City National Reviews

Pros

Friendly and nice colleagues. Many satisfied employees within the Bank.

Cons

Downside is due to their high satisfaction, employee turnover is low, which leaves a very little room for advancements.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work!

Pros

The company pays well compared to other companies. They also try to make us feel like a family here. The company is very flexible.

Cons

Lots of colleagues find it easy to point fingers. Management tends to stick with management and not inform the other people that need to know.

Advice to Senior Management

When looking to make updates to forms and systems, they should look to the colleagues that are dealing with clients as opposed to just doing it themselves.

Pros

Management is nice to let you balance your work life and your home life. There is room for movement upwards as long as you know how to play the corporate game, I have not cracked the solution yet though.

Cons

Pay is really poor compared to other places with job skills necessary for Business System Analyst. The culture is to hierarchical and rigid that nearly all managers are paranoid to share information/resources with one another as each is trying to protect their own.

Advice to Senior Management

Provide incentives for teams to work cross-functionally rather than such rigidly to allow for more agile and responsive service in all areas/departments.

Pros

The company is solid, and growing. Decent pay and great job security. Non-retail business focus is very professional.

Cons

Very conservative lending environment, makes lending difficult. Some antiquated online features.

Advice to Senior Management

Great bank. Keep up the good work.

Pros

Good environment with low turnover in most departments. Client service quality and conservative philosophy translates well to work life for colleagues. Excellent benefits include 401K and a profit sharing program.

Cons

Not a lot of space for career advancement. If you get hired into the position you want, chances are you'll be there for awhile. As big as the bank is, it sometimes feels like a small company struggling to figure out how to operate like a big company.

Advice to Senior Management

Management would do well to think more comprehensively about the long term strategies of their departments and teams. Tactical thinking may produce good results in the short term, but may hurt you in the long run if a good strategy hasn't been put into place.

Pros

On the smaller side, so you get to wear a lot of hats, which allows for good skill sets development. Very solid bank with a good focus on the right markets.

Cons

Pay is below market standars for all jobs, but Sales. Company can be too conservative and focused on this year's stock price vs. taking some risk in investment toward the future. This is getting better, but still needs improvement. Very political like all banks. Have to work relationships to get ahead more so than being kick*** at your job.

Advice to Senior Management

Invest more in people by adding leadership development programs, better basic trainig programs, etc. In other words, grow the caliber of your people not only by giving them good opportunities for experience, but specific skills and knowledge to maximize each opportunity. Groom employees for management, create a management or leadership track so people feel like they are working towards something. Don't limit leadership programs by title since title levels are not equivalent or a good gauge of leadership bank wide.

Pros

Good opportunities to work with all levels of management on projects. There a larger than normal amount of people who've stayed with the company 10, 20, and even 30 years. Management is loyal to colleagues, even when they should have fired them long ago.

Cons

Systems need to be better integrated. Since it is a small company, career growth may be limited in certain divisions. Sometimes there is an attitude of "we've always done it this way" that leads to roadblocks to change/improvement.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop a formal mentorship and development program to retain top talent. Communicate better on the vision and strategy of where the bank is going so that the colleagues can rally behind you.

Pros

Great work life balance, competent people, not too resistant to change.

Cons

Limited career growth and support from upper management. Difficult to move around the bank.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus more attention on constructive feedback, and helping your people overcome weaknesses, and not just pinpoint them out. More career development support from upper management.

Pros

It is a very familial place to work - you are not just a "number" or "cog" in the wheel. The company is small enough for most senior officers to know each other and large enough to compete with the major banks in many areas. CNB is still family controlled which insulates the bank from Wall Street and hostile takeovers giving employees a sense of security. Compared to peer banks, there is minimal turnover in senior officer ranks which is very beneficial for client retention. The bank is very highly rated by outside agencies for customer satisfaction.

Cons

Because the bank is family controlled, the Chairman and major shareholder (Russell Goldsmith) is involved in far too much minutiae down to selecting paint and fabric colors for branches and offices. He is a bright and articulate albeit not warm man who does not seem to brook negative information. This is detrimental due to a "shoot the messenger" attitude so bad news frequently does not get presented to him even if crucial. Decisions within the bank are made always the concern "what will Russell think". He casts a long shadow which is not always a positive. It fosters ineffective "yes men" within senior ranks.

Advice to Senior Management

Senior officers should be encouraged to disseminate information, good or up, up the ranks. It doesn't mean everything should evolve into a "complaint session" but decisions are continually made in a vacuum without the proper vetting.

Pros

This bank has internal processes and procedures in place to get jobs done (though not always fast). Execs are determined to grow the business. Annual sales goals are clear. The head Investment exec is brilliant. L.A. headquarters is a great location downtown, nice environment with corporate art, high-security building, close to Red Line stop, train transportation costs are subsidized; many VPs get offices with a door, plus 4 weeks vacation annually, 10-30% annual bonus in March plus restricted stock, proft sharing, 40l(k) match of about 3%. They have nice meeting and lunch / break / training rooms. Communication to all employees is daily and easy to access via intranet and emails. Many employees are talented, dedicated and good to work with. Annual upper managment- and sales meetings are creative/entertaining and give staff good opportunties to see top execs and hear about progress and problems.

Cons

The company is not well known outside of the entertainment and banking industries (little advertising , no TV ads), so it's not a powerful name on the resume unless you're applying to another bank. Its CEO is the son of one of the founders, so its success and failure are personal to him (micro-manager). Before managers embark on a project they don't say What's the best strategy for the bank, the shareholders and the consumer, but What can we do that Russell will like. The company also tends to introduce new products well after the competition. Parking for some employees is subsidized but most still pay $50 monthly. No perks for the average employee.

Advice to Senior Management

Put upper management through extensive management training courses so they can learn the art of negotiation, and how to inspire and motivate their employees with carrots instead of demands and disrespect. Increase the company's support of employees volunteering in the community on behalf of the bank-- the bank gets kudos from the community and the federal government for their work.