“This is not goodbye, my darling, this is a thank you. Thank you for coming into my life and giving me joy” – Nicholas Sparks
When we went to pick up the kids at the Scotts, Gord asked how it went. Instead of going into details we said we don’t think we can live in a place where the total population’s less than 200 people. We said we need to continue to seek other opportunities and Gord agreed with us.
In the last week of February I had a telephone call from Alberta Treasury Branches (ATB). The person said his name was Ken and he was calling from Calgary, Alberta. He said ATB is not a chartered bank. It’s a financial institution and Crown corporation wholly owned by the province of Alberta, the only province in Canada with such a financial institution under its exclusive ownership. He said ATB was originally established as Alberta Treasury Branches in 1938; ATB Financial operates only in Alberta and provides financial services to Alberta residents and businesses. It is the largest public bank in North America and the largest financial institution based in the province. ATB is headquartered in Edmonton but their computer department is located in Calgary.
I said to Ken I am so sorry but I don’t remember applying for a job with you folks. He said we had an advertisement in Toronto newspapers but we didn’t go into details about our organization. We just said a financial institution.
I said you must be the people who were having all kinds of operational challenges. Ken said that’s us. I said how can I help? He said we are very much interested in what you accomplished at Beaver Lumber Company. Even though it wasn’t a financial institution, there are lots of similarities with the operational and technical problems you faced with. I remember saying to Ken that I am flattered but shouldn’t you look for somebody with banking experience? He said believe it or not the guy who’s in charge of our computer department is impressed with your background and accomplishments, including what you have done for the Government of New Brunswick. He has extensive experience working for the Royal Bank in the operations area. He knows what he’s doing.
I said alright, tell him to give me a call and I will talk to him.
Ken said as a matter of fact he would like to see you next week in Montreal, if possible, to talk about some opportunities with our organization. Ken said we are in the market for numerous senior positions and we have lined up several potential candidates in Toronto and Montreal to interview next week.
I ended up going to Montreal the next week and meeting with three guys from ATB. Ken was with them. He was the human resources guy, Jack was the guy who represented the Cheque Processing Operations and Gerry was the guy in charge.
The first thing I mentioned to them was that I didn’t have any banking experience and I didn’t understand their interest in my background. Gerry said we are interested in your trouble shooting capabilities, your style of management, and we like the way you empower people. He said he was hired recently to reorganize their computing activities and they are faced with all kinds of challenges. He said that Calgary is one of the clearing cities for the Bank of Canada. All banks located in Alberta have a Clearing Centre in Calgary and they exchange cheques every night with each other before they report the final figure for the day to the Bank of Canada. All the people representing all banks meet there around 5:00AM to settle their corporate accounts.
I said do you know the cause of the problems that you folks are faced with? Gerry said in all the cheques we receive from different banks every night must be processed in order to clear and settle through the Canadian Banking Payment System. When you deposit a cheque written by somebody else (Customer) into your account, your bank will send the cheque to the bank of the person who wrote the cheque. That bank makes sure that the cheque is legitimate and there are enough funds in the cheque-writer’s account to cover the cheque, and then sends the funds to your bank. That’s how we get our money back.
He said our problem’s that we cannot process all the cheques that we get every night from all other banks in time to finalize our figures. Therefore the amount associated with “Non-Processed” cheques becomes “Float” which also means that we have no choice but to pay the other banks what they are claiming without getting to verify their figures. That float is obviously subject to daily interest and it costs our bank money.
I said what’s the average scale of your daily float? Gerry said it is 1 to 5 millions depending upon if we had problems with the cheque processing machines. The rate of interest in those days was in the 20’s. He said let me explain to you further. We have a Cheque Processing Centre in Calgary with a couple of IBM Cheque Processing machines and close to 100 people working at the centre to deal with the cheques. Once those cheques are processed, an electronic file is created and transmitted to a data centre which is located next door. They process that data remotely and post the amounts of those cheques to individual customer accounts at the IBM data centre in Toronto. In addition to paying IBM for maintaining our banking records, we also pay the Government of Alberta as the Data centre next door is a part of the Government of Alberta. From time to time we run into some technical problems associated with cheque processing and we don’t have any expertise on board to properly understand and resolve those problems in a timely manner.
I said I think I understand the problem. In other words you went ahead and paid for the cheques which were drawn on your bank but the money cannot be recovered until you post each processed cheque to individual accounts. At the same time there are unprocessed cheques which are costing you money, too. He said you got the idea.
I said here are a couple of questions that are percolating in my mind: Do you think you folks are suffering from the lack of processing capabilities to handle the magnitude of the cheques you are getting every single night, or are there procedural challenges that you face. Furthermore, it could be a combination of both. Gerry said it appeared to him that it was a combination of both challenges.
