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
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I'm a Small Business Manager with ANZ. When I took 3 months long service leave due to stress, I had to arrange my own relief by having another SBM 300 km away come and do 2 days per week at my branch and handle my customers by phone, as well as do his own work.
When I go on annual leave, I have no relief at all. I live in a country town and therefore customers see me while I'm on leave and ask me work questions while I'm on leave.
The branch staff are great, but not qualified and don't have the time to handle my customers' business lending queries.
In the last 2 years, I recorded that I worked 8 weeks overtime just to service my customers. While I've received 2 bonuses over the last 3 years, this isn't what I want. I would rather have an assistant. I've been promised that part time assistant more than 3 times, but have to wait on them becoming available due to another manager changing his mind leaving ANZ and the assistant I'm getting constantly having to stay in their current job to train new assistants.
Work/life balance? Where?
Posted by
404976
at
17/04/2008 12:52:17 PM
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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
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I am a staff member of Nab Gippsland region and with the new restructure model being implemented most if not all of the branches are feeling the strain from understaffing and ridiculous work structures . If it isnt bad enough with releif staff being cut to J level and above extra workloads and duties are expected at all branches and are completely unfair and stress is at an all time high . It amazes me with the slogans they used in a national campaign "the best retail shopping experience ever " I prefer Myer !!! and "climb every mountain" what do they mean Everest every day ? Empowered passionate people they say they employ, turn out to be stressed strained individuals . Bring back what banking was not a drive thru which employees should be saying " would you like fries with that "
Posted by
1088425
at
30/04/2008 11:00:25 PM
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I am a staff member at Westpac Vic retail. We have been constantly short staffed for months. They say there is not enough staff to fill vacancies, we have just had a vacancy filled and that person resigned a couple of weeks later because the pressure was too much especially in relation to what we are paid. We are told there is no one to replace that staff member. Our workload is extreme, we are exhausted at the end of the day. We have long slow moving ques and are abused on a daily basis by customers. Our whole branch is at breaking point. I don't understand how management can get away with the extreme pressure staff are under at the moment. It is affecting our health. Targets are not adjusted, we are marked down if we dont perform. How is that fair?
Posted by
1058116
at
10/05/2008 2:58:51 PM
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I am from Bendigo Bank we currently are down to under half our usual staffing in our new department, we have staff having nightmares staff quitting there jobs due to the stress within the department and changes constantly being made to our jobs. We are sick of it when work affects people at home it is not on or fair.
To top it off they said they will be putting staff on in QLD no VIC due to there ability to train staff quicker. This makes us feel safe with our jobs in Vic. I did believe that I was working for a bank that cares I guess not.
Posted by
2803580
at
7/06/2008 9:06:59 AM
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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
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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
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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
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There is a NAB regional executive who has tried intimidation tactics on a staff member who signed a letter about staff shortages at a recent FSU branch audit. Then there was the nab branch short 4 or more staff members and staff pulled out of other branches which were then left short themselves to try and cover some of the gaps - where will it end. Of course targets still have to be met - or else - I don't see any work life balance and with the customer queues I don't see any customer satisfaction or any wonderful shopping experiences. Staffing is being reduced on the promise of all the wonderful time saving initiatives that are yet to come and there is the rumor of branches being closed for the Christmas New Year period - Do people not need to withdraw or deposit during this time - Somebody has lost the plot.
Posted by
221359
at
26/09/2008 9:15:54 PM
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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
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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
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