Julien Cretté Waflard is First National’s Chief Transformation Officer. He heads our project management and transformation office with a mandate to identify, evaluate, prioritize and pursue opportunities that will support our future growth and drive our effectiveness as a mortgage market leader.
Julien, what did you know about First National before you joined?
I’ve worked in the industry in Canada for 10 years, first as an advisor at Bain & Company where my focus was financial services, particularly digital transformation, and then as Vice President of Retail Customer Value at Scotiabank where part of my mandate involved the mortgage business. That position gave me a 360-degree view of how a bank works from a customer experience perspective and the opportunity to note how different First National is from classical mortgage lenders. Before I interviewed with First National, I spent a lot of time studying public documents to understand the business model, performance factors and the corporate values that make us who we are.
Based on your resume, it sounds like First National is a perfect fit for you.
I agree! Beyond financial services, my experience includes four years at technology companies in three different capacities – Chief Operating Officer, Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Commercial Officer. Those roles gave me the ability to operate with broader responsibilities and accountabilities than what I had at the bank. The scale of operations was also different with 30,000 team members at the bank and between 200 and 600 people at the technology and fintech companies. First National offers the chance to build on all of those experiences in an organization with scale and strength that is still entrepreneurial with excellent agility and fast decision-making capabilities.
Beyond practical experience, tell us about your educational accomplishments.
I have a joint Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Imperial College London and Grenoble Institute of Technology in France. My major was math; I love logic and solving problems using math. While in London, I did a research project on energy storage and I liked it, mostly because of the economics side of the business case. That’s when I decided to complete a Master’s degree in Management, Strategy and Entrepreneurship offered jointly by the University of Mannheim and ESSEC Business School in France.
To succeed as an agent of change in a well-established business like First National, what’s most important?
As far as I’m concerned, it’s being in lockstep with the people you work with every day. It’s critical in my role to be on the same page and to share the same values and vision. We don’t have to agree on every point, but transformation doesn’t work unless everyone is ready to embrace change. Transforming is a team sport. When the team is willing to run on the field together, transformation will follow.
Tell us how you are getting on the same page with your colleagues at First National?
Right now, I’m in the thinking, planning and mobilizing phase. That means asking questions to understand both the big picture and the nuances in how we allocate capital and how we manage our life-blood capabilities in Residential, Commercial and Treasury operations. I want to understand how our leaders think about their business, why they think that way and their plans. Ultimately, it’s important for my colleagues to know that I care to observe, understand and appreciate their detailed perspectives. The beauty of this company is that we have so many people with decades of industry experience. That makes my job even more interesting and rewarding.
What have you observed so far about First National?
It has a great team with an entrepreneurial mindset despite its size, a terrific brand, amazing relationships with mortgage brokers and has grown very substantially over many years. It’s also operating in an industry ecosystem where competitors are transforming, and consumers are expecting more technology-driven service. That puts pressure on us to continue to innovate.
As Chief Transformation Officer, what are your objectives?
The primary objectives are to help paint the transformation vision for the next three to five years, define our approach to achieving that vision and deliver on identified priorities with velocity. This involves choosing the best, most dynamic and efficient operating model and organizational system for the next part of our journey. When I consider all of the customer-facing technology that we have, I’m asking the question: are we really where we need to be or can we do better? How can we best harness the power of AI and automation that will improve the quality and the service quality of what we do? Answering those questions, deciding how we can optimize ourselves for the next chapter and determining the best ways to improve our competitive stance are critically important.
What will success look like in the near term?
Success for me will be to truly understand what’s working and what needs to be improved, developing new ideas that will lead to tangible gains and then sizing and prioritizing the top 5 or 10 initiatives that we need to pursue. Implicit in this is to make sure we agree on those priorities, put the right resources behind each one and then push together as one team to make things happen. Because First National has an entrepreneurial mindset and the agility that goes along with it, we have an advantage when it comes to transformation. But here’s the important point: transformation is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. My goal is to develop a backlog of improvement opportunities that will take us forward for years to come and work in parallel to get us ready to systemically tackle those initiatives down the line.
You lead the Project Management and Transformation Office. Please describe its mandate.
We are here to strategize, size up opportunities, prioritize options for improvement, and bring people and resources together to achieve those priorities. Where our value lies is in having a very intimate understanding of every job within the company. To succeed in serving as a member of any transformation office, you have to be the second most knowledgeable person on a file – the most knowledgeable being the person actually performing the role. That expertise allows you to translate knowledge into relevant, informed action.
Transformation implies change. Will the First National of the future be recognizable to today’s First National’s customers and partners?
Yes and no. Yes, we will remain entrepreneurial, hungry and humble so our values and our core DNA will remain the same. This is the recipe that First National used to create the leadership positions we now enjoy in residential and multi-unit residential mortgage markets. But I think we will be way more technology enabled in the future to increase our competitive moat, and inside our company, we will change in that we will be more transparent and focused than ever in the strategic choices we make. For the team, it’s going to feel great because we will continue to foster a performance culture that celebrates achievements and milestones.
The idea of transformation can be scary. What’s your take?
Transforming takes agility and openness. My advice to my colleagues is to be part of the change by being open to testing, learning and trying new solutions. Not everything we try will work and that’s ok. I also think it’s important to realize that if you work here, you are more part of the solution that you might think because you know more about your job than anyone else. Embrace the work, tap into your entrepreneurial nature and stay curious and hungry.
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
I like being transparent. It’s probably due to my European heritage! I think people are generally ok with change if they know why it’s happening. I think it’s harder for people to change when they don’t understand why they should. I strive to bring people along by making sure there is no ambiguity and that everything is clear. Ambiguity is a big destroyer of culture. I’m also energetic and value humility as a personal quality. Anyone who has a better idea than me should feel free to speak up. I won’t be offended!
Final thoughts?
I like to work hard and play hard, and I know it feels good to win. That’s what we’re aiming to do.