I said I have a final question – Are you having any difficulties coordinating with the data centre, do they understand the importance of banking applications, and do you have any plans for having your own computer facilities to control your own destiny? I know it is a mouthful but those questions are important and I need to know the answers. Gerry said you hit the nail on the head, Mir. We need your expertise in that area, too.
I said don’t you have any questions about my background or previous employments, etc. Gerry said I don’t have any questions but Ken may have some human resources related questions. Ken said how much time do you need to give notice to your current employer. I said typically a month. He said do you own a house in Fredericton. I said yes but ideally I would like to wait until my kids finish their school year before we proceed. Kent looked at Gerry and Gerry said I understand exactly what you are talking about because I was relocated several times while working for Royal Bank. He said I would like very much for you to be there ASAP but I also have to be realistic. Here’s my suggestion – How about you and your wife come to Calgary to check out whether you like the place? then we can discuss this matter further. I said it makes sense.
Ken said is it okay to set something up for next week? I said no problem.
When I got home, Lynda asked me how it went. I said we may be traveling to Calgary next week. Then I briefed her about our conversation and about the people I met in Montreal. I said they seem interested in getting me started ASAP as they seemed to be into a mess. They need to get things going without delay. I told them the ideal time for us would be to wait until the kids finish their school year. In any case, they want us to go to Calgary. If we like the city, they want to negotiate when I would join them.
I asked Lynda if she would like living in Calgary for a while. She said she can live anywhere where the population’s more than 200 people. She also said if they want you that badly and everything works out with Calgary, I don’t mind staying behind and waiting for the kids to finish their school year. This would give us enough time to sell our house, too. I said but don’t volunteer that possibility until we are totally satisfied with all the other conditions of the job.
I suggested Lynda check out if there’s a sorority chapter in Calgary.
Calgary is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the southwest of the province of Alberta, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies, about 80 km. east of the front ranges of the south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately 240 km. north of the Canada–United States border.
In the 1970s, Alberta was hit by a modern-day gold rush. Oil prices soared and adventurers flooded into the province in a frenzied hunt to strike it rich.
Calgary is the largest city in Alberta. The population of Calgary in 1982 was around 600,000 and it was the largest metro area within the three Prairie Provinces region.
Calgary’s economy included activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors.
In addition to Peter Lougheed being the Premier of Alberta, there were three other notable things about Calgary to consider before we made a decision about our move:
- The hockey team Flames became the “Calgary Flames” after the franchise moved from Atlanta to Calgary in 1980;
- Ralph Klein began his career in politics when he was elected as the 32nd official Mayor of Calgary in 1980; and
- On May 25, 1981, Light Rail Transit (LRT) returned to Calgary with the opening of the 11- South line.
The reality was that a worldwide economic recession hit Calgary in 1982, and it was indeed bad news for Calgary. Growth halted, vacancy rates rose and the unemployment rate went from 4 percent to 10 percent. For a while, even belts with really ostentatious buckles were being tightened.
Nevertheless we were grateful that things were looking up for us.
If I remember correctly, it was Thursday February 18th when I met those folks from ATB in Montreal. Ken called me on Monday February 22nd with a plan to fly to Calgary on Thursday the February 25rd and get back to Fredericton on Sunday the February 28th.
Once again we had to leave the kids with the Scotts. Gord reminded us that his sister was living in Calgary. We had met in Fredericton when she was visiting the Scotts. Gord said he would call her to let her know that we would be in Calgary for a short period of time. He also provided us with her telephone number in Calgary.
We had to change the flight in Toronto and when Lynda saw Calgary from the plane, she fell in love with the city. We took a cab to the downtown hotel. Calgary was 3 hours behind Fredericton which was great for us. It was only 5:00PM in Calgary when we checked in. We got washed and changed to go out and do some shopping. Calgary had a huge mall right in the middle of the downtown with wonderful shops. We wanted to do some mooching. We also noticed the LRT was running through the downtown of Calgary.
The ATB office wasn’t far from the hotel where we stayed. The plan was to meet Ken at his office at 9:00AM on Thursday and Ken was going to take me to meet Gerry.
When we got back from our shopping, we decided to have supper in one of the restaurants in the lobby of the hotel. After supper, I suggested to Lynda to give Karen, Gord’s sister, a call to come and see her and see if it was possible for Karen to take her around.
While I was checking my notes which I had made about my interview in Montreal, Lynda called Karen and arranged to meet around 9:30AM in the lobby of the hotel.
