Sterling reputation built on quality
Ann Fyffe and Natasha Gajdemski may have different roles and distinct responsibilities at Eckler Ltd., the largest independently owned actuarial consulting firm in Canada, yet they share a very real passion for their job and admiration for the organization that employs them.
Sam Eckler, its late founder, would be proud — for it is proof that the corporate culture he created so many years ago is alive, it is well and it is flourishing.
“Our firm has grown primarily because of the people in it,” he said in 1990 of the company that once again has been named one of Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures ( Mid- Market category). “We value most highly the quality of our work, the service to our clients, our reputation and our contribution to the actuarial profession.”
As an actuarial firm, says Jill Wagman, managing principal, it is Eckler’s job to help organizations identify and manage future risks — and to approach their business decisions with a greater degree of certainty than they might have i ndependent of our advice. It’s a little bit crystal ball. And a whole lot of sophisticated mathematics and modelling.
The firm basically serves two key markets. The employee benefits ( EB) side of the business provides consulting services primarily to the sponsors of pension and benefits plans, while the financial services ( FS) team consults primarily to insurance companies and other financial institutions.
“The common link is talent,” Wagman says. “Our continued success as a vibrant enterprise depends entirely on our ability to attract, motivate and retain exceptional people from an incredibly small and competitive talent pool.”
In a corporate cultural submission, an Eckler team responsible for producing the document wrote that “fit is everything. As a professional services firm, we don’t sell widgets or other leverage- able commodities. We sell intellectual solutions, provided by highly qualified (and, as such, scarce) talent, within an increasingly competitive business environment.”
Fyffe is an example of that, having joined Eckler 23 years ago as an administrative assistant. She now has her Fellow, Life Management Institute designation — Eckler gave her study time during working hours — and has upgraded her skills by taking an assortment of other training courses over the years.
“After about a year, having learned more about the company and understanding their culture, I thought, wow, I would like to stay here,” says Fyffe. “I saw room for growth and saw the potential to succeed. You could feel the energy at every level.
“Part of Eckler’s culture is having trust in its people. So I never felt mico-managed and I am being empowered to do my very best.”
Gajdemski concurs. An honours graduate of West- ern University’s business program, she j oined the company in 2012 and was hired in an actuarial position despite having not written a single actuarial exam. What she did have, though, was a love for the profession, excel- lent mathematics abilities and the right personality and skill set.
She has since completed seven actuarial exams, averaging two a year, thanks in part to the study time she receives while on the job. “It has been complementary to the work I do here at Eck- ler,” Gajdemski says. “What you do at work helps you be better prepared f or t he exams you are doing, and vice-versa.
“They really let you take as much initiative as you want and they do not hold you back. You are allowed to take on as much responsibility as you want and are able to handle. You get exposed to so much when you first come in. Everyone comes to the office happy to be here and liking what they are doing. You see that everywhere, including from the people in positions you are aspiring to get to. That makes me very excited for the future.”
Equally excited for the future is Wagman, who has carried on the organization’s age-old tradition of “empowering our employees with fairly significant decisionmaking authority at a fairly early stage.
“They have to earn it but given our private ownership, we are not encumbered with a lot of the red tape and hoops some of our competitors have to go through to satisfy their external investors or shareholders or auditors. We are able to keep our policies down to a minimum and work on a principle- based approach and a values-based approach as opposed to a rules-based approach.
“There are lots of good mathematicians out there. I will tell you what we don’t look for — people who are very focused on themselves and are driven by promotion, personal achievement and climbing the corporate ladder. They just don’t fit with us.
“We end up attracting individuals who are fairly selfassured and who don’t need the titles and the check boxes to feel good about themselves. They are more comfortable and more effective in a coll aborative environment, where they contribute their strengths but also draw from others.”
PART OF ECKLER’S CULTURE IS HAVING TRUST IN I TS PEOPLE. SO I
NEVER FELT MICRO- MANAGED THE COMMON LINK IS TALENT. OUR CONTINUED SUCCESS AS A VIBRANT ENTERPRISE DEPENDS ENTIRELY ON OUR ABILITY TO ATTRACT, MOTIVATE AND RETAIN EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE FROM AN INCREDIBLY SMALL AND COMPETITIVE TALENT POOL .... WE END UP ATTRACTING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE FAIRLY SELF-ASSURED AND WHO DON’T NEED THE TITLES AND CHECK BOXES TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES — JILL WAGMAN, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, ECKLER LTD