It was an overall culture because this campaign that I was talking about was global. It wasn't just the Canadian branches of Scotiabank; it was all of them all over the world. They all had to go through this selling campaign every year in the spring. It was an incredibly stressful time. Every Monday morning, we'd start with a sales meeting to pump us up to sell stuff. Every day, the manager would tell us to send him south. He wanted to win that prize for his branch getting the most sales.
It didn't matter what you sold: investment products, credit products, accounts, anything. It became incredibly difficult, especially for somebody who.... I live in a small town. I know all these people. These people are all my friends and my neighbours and my family. They want you to ask your family to open new accounts. They want you to sell products to your family. It's incredibly demoralizing and embarrassing.