Week 1: Organizational Culture at Wells Fargo

This week was my first week of my internship at Wells Fargo. I am an intern in the company’s Wealth and Investment Management Summer Internship Program. I am specifically based in the Philadelphia branch, but Wells Fargo made the decision to make all of their internship programs virtual for this summer. My position is the Wealth and Investment Management Financial Advisor position in the Wells Fargo Integrated Brokerage group. Although my internship is virtual, I have multiple opportunities to interact with other interns and employees at Wells Fargo. During my first multiple internship kick-off meetings, I was able to gain insight into how the company operates and the culture that those who work here tend to foster. 

In my first meeting with program managers from across the company as well as other interns in other lines of business, the program managers expressed the values and expectations that they expect from the interns. The first is embracing candor, where they want us to say what we mean in the moment and be direct but respectful to our colleagues and managers. Next, they focus on doing what is right, which entails setting high standards and taking initiative if we see a problem or something may not be right. Additionally, they emphasized being great at execution. This involves making decisions that benefit clients and shareholders and acting with precise urgency. The program managers also spoke to us about learning and growing throughout our time here, where we should stay curious and embrace challenges with enthusiasm. Everything is an opportunity to learn. Finally, they want us to focus on championing diversity, equity, and inclusion by making sure we solicit diverse ideas, build relationships with people different from ourselves, and contribute to a safe and inclusive environment. 

The ways in which I have noticed people interact and communicate are quite different with each person. I have observed interns interact quite formally with the program managers during our virtual meetings. I think that an additional cause for this increase in formality is because of the virtual nature of the internship. If the internship was in person, we would have more comfortable face-to-face interactions where we could have personal conversations. In addition, as I am only through the first week, while we are expected to be formal in talking to our leaders, when we start interacting with peers, it may become a little less formal. Further, I have a hiring manager who I report to and because I have had more interaction and communication with him, I am more comfortable in my communication with him. When communicating with employees, we use our company emails and these are quite formal. It is similar to interactions with professors at Richmond, but maybe a little more formal currently because I do not know my managers and colleagues as well as I have just begun the program.