The Sales Archaeologist

I have in the past said some things regarding Banking and the Banking industry in general that have been a little caustic and since it has been a while....

I recently heard that a certain bank had laid off 1/2 of their district managers and about 1/3 of their branch managers. These all received a 3 - 6 month salary severance package and were told to move on. Those that were left have now been informed that they will be doing double duty - covering more branches in bigger districts or managing multiple branches. At first this looks reasonable because too many banks have been supporting too much bureaucracy for too long - but how was the decision made regarding who should be moved out and who should be kept?

Well if my inside source is correct then the next part of their process answers that question. The remaining 2/3 of the bank managers are going to be given larger goals and micro managed - company words - and the people that rise to the occasion will be kept and the others let go in wave two. Will this really identify your top performers? Will the better people really rise to the top? Sometimes - but many times that is not what happens. The better people decide to leave on their own, others adjust for a time but long term they really don't want to and some are jealous that they were not let go in wave one - at least then they would have received a severance package!

So here is my message to the Banking world and particularly this bank at this moment in time - running a profitable establishment requires an ability to sell and drive revenue and if leadership can't sell then how do they expect the people under them to sell? If you want to find some unnecessary headcount why look at the inexpensive front line and face to your customers - why not look at the fat overpaid corporate positions (what do they do again)? Stop looking at a spreadsheet or micro managing some "magic" number to improve your profits - if you don't have the right people that won't help.

The Banking world has been changing for a long time and the only people that haven't worked that out are the bankers. Now that they are in trouble I wonder if selling is still a dirty word. I wonder when they will start training their people and provide them with real selling skills. Will leadership learn how to coach and mentor through tough times or will they just keep speaking the same old tired talk?

A Chinese proverb says that "progress always involves change but change does not always mean progress". This is another example of banking doing the latter.