This article reveals the common challenges of working in a bank.
Working in a bank could be anyone’s dream as it is known that bankers are highly paid. Yes, we know that working in a bank can be a routine thing because of the repetitive tasks involved but the pay could be worth it. For someone who works in a bank, he or she must, of course, know his or her duty and hone the necessary skills needed to excel as a banker.
A bank is a place where the money is kept, customers go in and out to make financial transactions, make inquiries and so on. This shows that activities go on in banks day-in-day-out, from the entrance to the counter to working as a teller, accountant, bank manager, handling customer queries, balancing accounts, trying to meet monthly targets, and so on. So, there are definitely going to be challenges accompanied by these processes and routines going on in banks.
Some of these challenges are what I’ll be revealing to you in this article.
Explained below are the challenges of working in a bank:
1. Professional challenge
This includes stress on account of ongoing activities, various internal drives and government drives. Banking has become target-oriented and performance is linked with achievement irrespective of any constraints. It is a common belief in Bankers that they are understaffed thereby, resulting in excess workload — this is a serious challenge as it could affect the health of a banker due to stress.
Also, there is always a fear of account failure, fraud and so on. Staff coordination and leadership is another challenge among bankers.
Bank Managers for instance; they are responsible for the overall efficiency and profitability of the branch. Banks are structured in such a way that there is a head office where the institution’s top management operate from, and branches that are headed by branch managers. There are also various aspects of management within a branch, such as a relationship, operations and credit management. All managers must ensure that they fulfil the policies, targets and standards set by the head office. Bank managers encounter challenges in all the key result areas of their work.
There are a number of challenges in keeping a bank manager’s staff engaged. Therefore, the bank manager needs to find ways to keep morale and productivity up and to enhance the employees’ job satisfaction.
Also, the head office sets targets for every branch, and the manager faces a challenge in consistently meeting or surpassing these targets. One of the duties of a bank manager is to develop, implement and review the strategies of the branch in retaining existing business and winning new clientele to meet the specified targets. He/she then must determine how to use the human and capital resources available in order to reach the stated objective. For example, a bank manager might decide to expand business through a marketing campaign that he/she funds from the branch budget with the goal of drumming up enough business to meet growth targets established by the corporate or regional headquarters. Just to mention a few of the roles and challenges of a branch manager.
Another instance is that of a bank teller. Bank tellers are held to a high standard of professionalism. This includes ensuring she follows the dress code and treats bank customers in a professional manner. For instance, problems with management may occur if the teller fails to wear her skirt at the appropriate length or wears tennis shoes that do not meet the dress code. Also, you must be able to work well under the supervision and get along with co-workers.
The teller must act as a self-auditor to prevent loss. Fraudulent lotto winnings, counterfeit money, or checks and fake identifications are problems tellers often face. Additionally, banks often employ auditors either inside or outside of the company to check the tellers’ performance. If an auditor finds any discrepancies, which may include unsigned documents or checks, this may cause problems for the teller
Bank tellers are responsible for all deposits and withdrawals, by both cash and check, which come through their teller lines, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For each transaction, a cash-in or cash-out receipt is generated. At the end of the day, the teller must balance to the penny on the transactions. Most banks have a proofing department that double-checks the teller for errors. If the proofing department finds an error, a supervisor may reprimand the teller with a warning. Several errors over a short period of time may result in dismissal.
At times, working with the public may be difficult for bank tellers. Problems arise if the teller must explain the bank’s check-cashing policy and the customer does not agree with the policy.
Asking for identification from a customer who finds it offensive may also cause issues. Tellers face issues sometimes when a customer is asked to come inside to complete his transaction, such as for a large deposit or cashing a check. In some cases, a supervisor may need to smooth out difficult situations.
Other Challenges include:
2. Customer Service
Customer service is the most important factor in deciding whether a customer will stay with your bank or choose another bank over yours. If you fall short to meet service standards and customer satisfaction, they may forgo your services. Moreover, they may also tell their bad experiences to their family and friends. This obviously shows how vital it is to offer good customer service if you want to retain your customers. This could be a tough one as different customers have different attitudes.
3. Dealing with Rude Customers
Few clients or individuals who get held up quite a while on the queue before being attended to are irascible and demanding. Overdraft expenses are a specific purpose of conflict with clients.
They will frequently contend with the banker (teller) in order to convince him/her to reverse some particular amount of money as a result of overspending for a little penny. The teller sometimes disagrees to this, thereby, causing more disappointment for the clients.
Different clients can be worried if their cash isn’t credited to their account in time, or maybe for some other reasons which could be as a result of technical difficulties from the bank.
4. Bank Robbery
Robbery in banks isn’t new, it’s very common, and this is a challenge to workers in the bank. Bank robbers are real problems, and bankers must know how to handle the situation as best as possible. These robbers often make scenes, break-in and are dangerously armed. Bankers are definitely meant to comply with the robbers’ requests to avoid getting shot or killed in the process.
5. Computer Problems
Bank software can be advanced or amazingly obsolete. Every system can take numerous months or days to get familiar with. At the point when a computer issue occurs at work, the teller must know the right ways to go about it. IT ought to be called and on different occasions, the issue can be fixed by the teller also. Despite the solution, these issues can bring about a long delay that can be a bother to clients.
BOTTOM LINE
As long as banking remains, there’s definitely still going to be routines as people go in and out of it on a daily basis, bankers attend to them and of course, challenges follow as well.
Bankers face a lot of banking operations challenges and also individual/personal challenges. But as professionals, it’s expected they manage every challenge accordingly without letting it interrupt quality workflow. In order to be a successful banker, one needs to manage all these professional challenges.
Bankers are awesome!
