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Understaffing – Fact or fiction?


FSU has been monitoring staffing levels in two retail banking networks in recent months. What has been revealed is that there is a chronic shortage of relief staff for both planned and unplanned absences, and that some branches are in crisis.

Has that been your experience? Are you able to take leave, confident in the knowledge that your absence is covered, and your colleagues aren’t suffering? Are you working paid or unpaid overtime to get all the work done? Can you get relief when you need it?

Tell us your story on our online forum below.


Your comments

I am from ANZ, and we have just been told that there will be no more use of external staff under ANY circumstances and also no overtime. So we can't call our own people in to cover a shortage, on their days off and pay them overtime. We can offer Time in Lieu, but how can we arrange the time off when there will be no one to cover that time?? The justification is we have to save on costs, as we blew our cost budjet last half. Management have said "It may impact staff engagement and customer satisfaction, but so be it for the time being". I feel they can't see the house for the trees! On one hand, we will have unhappy staff who will end up taking more time off which will lead to even more shortages, the you will have customers will walk out which will put pressure on sales targets and revenue. How do we make them see it is about balance, and we need to get this right and soon!

Posted by 75343 at 17/04/2008 10:54:42 AM
I work as Administration Assistant for CGU. Our job involves a variety of jobs daily - scanning documents, finalised filing, classifying and team rooms, & mail as little things monthly arranging morning teas, travel bookings and doing stationery order and archiving files to send to our storage. At present there's only two people doing the job of three people, and we are awaiting a new person to join the team. This person needs to undergo training before starting with us and this will last approx 3 weeks. We try to spread the work between ourselves to the best of our ability. Assigning team room takes time, not to mention interruptions during course of day. We seem to be sitting at computer most afternoons trying to get team rooms up to date. Everything else falls apart, and we get complaints and whinging about things not been done. We have been asked that one Admin person work on to 5pm (6 times over period of four weeks).

Posted by 450477 at 17/04/2008 7:14:39 PM
I see all too often staff in nab branches I visit are struggling to get through the day with insufficient staff, no relief or unskilled relief. Then you are expected to perform at 100% when you only have 70% of your staff on board!

The best fix to this is to get members together to say enough and to get colleagues who are not members to join us at the FSU to make our voices heard even louder. Silence is not an option.


Posted by 414487 at 25/09/2008 6:10:23 PM
I have read the comments on your forum page and it reflects whats happening in all banks across the board. I'm from ANZ and my concerns and comments reflect what others are saying. We have absenses all the time and there's never anyone to cover. When people are on leave we never have cover for them, we just have to cope. We are supposed to get time off in lieu when we do overtime, but that just compounds the understaffing, if you ask for the time off, there's noone to cover you and this just adds to the pressures on the other staff. Of course they dont want to pay you for the overtime as they have budgets to meet. Upper Management need to recognise that if the staff are under too much pressure and the workload is too great, staff 'burn out' then take sick days. Also unhappy staff arent as productive.

Posted by 911474 at 26/09/2008 12:01:57 AM
I work for the NAB. Staffing has been an issue for as long as I can remember and only seems to be getting worse. It has been part of our EBA in the past (ie can't reduce staff without reducing workload and so on) The bank always says that it is looking at the problem, but as far as I can see that is all they are doing. They always come up with new relief models that are supposed to fix the problem, but it never works. It is very disheartening for staff as there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. I know that we should put in overtime, but you get the third degree on why you are working overtime when your branch is not at 100% of its targets. (Hardly possible when you don't have the staff to meet those targets). As somebody pointed out...there seems to be too many highly paid chiefs and not enough indians. I honestly believe that this will never be sorted out and there is no such thing as NAB's work/life balance.

Posted by 391 at 26/09/2008 11:25:06 AM
After reading the comments of staff affected by this issue I want to add that as a fairly new starter to Westpac I have been amazed at the amount of resignations I have witnessed almost on a weekly basis. I am working with minimal staff (this is it)I am told and after an extremely busy day when asked if I have completed the many tasks expected of me besides keeping the customers happy, I am not even sure i visited the ladies room let alone took time out to complete tasks. As a result I often work overtime and hold up other staff who are assigned to assist me....While I am very happy in my position I definately have not received the time and training that was promised to me when i became a new team member and of course this is due to staffing issues. I hope all of the new starters are not scared off by the constant resignations and the absolute joy in these peoples steps while they are working there notice period !!!or who will be left.....It certainly makes one question the long term possibilities....

Posted by 2806086 at 28/09/2008 10:56:54 AM
I am a staff member at a CBA branch and have endless counts of short staff days. Everyday we are atleast 3 staff memeber down. We have been almost a year now with 3 permanent positions not filled and yet managment are constantly on our backs about reaching targets yet they dont see what staff shortages are doing to frontline staff, we are stressed and franky frustrated about how nothing is done about it from managment and area offices.
They constantly threaten us that we will not recieve our bonuses if we fail our Customer Service Experience Surveys, however they do not see that staff shortages is the reason.
We are constantly abused from customers about the long ques, but hey management dont get abused its the staff at the from, and yet they complain about failing the Customer services survery.


Posted by 2801783 at 26/11/2008 10:30:44 PM
There is no fiction about this. I have worked in the branch network for over 6 years and things have never been worse. In my area alone there is over 25 vacancies. If you add the amount of people on annual leave and sick leave to the number of vacancies it equals long queue, angry customers, stressed staff and unpaid overtime. The worse thing is when your down 3 tellers and managers will not even hire one casual staff member because they "don't have the budget".

Posted by 2802485 at 18/03/2010 7:39:37 PM
I have been working in NAB retail banking for 6 years and there are huge issues with staffing. There is never enought staff to complete the enormous amount of administrative duties and also reach our sales targets and we end up starting at 8am and finishing at 8pm, with no overtime, no recognition and no reward. The work/life balance only exists in the essance that "The balance is that work is your life".
The other huge issue is being able to deal with under-performers or staff with terrible behavioural issues. Too many people leaders will just keep sweeping these issues under the rug, because if you deal with it, it could be you that ends up out the door.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! WE NEED MORE CAPABLE STAFF! MORE MONEY! AND A RIGHT TO HAVE A LIFE!!! WE ARE NOT SLAVES


Posted by 1077951 at 13/07/2010 9:19:39 PM

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