The philosopher Elbert Hubbard famously said: “One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men. No machine can do the work of
A cynic might point out that Hubbard lived in the late 1800s and the machines he referenced — steam engines and harvesting equipment — were not exactly the level of machines people compete with today, like artificial intelligence and supercomputers.
Yet, Hubbard’s statement still holds water more than a century later.
It’s long been predicted that technology will render most retail customer-service functions obsolete, and the banking industry is most likely to
Even during the rollout of ATMs decades ago, some folks were saying it would be the end of bank teller positions — a job that remains highly relevant and needed today.
In some ways,
Reductions in branch networks by some of the larger banks in the country have reduced the total number of tellers in the industry. Of course, that also reduced the number of branch managers, assistant managers, new account opening specialists, etc.
Still, the fact that branches with staffed teller windows (or kiosks) remain a fixture in the industry is evidence the predictions were also wrong. Of course, the teller job as historically defined has changed, evolving beyond just manually processing transactions.
Whether or not institutions use phrases like “universal bankers,” front-line positions in most banks have taken on expanded responsibilities, particularly in the coronavirus pandemic.
That said, those “basic transactions” are still what shape and define many customers’ relationships with their banks.
The total number of these physical transactions may be down. But the impact on customer relations that each of these individual transactions has, however, is greater than ever.
As banks across the industry plan post-pandemic operating models, those realities should factor in.
There are still millions of branch-based transactions happening throughout the industry each day. Whatever the future might hold, those transactions are the lifeblood of most institutions today. Branch customers’ first point of human contact should not be taken for granted.
I am often reminded of what a great branch manager once told me about her perspective on their day-to-day operations, pre-pandemic.
She said, “If I walk into the branch an hour after it opens or spend the afternoon somewhere else, most folks wouldn’t know it. If one of my tellers is out unexpectedly, everyone in the branch, including customers, feels it.”
The reduction of total headcount in many branches has made that dynamic even more relevant.
That branch manager obviously wasn't claiming that the teller role was more important than hers. But the level of competence and engagement found on a bank’s front line is also one of the more illuminating indicators of that bank’s leadership and culture.
You seldom find talented middle and senior management in an organization with poorly trained or disengaged front-line employees.
If a bank customer experiences an uninterested or incompetent employee on the frontline, whether in a branch or on the phone, the character and culture of the entire organization is questioned.
In an increasing technology driven industry, front-line employees (of whatever title) continue to be the human interface of banking organizations for a considerable portion of the customer base.
Pandemic-caused stress and the continued promotion of digital banking weigh heavily on many branch bankers, causing them to wonder if they will have roles in the future of their companies.
In a technology-driven industry, good people on the front line matter as much as ever. Bank leaders must strive to remind those employees that they do have important roles to play in the bank’s future, and that their work remains critical to their bank's success.
