Reference no: EM133043278

The Contradiction of Business

First State Financial Services was the third largest banking institution in the state. It maintained an extensive branch and AT M network to service its diverse retail customer base. Even with First State's size, though, the business success of the bank was extremely dependent upon the trends in the local economy. Two years of recession meant two years of poor loans, and First State fell into deep trouble. To limit and reduce overhead expenses, there were some extensive layoffs. A new executive management expected rapid, better results with fewer resources. Everyone at First State feared being fired even though the Bank was inching back to improved profitability. There was still the pressure to "per- form-or else." 

Lucy Winters managed the six-person Spring Hill Branch for First State. Spring Hill, fully equipped with an ATM and a freshly redesigned lobby, stood in the parking lot of a new suburban mall. The mall, anchored by a store from the largest grocery chain in the area, included about twenty different small retail stores. In addition, a major hospital was located just down the street, and a large manufacturing plant (with about 3,000 employees) was situated in a convenient, nearby industrial park. Many of the branch's customers worked at those locations.

Lucy was promoted to her current job about 18 months ago. She had been serving as an Assistant Manager at another branch in the region until that time. During the past year and a half, Lucy had learned her job as a manager well. She enjoyed her work and did an effective job. 

"I used to enjoy it, in any case," she thought to herself. She was sitting at her desk, 6 p.m., looking at the night closing in. "I just wish I could leave here once before 5:30. These layoffs really hurt, the pressure is too great and no one really cares whether I'm here or not." Lucy knew she was in a bad-no, de- pressed-mood. 

The layoffs she was thinking about had taken place six months ago, but their full impact was only now being felt. Lucy's Spring Hill Branch was a busy one; previously, there were nine positions authorized for it. Now, there were only six: two New Accounts positions (including Lucy's) and four tellers. One teller could alternate between the teller line and back-office duties. 

The problem was that there were too many customers. Lucy smiled at the contradiction. "Here the bank wants more customers, and we can't service the ones we already have." On almost any day at almost any time, there were three or four customers in line. It did not seem to matter that most of them simply wanted to cash a check or make a deposit: By the time they got to the teller, they were curt or rude, demanding, and sometimes hostile and aggressive. 

Lucy clearly remembered an incident that had occurred just two days ago. A customer had been waiting for about 20 minutes to pay a utility bill. When he finally reached the window, he started berating the tellers for being so slow, and condemning the bank for being so inept. By the time he finished, the teller was in tears. Lucy remembered talking to her after he left. The teller said: "We work so hard, and no one seems to appreciate what we do. I just can't work like this." 

Lucy started to hear a lot more complaints-from everybody, it seemed. Customers complained about poor service, the tellers were complaining about the pressure, and "downtown" was starting to complain about the large number of mistakes, errors, and shortages being made at the branch. 

Tomorrow, Lucy had to hold one of her monthly "sales meetings" with the staff. These meetings were required by "downtown." Lucy dreaded them be- cause they always seemed to drag on and on and nothing ever got accomplished. Lucy was supposed to talk about a product for 15 to 20 minutes or so, and she could envision everyone else sitting there, fidgeting in their seats or looking at the floor. There would be no questions, but there would be occasional com- plaints about how "we need more help" or "the customers yelling at us." 

Lucy was not looking forward to tomorrow's meeting and wondered if there were ways she could work on the real problems in the branch and produce real results from her meeting.