Retailers have learned the hard way that success and
profitability are dependent on staying one step ahead of the
competition and updated about details of business flow.
Claire Richardson, director of workforce optimisation solutions,
EMEA, for analytics software vendor
Verint Systems, tells RBI that European
banks have lessons to learn from retailers

 

Retail banks have much in common with their
chain store, supermarket and department store neighbours on the
high street, but they differ in many key respects. For instance,
the movement and management of stock in a bank is immeasurably
easier – the only physical stock banks need to control is their
cash and paperwork.

Conversely, the management of staff is
potentially more complex – though there might be fewer staff in a
branch bank than in a shop or supermarket, reaching revenue targets
relies on ensuring the right people with the right skills are
available in the right places at the right times. Approaches to
addressing that issue differ widely between different countries
worldwide, and the reasons for that are often deeply
entrenched.

European banks, for example, are often
descended from financial institutions established by royal or
government charter, and this legacy has tended to give rise to a
small number of very large banks.

The UK’s ‘big four’ are a prime example of
this, but similar situations exist in France, Italy, Portugal and
elsewhere. This can stifle competition and encourage a homogenous
market, with little incentive for customers to change their bank.
The opposite is the case, however, in America, where a larger
number of more locally-based banks have to work much harder to win
and retain their customers.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

In the aftermath of the credit crunch, and the
continuing crisis across Europe, the situation is changing quickly.
The enforced sales of entire banks (like Northern Rock to Virgin
Money) and parts of banks (such as Lloyds TSB) is encouraging new,
more consumer-focused specialists to break into the retail banking
market.

Additionally, consumer trust in banks has been
hit so hard that the main high street brands no longer hold the
value they once did, and genuine consumer loyalty is becoming a
thing of the past.

This has opened up an opportunity for fringe
players in the market, and the successful entry of America’s Metro,
and Sweden’s Handelsbanken in to the European market has shown that
there is a real appetite for a more customer–centric approach to
high-street banking.

There is every possibility that the European
retail banking market in 2030 could be as fragmented as the US is
today – with considerable knock-on impacts on customer retention
and loyalty.

With increasing competition, Europe retail
banks, must use every option at their disposal to retain customers
and remain profitable. Part of ensuring the success of such a
customer services focused industry is effective planning of staff
tasks to ensure the right staff with the right skills are on hand
when required.

This approach extends to staffing scheduling,
and many US retail banks already use workforce management software
throughout their branch networks to help improve
competitiveness. 

There are now numerous examples of
quantifiable Return On Investment (ROI for example, SunTrust Banks
– one of the US’s largest commercial banking organisations with
more than 1,600 branch locations – was able to demonstrate a 500%
ROI on their implementation of our branch workforce management
solution by workforce).

This high rate of return was achieved by
effectively allocating resources across the branch network,
introducing new staff scheduling practices and reinforcing sales
management and revenue-generating behaviours. 

Examples such as this demonstrate the
potential benefits of workforce management technology and programs
that retail banks in the UK and in much of Europe could certainly
benefit from. Here, it is still commonplace for staff rotas to be
worked out on a simple spreadsheet, and comparatively little
thought is given to the proper use of staff allocation to maximise
revenues.

That would be anathema to a successful
department store manager, for example, but the smaller numbers of
staff working at a branch bank do not diminish the importance of
proper scheduling – SunTrust, for example, was able to increase
sales per sales FTE (full-time equivalent) per day by over 200%,
through adopting a common branch operating model, which included a
strong focus on workforce management disciplines.

The salaries and training of branch banking
staff often exceed those of their retail counterparts, and banks
should look to gain the maximum return on that investment, by
ensuring that the differing skill-sets of their employees are
deployed in the most effective manner possible.

In the current climate, there is a genuine
imperative for established players to maximise the resources at
their disposal to defend their positions in the market. The genie
of increased competition is unlikely to return to its bottle, but
greater competition can be a driver of better business
practice. 

The current changes in the European retail
banking landscape should spur all banks to refocus their branch
operations on their customers, harnessing the right tools to ensure
they can maximise revenues, and boost loyalty.