large corporate companies and I was seeking a localized experience. I chose to work at Roxborough Manayunk Bank (RMB) because the position allowed me to gain exposure to the loan underwriting process and work directly with the Bank’s Chief Credit Officer. At RMB I learned how to calculate industry standard ratios and underwrite basic commercial loans, but RMB’s sale to Citizens Bank within my first week of working is what solidified the experience for me.

The merger provided me an opportunity to learn first hand how employees of a small community Bank act as their employer is merged with an international banking conglomerate. I watched as employees slowly left the company, seeking oportunities with other community banks. I observed managers tried their best to keep loyal employees motivated while workload dwindled and decisions were being made elsewhere. And I remember the sinking feeling I had when I left the basement office of RMB’s main branch for the last time.

But the acquisition and merging process is not entirely cold. My colleagues from the credit side of RMB that stayed throughout the acquisition, were all offered positions with Citizens Bank. I personally served out the remaining month and a half of my cooperative education experience at one of the Bank’s regional offices in Center City Philadelphia, where I learned the difference between offering customers small mortgages and credit lines and offering customers industry-specific loan products and interest rate risk management products. And as my cooperative education experience neared its end, I moved into a teller position so that I could continue my banking industry education.

Avoiding Unproductive Conversations

On this morning’s HBR IdeaCast(85) Podcast, the featured guest was Marshall Goldsmith, who writes the Ask the Coach Blog at HarvardBusiness.org. Goldsmith and Paul Michaelman, the IdeaCast’s discussion leader, talked about counterproductive communication in corporate America and how sixty (60%) percent of workplace conversations involve employees discussing their self-importance or harshly criticizing their coworkers. It is in management’s best interest to mitigate these conversations because of the reputation risk associated with the disclosure of sensitive information. For example, a boastful or inflammatory employee may exercise poor judgment outside of the workplace and disclose private data to unrelated third party. To help my manager mitigate this risk, I have adopted a process of asking myself several questions before I speak.

Why would I want to say this?
This question forces you to think at a very high level.
Personally, if I am unable to ascertain a reason as to why I am going to say something, I tend not to say anything at all. Additionally, if the reason is anger, jealousy, fear, or any other emotion that is best kept out of the work place, I will also tend not to say anything at all.

Am I right?
This question forces you to make a decision.
In prior experiences, when I felt that I was right about an issue or a situation, I would speak my opinion at will. And my colleagues were not pleased. This behavior lead to a series of humbling experiences while I was in college, and I have learned that being right all the time quickly loses its novelty.

Is it worth the risk of being wrong?
This question forces you to think about the consequences of your actions.
In college, my free expression of my opinions were both self-gratifying and inflammatory of my peers. I cringe at the memories of what I said when I was an undergraduate, but use those experiences to help me avoid making the same mistakes as a professional. It has been my experience that most of the time, it isn’t worth the risk of being wrong.

Overall, this process has lead me to sublimate my ego so that I may have honest and productive conversations with my colleagues.

Why I work for America’s Most Convenient Bank

I have been seeking my dare-to-be great situation since I decided to leave a two-hundred (200) employee community bank last year in search of the Manhattan financial dream. It was promising; I had lined up four (4) interviews with international banks of varying size. The positions ranged from corporate finance, specialty financial vehicles, and shipping finance. But I failed to land a position after poor follow through demonstrated inexperience on my behalf. In hindsight it was for the best, because I was in a financial position which would make transitioning to a New York City resident difficult. I set out again to find a new position, expanding my search to Chicago, Atlanta, and any other city that would have me. I called in all of my connections including family, past companies that I had interviewed with, and my credit training instructor. I lined myself up with a barrage of interviews many of which were similar to my last position.

Headstrong not to make a horizontal move, I trudged on looking for the right opportunity. It came from Lisa Hall, a Human Resources recruiter for Commerce Bank who spoke with me for twenty-five (25) minutes on the phone, immediately following an unsuccessful interview. I went through a rigorous yet expedient interview process including a one (1) hour face-to-face interview with Lisa Hall, a three (3) hour interview with my soon-to-be manager Jim Nixon, and a quick meeting with his boss Roger Bomgardner. Even with Bank of America in New York City and Merrill Lynch in Chicago knocking on my door, I chose Commerce Bank because they made their decision to hire me within two (2) weeks of first contact.

Over the past year I have learned the importance of detail-oriented underwriting, seeing potential deals in the eyes of a risk manager, a salesman, and a customer, and how hard you must work when you are in a larger pond of employees. On Monday, my company Commerce Bank was acquired by TD Banknorth, a subsidiary of TD Bank Financial Group. For me and my colleagues, this is a tumultuous time because we must expediently adapt to new policies from a multinational corporation that avoided sub-prime mortgage exposure and enjoys helping the environment. With unemployment at 5.1% and growing, I am up for the challenge and feel fortunate to be working for a company in a position to weather this economic uncertainty.