Learn @ Work case studies (2003): Perpetual Private Clients in Brisbane
Perpetual Private Clients in Brisbane (PPCB) provides sophisticated wealth management, investment portfolio management, financial planning, estate planning and executorial services to our clients.
Learning is an integral part of the PPCB culture and we understand how closely linked it is to performance. The Financial Services Reform Act obliges us to ensure that our staff have certain competency levels, but we believe we go beyond those requirements. We not only encourage and support our people to undertake higher educational or industry specific training (75% of Brisbane staff are undertaking training) we also provide regular forums for personal development and non-work related training.
Development Meetings
Every fortnight we hold "Development Meetings" which are attended by all staff. To further enhance the development and learning opportunities, staff rotate the facilitation of these sessions. Topics may be work related, but very often are more generic in nature. For example, we recently ran sessions on Negative Gearing (work related) but also on the concept of Moments of Truth, where we workshopped and documented how we might improve our "moments of truth" client contacts. Other meetings have focussed on the importance of balance in life, understanding personalities and their differences, and team work.
All staff participate in our development activities. Our attitude is that we are all an integral part of our team - we all have a part to play in achieving our objectives and helping each other to learn. We all have something to offer.
Outcomes
Despite a very difficult investment environment last year, it is probably not entirely unconnected that we performed above budget, and that our client loss was very much below industry standards. Importantly, we have a committed team which is focussed on common goals. There is anecdotal evidence that we are perceived as a fine employer which provides opportunities for advancement, and indeed there are examples to support that.