As soon as I saw Ken in his office he offered me coffee. He asked if I would like to spend a few minutes talking about the organizational structure before we went to see Gerry. Just as a background, he said, we as a financial institution are so behind the curve of computer technology that we do almost everything manually. Last year we hired a guy from Royal Bank to head up our human resources department in Edmonton. He was instrumental in getting our president to understand that we need to computerize our bank. Our president was finally convinced and he authorized the new head of our human resources to find somebody who can help us.
This new guy had worked with Gerry Erber and a couple of other folks in Royal Bank for long enough to understand that if we needed a banker to head the computer department, Gerry was our guy. Consequently Gerry and some other guys were hired with the mandate to create a computer department for the bank and gradually computerize everything in our organization. That’s how Gerry was hired and charged with the responsibility. Even though Gerry doesn’t have any background, he clearly understands banking demands. He went through this process when the Royal Bank computerized their environment.
Gerry brought his number two guy with him who’s not technical either. Currently they are working with a couple of consultants who have been involved with the Cheque Processing Centre for a while. We think we have found some people in Toronto we can hire to help with planning the computerization, but what Gerry needs right away – urgently and desperately – is somebody like you to get him out of the mess in the Cheque Processing Centre.
I said “WOW”; hope I don’t disappoint you folks. He said we have talked to people at your previous employment, Mir. They convinced us that you’re the guy for us. I said let’s go see Gerry.
Gerry was waiting for us. He introduced me to Scott, the number 2 guy and they thanked Ken for bringing me there and closed the door. Gerry and Scott spoke to me for almost an hour talking about their experience and defining the mess in the Cheque Clearing Centre. I was dying to see their Cheque Processing Centre.
Finally, they took me to the Cheque Processing Centre where Jack’s office was located. I had met Jack in Montreal when Gerry, Ken, and Jack came to interview me. Before Gerry left he said Jack’s going to bring you to the restaurant for lunch and then you both can come back to the Centre and continue your chat. Furthermore when you’re done here, you can go back to your hotel and my wife and I will come to meet you at your hotel around 6:00PM to take you and your wife out for supper. I said it sounds great, Gerry.
Jack was hired only a couple of months back and he wasn’t a technical guy either. The first thing he did was take me to meet his boss, Steve, who was in charge of the Centre. He also was a banker, not a technical person.
Jack and I went to the Cheque Processing area where I met with the supervisor and spent quite a bit of time discuss the operational aspects of those machines. It was impossible for me to totally understand everything I heard about the operation but I started appreciating their frustration.
Around 12:00PM Jack showed up and we walked to a nice restaurant not too far from the office. Gerry and Scott were already there. We had a nice meal and chatted about the overall aspects of their organization.
When we came back to the Centre, Jack took me to meet with other supervisors who were responsible for various aspects of their operations. I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to several folks who were responsible for the processing. However, they had an around-the clock operation and they said the real action was on the third shift. That was when they received cheques from other banks. They did their best to process every single cheque but they ended up every day with a float.
I asked them if the number of cheques was increasing rapidly. They said that seemed to be the trend.
It was almost 5:00PM by the time I got back to the hotel and Lynda was waiting for me. The first thing she asked – how did it go? I said you tell me first. She said Karen came and picked her up to take her around various places to see Calgary and she ended up buying some more stuff. I told her about my day and also told her that Gerry and his wife were coming to have supper with us.
I asked Lynda based on what she had seen so far, would she like to live here? She said without any hesitation that she would love to and also said the kids will love it, too.
We had a nice meal with Gerry and Karen. Karen told us that they had two daughters and they had been relocated to Calgary recently when Gerry got this job. We told them about us and chatted about various things. Gerry directly asked Lynda if she liked Calgary. Lynda said it’s indeed a better place than Lynn Lake. Then we explained to them about our visit to Lynn Lake.
Gerry asked Karen to take Lynda out and spend a few minutes as he needed to talk to me.
When the ladies were gone, Gerry said to me I still want you two to spend time in Calgary as you’re not going back until Sunday. However, I need to know what you thought about our Cheque Processing Operations. I said it appeared to be an interesting place but it’s going to take some time to get it sorted out. He said now you see the urgency and I hope you consider coming to Calgary sooner than you thought. I said I think I will have no choice but to leave my family behind and if everything works out the way I am planning, I may be able to join you folks on March the 29th. Gerry stood up and shook my hand and said welcome on board, Mir.
Jerry took several minutes to talk about the job offer. Then he said unfortunately I am not in the position to offer you a lot at this stage of the game but if you accomplish what I think you are capable of accomplishing within three months, I promise you I will promote you with a nice increase in your salary as well as your position.
