Case study: How IGM promotes employee development
IGM Financial Inc. is a leading wealth and asset management company that supports financial advisors and the clients they serve in Canada and institutional investors across North America, Europe and Asia. IGM is committed to empowering its people to build their careers with confidence Tweet This!, offering them vibrant development opportunities in an environment where people look out for each other, ask the best of each other, and deliver their finest work.
This case study is based on the 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report by IGM published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Learning opportunities for employees at IGM include formal training, feedback and coaching, along with on-the-job experience both for IGM’s own employees and for the financial advisors IGM works with. In order to promote employee development IGM took action to:
- implement the Leading Performance programme
- launch LEADing at IGM
- introduce IG University
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) IGM has identified;
- How IGM proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by IGM to promote employee development
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report IGM identified a range of material issues, such as client experience, responsible investment, diversity and inclusion, community support, privacy and information security, environmental footprint. Among these, promoting employee development stands out as a key material issue for IGM.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups IGM engages with:
To identify and prioritise material topics IGM engaged with its stakeholders through the following channels:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Clients
| · Annual client and advisor surveys · Client service call centres · Advisory panels and focus groups · In person and virtual communications |
| Shareholders | · Annual Meeting · Quarterly earnings calls · Five sell-side conferences, four road shows · Over 75 investor/analyst meetings, ad hoc communications · ESG Rating firm responses and discussions · Board engagement mechanism |
| Employees | · Annual & ad-hoc surveys, focus groups · Employee forums, intranets · Performance & development discussions · Employee volunteer groups |
| Financial advisors
| · Surveys, meetings, focus groups · Client service teams & call centres · Conferences, training, webinars · Online collaboration platforms |
| Industry partners
| · Memberships on regulatory committees and industry bodies · Participation on regulatory roundtables, public submissions, industry working groups and technical committees · Meetings, conferences and events |
| Communities
| · Community partnership meetings, events · Financial confidence workshops · Focus groups, sustainability networks |
What actions were taken by IGM to promote employee development?
In its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report IGM reports that it took the following actions for promoting employee development:
- Implementing the Leading Performance programme
- Through an IGM programme called Leading Performance: Building Careers, IGM is enhancing its approach to developing people and fostering high levels of performance. The programme focuses on setting clear expectations on behaviours and performance objectives, providing ongoing coaching and feedback, and implementing personal development plans for all employees. Employees’ annual objectives are aligned with company strategy, and leaders are required to hold quarterly meetings to review progress. 2019 Performance management highlights included:
- Adding a people-centric objective to leaders’ annual performance plans. Weighted at 25%, the objective holds leaders accountable for communicating strategic priorities and implementing a robust performance review process that includes establishing development plans, setting high-quality objectives and assessing leadership behaviours.
- Creating a new framework that aligns jobs across IG Wealth Management and Mackenzie Investments, giving employees better insight into opportunities for growth and development, supporting career path mobility across IGM companies, and improving understanding of how jobs contribute to the business.
- Launching LEADing at IGM
- Launched in 2011, LEADing at IGM (LEAD) is IGM’s hallmark programme for high-potential leaders, which features experience-based development through work on real projects. It was designed to develop IGM’s top talent into top leaders with a high capacity for productivity, collaboration and creativity. Initially a Mackenzie Investments’ programme, the programme was expanded in 2019 to include IG Wealth Management. In December 2019, 15 individuals graduated from the eighth cohort, for a total of 131 graduates since the programme began.
- Introducing IG University
- IG University is IG Wealth Management’s enhanced learning institute for advisors. Programming is anchored to the core pillars of financial planning, practice management, professional responsibility, products and leadership development, and segmented from a fundamental to expert level. Programmes, training and resources include more than 1,900 hours of continuing education accredited content. Many programmes are delivered in partnership with leading business schools. Within the first year of IG University, 53,788 courses were completed by IG Wealth Management Consultants. Additionally, Mackenzie Investments has a dedicated practice management team that works with advisors to support them in managing and growing their business. The team offers advisors workshops, keynotes, tools and resources on topics such as leadership, marketing, branding, technology, process and self-management. In 2019, the practice management team delivered more than 230 presentations nationally.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.2, 8.5
Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
- Targets: 5.1
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.5
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Targets: 10.3
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by IGM, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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