busy, busy, busy

This past week has been absolutely hectic, I haven't sat in my own office for more than an hour all week!

The week didn't get off to a great start, though by the end everything picked up. I've been filling in for the HR manager Eileen, as I specified before. She's been off all week so I've been dealing with all the hectic stuff that occurs when people don't show up for shifts, when two people show up for the same shift, and when people decide to quit. Eventful to say the least.

In the middle of the week I got a very interesting assignment from Tom, the FP Manager. Tom wanted me to look into why some areas of Canada are more profitable than others for RBC- specifically for financial planning. It was a really exciting assignment as it built upon all those marketing reports we've been doing for YEARS at school. Let me tell you, all those formatting rules really paid off as I felt this was the perfect time to prove to my boss what I am capable of doing- thanks to professors like Prof. Cossa and Prof. Malik!

Also, we've been preparing for the big golf tournament on Monday, so I've been running around getting supplies for all the raffles going on. For those who don't know me- I LOVE party planning, so this was exciting.

Another exciting development in my job this week was that our regional VP Vince Isber has decided to meet with me one on one every Tuesday to discuss as well as get my thoughts on the performance of the regional branches, and what I feel is being done or what can be done to fully optimize performance. I feel very honoured as well as nervous to say the least that Vince would like to hear my input on this- it's such a great way to apply all the knowledge I've acquired here so far!

My big lesson this week has been very encouraging to my development here. I'll be quite honest... (because I feel there is no shame in admitting my mistakes so that I and you guys can learn from them) that this week was the first time I actually made mistakes on the job... and let me tell you for such small mistakes I felt horrible. However, what I soon realized was that this is a learning experience and everyone here at RBC embraces that. As opposed to being scolded, I was encouraged. To drive this point home I'd like to share this thought. I was just in the lunch room talking to the new Branch Manager in training. As most people know, becoming a branch manager is a huge accomplishment and in many cases takes years to get to. This guy is 26. Yes only 6 years older than me, and RBC has decided to put their trust in him and let him have this opportunity to prove himself. This has really proved to me that RBC embraces a youthful and innovative outlook- and what better way for me to prove that I've got it takes than to not shy away from getting out there and learning from my experiences whether good or bad.