Six Situations a Head Teller Faces

What is a head teller to do when faced with tough stuff?  Check out these six situations and suggestions for addressing them:

 1.      I have a teller that continues to make mistakes – the same mistakes – on completing forms incorrectly.  I have told her and told her.  The customers love this teller and she is great at cross-selling but she is careless with her work. Tell her ihat accuracy is a must and that you want her to succeed.  Acknowledge to yourself that telling her isn't working!  Make copies of her mistakes and create mock exercises for her to complete.  Ask her to draft a flowchart on how to complete the form and, then you help her finalize it.  Not everyone learns the same way.  Help her learn by giving her drills and have her create her own visual aids.

2.      One of my new hires is really dropping the ball on grooming, especially hygiene. It's not an every day thing but once is too often.   I want this guy to succeed but how do I approach something like this that is so personal?   One of my colleagues told me to just let him go using the new hire 90-day probation excuse.  This is tough stuff for sure.  Explain to the employee that personal grooming is a must on the job and that includes fresh clothes and excellent hygiene.  Tell him you have noticed on more than one occasion that he had body odor and that his clothes are not always pressed and clean.  Just be factual, brief and give him an assignment – ask him to Google both topics and find tips and blogs about the subject and bring it to you for review in two days.  Easy to do?  No.  But do it.

3.     I see others gossip about and treat another teller very unkindly.  The teller they mistreat isn’t complaining or saying anything.  I asked her about it, she claims it doesn’t bother her. When you see it, say it.  Tell the others to stop gossiping.  If you see or hear them being unkind, talk to them in private, stick to the facts and tell them it is unacceptable.  Document the visit. 

4.     A teller that has been here the longest wears too much cologne.  I am brand new at supervising.  Google the topic, take the best advice you find and print it out.  On matters such as this it is helpful to have an outsider’s feedback to offer your employee.  Say this, “I wanted to find the best way to approach this with you and hear is what I found about people who wear too much cologne to work so here are so helpful suggestions."

5.      I was promoted two months ago and one of the tellers on my team had her heart set on the position I was awarded.  She won’t speak to me and stirs up the pot with the other tellers all the time.  Ask the employee if she would be willing to talk about her cold shoulder treatment with you.  You may have to ask more than once.  Try hard to talk ONLY talk to her about this not to others.  If it doesn’t change ask her how long she thinks it will last.   Ask her what she thinks will happen if she can't be kind and friendly with you.

6.      When I am not readily available my tellers naturally go to the branch manager for assistance and she tells them anytime they need her to come to her even if I am here.  This makes me look bad and I wish she wouldn’t do that, but she is my boss.  Ask her to please tell your team to always come to you if you are available.  Hang in there and ask her more than once.  Be respectful to her but go to her as soon as you are aware when it happens.   Consider asking her to join you for a teller huddle so that together you can reinforce the chain of command.  

You may find some of these suggestions "fix" the situation, some might just make it better and then some might not make any difference.  It is your job to address tough and sticky situations.  You can't fix them but it erodes respect and trust when you don't address what isn't working. 

Still learning,

Honey