Julius Baer won two awards at the first Guernsey’s Best Workplace Awards.
The practice was named Overall Winner (large sized business) and was awarded the Line Manager Spotlight Award too.
With more than 120 staff in Guernsey, Julius Baer offers a range of financial services, including discretionary portfolio management, investment advisory services, and credit services.
These are provided by qualified teams working in Guernsey, out of offices at Admiral Park – the heart of Guernsey’s finance sector.
Branch Manager Alexandra McInnes leads the Guernsey office, which includes a dedicated team of administration and support staff covering a wide range of skill sets.
Together, the staff of Julius Baer in Guernsey rated their employer highly when completing the employee engagement surveys which were the basis of the Guernsey Best Workplace initiative.
Ms McInnes said she was “pleased to win” the two awards – which she attributed to her staff.
“It’s a big thank you to them,” she said. “I think the awards show that, like their commitment to our clients, they are dedicated to supporting their teammates, because really that is what makes Julius Baer a great place to work.”
Among the survey results, 90% of Julius Baer’s employees said they are “always proud of their place of work”.
100% of staff said that Julius Baer “engages in meaningful community and charity initiatives”.
94% said they feel “supported” by their line manager, and 89% said their line manager “always leads by example”.
The spotlight award for line management was particularly positive to win, said Ms McInnes, because having successful line managers means the individual teams that make up the wider Julius Baer business are all working well together.
“I think that’s down to providing them with the support that they need to do their job properly. So, we’ve got the right people and we give them the right training, and ultimately it comes down to the support they provide each other.
“I think people genuinely enjoy turning up to work each day, and I think if you’re happy with what you are doing, then you will be nice to other people and look after each other.”
As the winner of Guernsey’s Best Workplace in the large sized category, Ms McInnes said strong line management is vital to ensure that all members of their local team feel the benefits of working for Julius Baer.
“All we can do is provide the framework. We provide the office, but that doesn’t actually mean anything to the staff, ultimately. We have to provide the support and the training, but honestly, it is down to those relationships between the team members.
“We get feedback every other month and we hear time and time again that what people like the most is the support they get from their line manager, so that can be what makes or breaks someone’s work experience because ultimately the staff aren’t interacting with the board every day, they’re interacting with their line manager. So on all of the good days and the bad days, that’s who they go to, and we’re really lucky that we have a really, really good level of line management that comes down to long term relationships, and them really understanding the business, the clients, and they work well together. They work through any problems as they come up and yes, they come to us sometimes, but generally, they’re there supporting each other day in, day out.”
While Julius Baer is a ‘large’ sized employer in Guernsey, the company has a much bigger presence on the global stage with more than 7,000 staff worldwide.
Ms McInnes said no one gets lost in the system as they all work in small teams anyway.
“I don’t think anyone feels like a big cog in the Julius Baer wheel, as each team is doing something different. I think they’re clear on what their purpose is, what their role is, and we really try and focus on that.
“I think that helps ensure you feel part of it, because otherwise you could feel quite distant to what the company is doing.”