Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 17, 2017 NEWS 7 Salespeople in spotlight after complaints Bank employees say pressure to meet targets leads to unethical, illegal behaviour BY SARAH DOBSON THEIR complaints filled the air- waves, so to speak. Anonymous salespeople at Canada's banks suggested they were being pres- sured to make sales by not acting in their customers' best interests, behaving unethically, and some- times breaking the law. TD Bank was the first to face the wrath, with CBC reporting employees were being pressured to meet high sales revenue goals. Soon, other major banks were targeted. But the media coverage was not an accurate portrayal of its culture, or a reflection of the expe- rience of most of the employees, according to TD Bank. "TD is in the trust business. We know we must earn our cus- tomers' trust before we earn their business," said Bharat Masrani, CEO. What's behind the complaints? True or not, the accusations put the spotlight on sales tactics and salespeople, with some experts questioning the training or cor- porate culture involved — and others suggesting it's just a matter of people not understanding how sales work. "e role of sales is to deliver numbers and to deliver revenue, so the pressure has been there and always has been there — that is the role of a salesperson. If there's no sales, there's no revenue, and there's no business," said Peter Irwin, president and CEO of the Canadian Professional Sales As- sociation in Toronto. ese recent complaints may be because people don't like their targets, he said. "It's a natural human behav- iour to seek an easier route, and targets are targets. And if you don't make the targets, then you're not doing the job, so in the absence of knowing what the job descriptions are, what the per- formance standards are, it's very, very difficult to make any type of appreciative comment about the situation," said Irwin. "For all I know, it's a bunch of disgruntled employees who aren't happy about having to sell. May- be they're in a sales role and they don't want to be." Jobs overall have become more complex, said Christian Cook, assistant professor at the Bis- sett School of Business at Mount Royal University in Calgary. "e pace of change that em- ployees are facing is really sig- nificant, and I think that both at work and then certainly outside of work, lives are a little more de- manding overall, so I think that some of it more stems (from) the pace of change." ere's also a need for more sales education across Canada, said Scott Stirett, executive direc- tor and founder of Venture for Canada, which recruits, trains and supports graduates to work at start-ups. "With most business programs, you are not required to take a sales course which I think is unfortu- nate, especially considering how many people go into sales and, really, how sales is essential to al- most any career," he said. Part of the challenge is knowing what to teach, said Stirett. Should it involve different sales method- ologies, public speaking or learn- ing how to use software such as Salesforce, for example? "ere's a lack of understand- ing… and lack of agreement sometimes on how to teach sales, so sometimes there's that paraly- sis," he said. "ere's also the thought 'Oh, sales courses are pseudo-aca- demic,'" he said, so they are not respected as much. But more and more people, as they get into the sales profession, realize that training and contin- ual development is fundamental to their success and growth, said Irwin. "ere was a time when people used to say, 'at person is a born salesman, he's got that personal- ity.' Well, it goes well beyond that. ere are a whole series of skills that are required — ethics and dif- ferent pieces of knowledge that all combine to truly make an effec- tive salesperson." Focus on ethics e decisions salespeople make should not be for their own ben- efit, if they are truly following an ethical and consultative sales pro- cess, said Irwin. "All of our programs, our code of ethics that underpins our certi- fied sales designations, all of that is based on honesty and integrity and accurately presenting prod- ucts and services, respecting con- fidential information, continuous improvement in making sure in- dividuals are familiar with prod- ucts," he said. Good-quality salespeople have a very ethical approach to sales, said Irwin. "e whole key to ethical sell- ing is to adopt a genuinely con- sultative process and approach to selling. And, in some cases, the needs aren't being fulfilled, and then perhaps it's a sale that needn't be made — that becomes the fun- damental decision a salesperson has to make, and that really is a function in terms of how well an organization is doing in terms of training its people." TD's training programs aim to deliver high-quality content and learning experiences, with a focus on customer service, in a simple, effective way, said Daria Hill in corporate and public affairs at TD Bank Group in Toronto. "TD conducts internal and external training for employees, ranging from compliance and mandatory training to specialized training for various capabilities like customer advice, leadership, product and technical skills and communication skills." Recently, the bank has lever- aged more digital and social learn- ing frameworks and technologies "to deliver engaging, relevant and ongoing training in addition to the face-to-face and in-the-moment training," she said. "For new employees, for ex- ample, our training and onboard- ing programs are used every week across our business." LINES > pg. 8 Employment and labour standards are constantly changing. Even in the past few months, four provinces have proposed or passed legislation to amend their employment and labour standards. Such changes affect employers and employees — workflows are impacted, payroll and HR processes and systems are affected, and risk of audits and fines is increased. Employment standards cover a range of issues, everything from overtime and vacation payment to medical and compassionate care leave. In 2016, a British Columbia utilities company was fined $75,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries from a fall, after the organization failed to enforce employment standards laws. In Ontario, any contravention of the Employment Standards Act carries a penalty of up to $100,000. Repeated contraventions will cost organizations up to $500,000. While these are extreme examples, failure to comply with the prescribed employment and labour standards of all jurisdictions in which your organization operates can have significant impacts. Beyond the obvious monetary risk, employment standards infractions can also account for significant reputational risk, both to employees tasked to oversee compliance and to the organization as a whole. The Canadian Payroll Association's essential seminar, Employment Standards, provides a comprehensive introduction to the standards of employment across Canada that impact day-to-day payroll operations. To get the full picture of Canadian employment standards, it is vital for HR professionals to understand how these compliance requirements affect employee pay. Register today for a seminar near you and expand your knowledge of employment standards. Visit payroll.ca → Professional Development for more information. HR: Pay Attention to the Payroll Side of Employment Standards ADVERTISING FEATURE THE CANADIAN PAYROLL ASSOCIATION

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