Risk WATCH with Alberta Quarcoopome: The Chartered Institute Of Bankers & Access Bank’s collaboration 

– my fond memories  

“Wisdom…. comes not from age, but from education and learning” Anton Chekhov 

The Impact Makers- The Northern Zone

Risk is found everywhere in life, in the office, market, home, church, etc. This week the Risk Watch looks at my journey of training bank staff about customer experience and creating the awareness that great customer service delivery creates a positive experience for the customers.

Your customer service team is a direct connection between your customers and your company. Implementing essential customer service can improve your relationships with customers and improve your business.

Essential customer service is also what keeps your customers coming back to your company over time. A well-trained customer service team can reflect a positive company image, as well as help you attract and retain customers. The most critical for me is, delivering great customer service also reduces complaints as well as losses.

There has been a strong relationship between The Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana, and Access Bank, Ghana, in various forms which include training in Customer Experience Excellence. Last week ended my final journey on the bank-wide training program as the lead facilitator. The main goal is to enhance delivery of great customer experience by the staff of Access Bank to their customers.

I don’t usually do this but I can’t help but tell the world of the sense of mutual fulfilment on the part of the facilitators as well as the participants of our last session at Tamale, for the staff of the Northern zone. 

Overcoming The Obstacles

This experience with the Northern zone participants was like reaching the top of a mountain! The attitude of the staff alone was worth the travel. Although I was not in my best health condition, I decided to travel despite the warning from my son not to. I told him that participants have been booked to travel from branches to converge at Tamale, so being assured of the protection from my God, I will make it.

The flight from Accra delayed for 2 long hours, but passengers were quietly bribed with drink and biscuits not to complain. That’s another story.. Hmm. Finally, the announcement came for us to board the plane. I nearly got mad with the ground hostess standing at the bottom of the staircase checking boarding passes.

She had a deep frown on her beautiful face and made no eye contact with passengers as she checked our passes.. As if we were doing her a favour! Suddenly my trainer instincts came to play. I asked her why she had squeezed her face at us even though we had been the victims of a two-hour delay.

She quickly changed her countenance and flashed me a really beautiful smile. I told her that she is beautiful and charming and should always keep looking pleasant. I asked if she had ever been on an international flight and she said no. I touched her cheeks and told her to keep up her smile when attending to passengers. Later on, I asked myself why I did that. Was it my business? Well, it was not my business, but service delivery should be of a global concern and should be everybody’s business. Customers rights are important because without customers, there will be no business.

Attitude is Key 

Back to business with Access Bank. The official driver at Tamale welcomed me and exhibited much professionalism in his driving and relationship skills on the way to the hotel. This was a good start. The following day, I was picked up from the hotel by the Operations Manager of Tamale Access Bank,..another pleasant and serviceable guy. I had been to Tamale for trainings before, but these guys were genuinely nice.

One notable thing we observed about the northern group was their great attitude towards the whole program.

Teamwork always Wins

Their group name, THE IMPACT MAKERS. followed by their slogan….BREAKING BOUNDARIES, showed in all aspects of their interaction with us. Even more awesome was how they put in so much love and teamwork during their mini group syndication and presentations. Teamwork was at play as the 3 groups battled it out during the presentation times…Healthy competition indeed.

Tellers, Branch managers. Operations Managers, Marketers all gelled together to discuss issues, challenges and made practical recommendations to enhance their customer experience journeys for their clients. Even the live mystery call that I made to their contact center in Accra, at 3pm on the Saturday was successful,as the lady handled my imaginary tantrums with patience and tolerance.

They held their breadth as I dialled the number of their head office hotline and gave some heat to the contact staff lady. She was eventually told that it was a mystery call, followed by loud clapping for her by her colleagues at Tamale. I put her through a 5 minute ordeal with my complaint about my captured card at one of their stand-alone ATMS. . ..very funny. She got a deserving applause. Although the program was just for a day, they appreciated their management for giving them the practical exposure. I will always have fond memories of the Tamale session.

Further down south in Accra, the twenty other groups also gave themselves great group names and slogans to create bonding and ownership of the training sessions. I always believe that participants should not feel that training is a waste of their time. It should be fun and interactive and the learning should leave lasting impressions for them to remember the objectives and skills learnt. Videos, group syndications and role plays always formed more than forty percent of the sessions.

My most memorable moments were the aerobic sessions which included spelling Access Bank with their waists!!! Some turned the aerobic breaks into dancing sessions. For once they learnt new things in a different way. At the end of each session, the groups made pledges to guide themselves in their dealings with customers in the post training periods. Welldone, Access Bank for investing in your people.

Training as a Risk Management Tool

Training bank staff offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance both the performance of individual employees and the overall efficiency of the bank. Training enhances risk management in several ways and reduces losses to the bank. Here are some key advantages:

1. Enhanced service delivery:  Well-trained staff can provide better, more knowledgeable service to customers, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty. The knowledge acquired makes them better able to address customer needs and resolve issues effectively.
2. Enhanced Efficiency: Training helps employees understand and use the bank’s systems and processes more efficiently. They are less prone to errors, work faster and more efficient.
3. Regular awareness of Regulatory Compliance: The banking industry is highly regulated. Training ensures that staff are up-to-date on the latest regulations, compliance requirements, and risk management practices, helping to avoid legal issues and penalties.
4. Increased Productivity: Employees who receive proper training are generally more competent and confident in their roles, leading to increased productivity and better performance.
5. Reduced Staff exits: Investing in training demonstrates that the bank values its employees, which can enhance job satisfaction and loyalty, thereby reducing turnover and associated costs.
6. Better management of the risk environment: Training in areas such as fraud detection and cybersecurity helps staff identify and mitigate risks, protecting the bank’s assets and its customers’ information. Sharing lessons learnt is a good preventive method.
7. Skill Development: Ongoing training helps employees develop new skills and advance their careers, which can be motivating and encourage professional growth.
8. Uniformity of service: Training ensures that all employees work uniformly using the procedures so that service to customers are seamless across the outlets. Sometimes they leave for other places, but most of all, they leave a good legacy
9. Adaptability to Change: The banking sector often undergoes changes in technology, regulations, and market conditions. Regular training helps staff adapt to these changes more smoothly.
10. Enhanced Sales and Marketing: Well-trained staff can better understand and promote bank products and services, leading to increased sales and improved customer acquisition and retention.

Overall, investing in the training of bank staff is crucial for maintaining high service standards, ensuring compliance, and fostering a positive work environment. I hope that employees appreciate their management who invest in training them. I will leave you with this quote:

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay”….Henry  Ford

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alberta Quarcoopome is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, and CEO of ALKAN Business Consult Ltd. She is the Author of two books: “The 21^st Century Bank Teller: A Strategic Partner” and “My Front Desk Experience: A Young Banker’s Story”. She uses her experience and practical case studies, training young bankers in operational risk management, sales, customer service, banking operations and fraud.

CONTACT

Website www.alkanbiz.com

Email:alberta@alkanbiz.com  or [email protected]

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