Employee performance-reward and the client retention impacts of transferring business clients between departments at a Canadian financial institution

Client satisfaction and thus retention are key drivers of future financial performance in any service organization. This paper examines a specific case wherein the existing criteria and process for the transfer of business clients between two departments in a particular Canadian Financial Institution, and its associated employee pay-for-performance structure, puts at risk client satisfaction and impacts employee motivation. This situation arises because determining factors governing which department manages a given clients needs are based on profitability and an arbitrary dollar amount ($250,000) of borrowing. Through application of existing literature related to client satisfaction and pay-for performance structures to data on transfers which took place in 2009, and measures of performance for roles involved in the transfer, a linkage is drawn illustrating why the current process is flawed. This is mainly because direct client contact is largely absent and employee motivation is unbalanced. Since these flaws arise as a direct consequence of a new organizational structure within the institution, one simple solution is to return to the previous operational strategy of delivering service to business clients within a single department. Should the Financial Institution choose not to follow this recommendation, five remedial steps within the current process are proposed. By following these steps the Financial Institution will experience increased client satisfaction and retention, and employees negatively impacted by this process will experience increased job satisfaction. --P. ii.