The purpose of this paper is to describe where these functions fit into my organization – AXA Advisors.
Planning
In my organization, planning is an essential part of every day. Heavy planning times revolve around year-end and the subsequent New Year. Being a financial services firm, there are many types of planning: sales forecasts, resource planning, budget analysis, staffing models, development planning, and strategic action planning related to yearly business plans. Without planning, there would be no goals, no progressive improvement and no structured growth.
My supervisors are deeply involved in the planning within our organization, as they are responsible for collecting and monitoring the above mentioned items and related documents. As New Year forecasts are made, performance goals ensue, creating a plan of accountability for our six branches within the Southwest Division.
Where this planning directly effects my position as the Director of Operations and Infrastructure, is within the staffing of these six branches. As budgets are set in place and staffing models either expanded or reduced, I must follow forecasted guidelines to ensure the most appropriate use of available resources. As well, staff development goals are put in place at the beginning of the year to be worked through by year end, with a performance measure and bonus dollars tied to these areas, both for staff employees and myself.
Organizing
Organization at AXA is in a constant state of flux. In a rapidly changing and evolving industry such as financial services, departments and structure are always trying to keep up with business needs. While the company has tried to move away from a matrix management model, with the rate of organizational change, it is almost unavoidable, as departments, and their members will continue to evolve and move around within the company.
Supervisors within my department are a vital part of the organizational process within our six branch locations. They are continually working through people and markets to best serve our current and future needs. Analysis of both external and internal opportunities allows us to be pro active in reaching growth goals.
Where the organizing reaches my role is in the processing of organizational change. Hiring paperwork, restructure procedures, promotions, and terminations are all funneled through me to allow for efficient change in these areas.
Leading
Within our organization, there are many types of leaders, from staff to sales to corporate. These many types of leaders lend themselves to a structure that is intended to provide support to revenue production as the end result. What do these leaders do? Exactly what the definition from our text says, they motivate, mold culture and manage conflict and communication.
What do my leaders do? They manage the leaders in our six branches and manage communication between those leaders and our corporate leaders. They strive to manage conflict on the local level to allow for resolution prior to escalation to our corporate leaders. They provide tools to allow the local branch leaders to motivate their people within the realm of company policy and they ensure constant communication to set expectations within our 700 divisional members.
And, me specifically? I lead the staff managers to better their skills and help them manage their branch staff employees. I lead training programs that allow for information sharing to better everyone within our division and I approach every conversation I have with a leadership mentality to provide a feeling of security throughout our division.
Controlling
In our company, control has many definitions. While all levels of management work to set policy and procedure and attempt to maintain adherence to those concepts, we also have regulatory concerns that create much administratia and effort. These concerns fall under the title of “compliance” and are not to be taken lightly, as the NASD and the SEC monitor them.
My superiors are involved in all aspects of control, as they oversee our entire division and have influence in sales, operational and compliance procedures. They are the decision-makers on a local level, but are also often the messengers to corporate in times of exception requests.
In my role, compliance is not a part of my world, but operational procedure and policies are my responsibility. While creating both procedure and policy, I must maintain adherence at all staff levels.
References
Dessler, Gary (2003). Management Theory, Practice and Application. Retrieved December 10, 2003, from https://mycampus.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/resource.asp
