Products & Solutions

Interview with TD Bank’s Roger Johnson

Roger Johnson joined TD Bank, which is one of the largest banks in North America, in October 2008 as Head of Enterprise Real Estate.

The TD Bank property portfolio is comprised of more than 2,500 locations with a total footprint of more than 20 million square feet, but will be expanded following its acquisition of Southern Financial Group. Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions (GWS) processes approximately 215,000 work orders annually and its operations center receives 175,000 calls every year.

Roger Johnson

The agreement with GWS began in April 2009 and has recently been extended. GWS provides facilities management, project management and occupancy management services to the bank, which has more than 6.5 million customers. Roger took time to share his thoughts on the evolving relationship with GWS.

If you could travel back in time to the start of the agreement with GWS, what would you tell yourself?
I would say that for internal reasons we rushed the transition from the previous service provider to GWS, which caused some pain at the start of the contract. So the most important single lesson would have been to have spent more time on the initial transition. The other thing I would tell myself would be to refresh the leadership on the account, which was a critical step for us. The people who got the account ‘up and running’ had to really fight to get things done. However, once things are established you need people that can develop the long-term relationships needed to run the account smoothly. Both roles are essential and require different skill sets. I would advise to refresh the account team after the first year - we did, and are now seeing the benefits right across the account.

What would you do differently / the same?
I think that the process we used in selecting BLJC / JCI was very effective – we got the best value and the best outcome that we could. The fact that we renewed shows that we got the process right. We have robust processes and governance in place. There was no need for us to go out to tender, but rather to work together to improve and refine what we already had in place.

How has the relationship between TD Bank and GWS evolved?
As a Canadian company, I would say that when we started the contract we didn’t fully know the extent of what JCI / GWS could bring to us as we were focused on BLJC. During our first year in the contract we spent a day and a half in Milwaukee and were blown away by what the wider Johnson Controls business could bring to the table. As we have expanded our relationship with GWS, we have come to learn the tremendous amount of innovation they are capable of providing, especially in the areas of energy and sustainability. Seeing the things that GWS could do for us, was a real turning point – we knew that we were getting real value from the outsourcing relationship. That time in Milwaukee changed the focus of the relationship.

How has this helped TD Bank?
Working with GWS has given us a completely different view of what we can achieve through the relationship with regard to the environment and engineering. That’s one of the benefits of working with such a diverse organization. Johnson Controls are currently working with us on an environmental project at our facility at Mount Laurel in New Jersey. Working with GWS has opened up new possibilities that we simply didn’t know existed. These possibilities were the real ‘game changer’ for us.

With respect to the recently signed contract renewal, what were some of the key outcomes TD Bank was looking for from GWS in the renewal term?
The first was around the information that we received. Measurement is absolutely central to the success of any account. I am fond of the saying: “There’s a lot of data, but not much information”. We wanted to know more about trends that would help us to identify opportunities. So we wanted to improve the information that we received, particularly with regard to project management. We also wanted more ideas and for that we need people to see the account from a holistic perspective.

What are some new areas that you can envision GWS helping TD Bank with as we move forward in our relationship?
There are two principal areas that I see GWS helping us moving forward in the relationship. The first is the environment, where I believe that GWS can be a huge help to us to develop a platform for us to further improve our sustainability. The second area is the workplace. We are currently working with Global WorkPlace Innovation Director, Dr. Marie Puybaraud, who is helping us to evaluate the types of collaborative technologies and working practices that we need to implement in the future. Dr. Marie Puybaraud is one of the most interesting people I’ve met. I have been very impressed with GWS at every level dealing with our account. I’ve met [GWS Vice President and General Manager] Guy Holden in Toronto and he’s not only listened to what we have to say, but really takes an interest in helping us to improve things. It’s the same with [GWS Vice President and General Manager EMEA and Global Financial Markets] Steve Quick. This motivation to constantly improve goes a long way and certainly factored into our decision to renew with GWS.

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