National Bank of Canada Reviews in Montreal, QC Area

Pros

Banking advantages. Chances to work in different projects.

Cons

Careful with internal promotions. The Bank needs outside ideas to develop.

Advice to Senior Management

Careful with internal promotions. Some managers without external experience don't understand their employees' challenges and workload.

Pros

Good senior management. The company is heading in the right direction.

Cons

Very difficult to be promoted internally. Also there is a preponderance of french canadians in the front office (mainly at Montreal head office).

Advice to Senior Management

Think globally.

Pros

coworkers are young great and friendly

Cons

the salary is very low

Advice to Senior Management

better wages

Pros

pretty good career advancement opportunities.

Cons

technology upgrade is needed in the near future.

Pros

Relax work environment. 37.5hours workweek. Great for work/life balance. French work environment. The work place is split into 2 categories : half are pregnant women with kids or older people who have reach their career potential. The other half are young and promising young talent who either leave for better opportunities elsewhere or in other department.

Cons

A lot of old accounting systems carried on from previous acquisitions. Alot of red tapes and productivity lost in the bad data system. Limited career growth unless you jump into another department. Boring and ungratifying work.

Pros

location, promotions, benefits, salaries, work experience

Cons

bureaucratie, long term vision, IT, vision varies on the department

Pros

Plenty of projects happening in the Bank right now, which can bring many opportunities for IT professionals, especially into global enterprise initiatives.

Cons

The unstability pertaining in the IT department makes it difficult to focus on deliverables. Instead of keeping evolving the deployment of an IT governing structure, important restructuring have taken place in the last three years, making it difficult to operate and deliver on major initiatives.

Advice to Senior Management

Start listening to the people involved, who represent the Bank's greatest assets. Establish better communication channels to keep the staff aware of the direction in which the Bank is going.

Pros

Great balance between home and work.
Lots of challenging projects.
Lot of autonomy to do your job.
Perform well and you will be rewarded with your bonus.
Great compensation package and vacations plan.
Great people that are dynamic and intelligent to work with.

Cons

Everything is about networking : your next project, your next promotions, your annual review.
Lot of middle managers perform poorly and are just not good leaders with their teams, yet they are revered by senior management and get promoted. If you want to move up in the ladder you need to be very patient and play the political game. If you don't fit the "mold" when you bring ideas forward it could be trouble for you even if you are right and diplomatic about it.

Advice to Senior Management

The changes to the culture are in motion to make people more accountable but it will take time. This needs to speed up or we will lose a lot of talented people to the competition.

Pros

Generally, NBFG meets HR and benefits standards. Organization' culture is highly motivated for change. Still having a strong commitment on governance, risk management and financial performance. Many challenges. Good team and colleagues respect. Better than average technical support for office workers.

Cons

Very slow , not agile in executing changes and still unable to keep with the market (technology, market segments, traditionnal approach to sales and marketing). Management has a low confidence on internal IT knowledge due to past high outsourcing, and does not invest much in training.

Advice to Senior Management

Should develop management by walking around (MBWA) and invest in new generation management.

Pros

Best reasons to work at National are: workforce is generally young and ambitious, meaning that the working atmosphere is dynamic and proactive. The National Bank also plays a major role in the Quebec banking scene being the biggest bank by presence in the province. National Bank is a great place to start a career in the financial industry.

Cons

In some teams, older employees acquired with some acquisition National did in the past are unwilling to embrace the National dynamic culture and are always looking for ways to deliver the minimum.

Advice to Senior Management

Leadership is usually competent and knowledgeable of what they are doing. Sometimes, however, the sacrifice innovation and initiative taken by less experienced employees for the sake of protecting their jobs.