It appears that financial advisors who work at deposit-taking institutions are increasingly of two minds when it comes to the leadership of their firms. There is a burgeoning disconnection between how advisors feel about their banks’ senior executives and about the leaders they see every day at their branches. In particular, many advisors feel that their corporate leaders are out of touch with the issues that matter to advisors while their local branch managers provide constant support.

Many advisors say executives don’t solicit input from front-line staff. Furthermore, advisors feel their firms are struggling to establish effective two-way communication, and when they do, advisors’ opinions are not being heard.

“Everything comes down from the ivory towers,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada. “It doesn’t go up.”

“Upper management is not very transparent,” says an advisor in Ontario with Montreal-based National Bank of Canada. “They usually send out generic information with no substance. If there is a big restructuring that takes place, branch staff usually find out only after the fact.”

As well, many advisors are frustrated that their firms’ leaders are not listening to those in the trenches – particularly during this challenging economic environment.

Case in point: although clients have less money to invest these days, advisors say, senior bank executives are continuing to boost sales targets. This leads to increased stress and anxiety for advisors, who are increasingly focused on selling products and hitting their quotas rather than genuinely helping their clients.

“It’s very short-term thinking,” says an advisor in Ontario with Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). “[We] need to have people in place who understand what salespeople are doing. These guys don’t know anything about [what’s going on with advisors].”

Despite this growing exasperation with their senior executives, many advisors are taking solace in the positive reinforcement being offered by their local branch managers, whom advisors believe understand the bigger picture.

Although advisors acknowledge that at the end of the day, branch managers’ hands are firmly tied, many advisors see these local leaders as being more accessible and receptive to feedback than senior corporate executives.

In addition, branch managers are often seen to be better coaches and mentors. At National Bank, for example, branch managers point out when an advisor goes above and beyond the call of duty and suggests a best practice for fellow advisors, such as how to handle referrals better.

As a result, says a National Bank advisor in Ontario: “Everybody feels valued, and there’s a real sense of camaraderie and celebrating each other’s accomplishments.”

Advisors also say there’s one key area in which their branch managers do a stupendous job: serving as the public face of an industry that’s battling the stereotype of being overly “corporate.”

“All banks are painted with the same brush – as greedy and money-grubbing,” says an advisor in Atlantic Canada with Toronto-based Bank of Montreal. “But at the branch level, there is very solid opinion and respect.”

In fact, branch managers are seen by many advisors as pillars of their communities as well as the faces of the grassroots initiatives that the banks are forging.

For example, almost 97% of Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia‘s branches support community hockey teams – with local management leading the charge. This initiative has been invaluable in humanizing and enhancing the bank’s image within those communities.

“There really is a family attitude that values people,” says a Scotiabank advisor in Ontario. “[My branch manager] isn’t a figurehead; he walks the walk.”

Still, many banks could learn from the example of credit unions. For instance, advisors with Edmonton-based Servus Credit Union Ltd. say that firm’s corporate culture promotes a horizontal structure in which senior executives, branch managers and advisors are visible and intertwined in the communities they serve.

For example, their passion for the province they serve was on full display last spring, when a major fire destroyed a significant portion of the town of Slave Lake, Alta.

Randy Biberdorf, Servus’s vice president of wealth management, remembers how he was overwhelmed, within mere hours, by the sheer volume of calls he received from employees across the province about how they could help lend a hand.

“We’re very involved in our communities,” says a Servus advisor in Alberta. “We do a lot of charity work, and most of us are very visible in the areas we live in.”

© 2012 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.