I wanted to mention here that I began with BNY in an operations role on a processing team, and saw all of the issues that are frequently mentioned on this forum. Low pay, low morale, employees constantly worried about their job security, managers who were incompetent and didn’t have the proper SME knowledge to effectively lead a team. I had coworkers who were downright nasty people, talking behind others backs, openly refusing to collaborate, veiled racist remarks, and unabashed intimidation of younger peers in a way, I would assume, to stifle their movement and ambition in a way to keep themselves relevant. There were certainly nice coworkers as well but the lion share were not nice people. Perhaps the environment forced their behavior.
I eventually moved into one of the business lines and now work alongside product, governance, and front office staff. The culture shift I’ve noticed is monumental. Senior managers care about their employees, are effective leaders, and coworkers are genuinely interested in helping one another and getting to know their colleagues. My work is interesting and I feel like I have an impact on the business. I can’t believe this is the same company that s—ed the soul out of me in my first roles. It’s certainly not without its flaws, but I’m happy I found an environment where I feel valued as an employee and as a human being. It just makes me sad to think about all the people who are still feeling the same way I did, day in and day out, in a role or with a team that doesn’t respect them the same way.
I’m starting to think that BNY’s main culture issue lies in ops and tech. Perhaps part of it is the type of people attracted to those roles; introversion can be mistaken for unfriendliness. But I saw so many unhappy people doing rote tasks for years, all with pay that, while competitive for ops roles, was not enough for them to live a happy life outside work. Given that something like 50-60% of the banks employees sit in ops and tech roles, changing this mentality needs to be a huge priority for the top of the house. They owe it to the employees, and the clients will win in the end as I’d expect a myriad of better quality service and dedication to innovation to spring from an employee who feels valued and well taken care of.
Curious for thoughts.