Within Mack’s division, the picture is also mixed: Some employees complain of high stress and low morale after waves of policy changes, investigations and firings, sometimes for infractions that occurred years ago. Yet according to the bank, voluntary employee attrition fell in 2018 to the lowest level in six years.
Some in the industry have been hoping the board will find a woman outside the bank to become CEO, but that’s hardly guaranteed. While recruiters are widely believed to be considering women in their search, so far most candidate names to emerge publicly belong to men.
“Clearly there is still more to do to increase diversity at our most senior ranks,” said KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney, who in 2011 became the first woman to lead one of the country’s 20 largest independent banks. When jobs open up, it’s important to make sure that the most talented people -- women or men -- get opportunities to lead, she said.
For her part, Mack has indicated willingness to work with Wells Fargo’s next leader: “We’ve got a great opportunity to bring somebody in who can both accelerate the progress that we’ve made and bring something to the table,” she said at an investor conference last month. “We’ll be ready for whomever comes in.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.