Tuula Jalasjaa on mentorship

Since 1997, Tuula Jalasjaa has worked with the Scotiabank Group in banking and investment. She is currently Managing Director and Head of Investment Management Distribution at Scotia Private Client Group. Scotiabank saw an increase in women in senior management (vice-president and above) from 18.9% in 2003 to 31% in 2006. The proportion is now 32.3%. Jalasjaa talks about how mentorship helps increase the number of women in senior positions.

Q. What can senior women do to help the younger generation?

A. Talk openly about your successes and challenges. Women need to be more visible in terms of sharing, whether it’s in a newspaper article, internal events, or formal or informal internal forums.

Q. What makes a good mentor?

A. You have to provide perspective and advice, but allow the mentee to make informed decisions. You have to guide rather than instruct, and you have to be candid and open to sharing your own experiences.

Q. What are some strategies that advisors can use to mentor better?

A. Doing it in groups. Often, I will get multiple calls in the same week from people who want to meet. If I’m getting a bunch of them, I suggest meeting as a group. Often, that makes a more comfortable mentorship environment because they’re learning from each other’s questions and responses, and you’re able to reach out to more people at the same time to maximize time spent mentoring.

Q. What strategies have you used to push a higher percentage of women in senior management?

A. One strategy is when we’re doing external and internal recruiting is making sure we have a diverse candidate pool from which we’re interviewing. So we’re very committed to making sure that there are female applicants to consider for our key roles.

Melissa Shin

Melissa is the editorial director of Advisor.ca and leads Newcom Media Inc.’s group of financial publications. She has been with the team since 2011 and been recognized by PMAC and CFA Society Toronto for her reporting. Reach her at mshin@newcom.ca. You may also call or text 416-847-8038 to provide a confidential tip.