Question

Discuss three more specific examples of what you believe this second bank’s HR department could have done to improve the representative performance.

Improving a Bank’s Customer Service

One bank installed special software that made it easier for its customer service representatives to handle customers’ inquiries. However, the bank did not otherwise change the service reps’ jobs or training in any way. Here, the new software system did help the service reps handle more calls. But otherwise, this bank saw no big performance gains.

Interestingly, a second bank installed the same software. But, seeking to capitalize on how the new software freed up customer reps’ time, this bank’s human resource team also upgraded the customer service representatives’ jobs. New training programs taught them how to sell more of the bank’s services, new job descriptions gave them more authority to make decisions, and new pay policies raised their wages.

Here, the new computer system did dramatically improve product sales and profitability, thanks to the newly trained and empowered customer service reps. Today’s employers need human resource practices like these that improve employee performance and company profitability.

Answer 1

Three more specific examples that would improve the representative’s performance of the Second bank, which its HR Department could have used:

1. While training them, the HR department could have trained them in such a manner that they are equipped with the required capacity to give the customers some financial advice. Most of the reps would not be holding enough financial knowledge and this would function as a major limitation for their functioning. So, if they are given enough knowledge regarding the same, they can win more customers as all the banks will not hold this kind of service where the rep’s would advise us about the correct loan which we should adopt for our need.

2. The HR department could have formed and kept a separate team or such facility which would help to respond to the calls which were missed during heavy traffic in the network during peak time. Here the rep’s can call such customers and address their problem which would again increase their loyalty and trust.

3. They can also arrange a new system of personalized answering where high end customers and the customers with high loyalty points are assigned with a single rep who keeps the record of all the services provided to him and the services or products availed by this same person. This would increase the loyalty of that particular customer even more and help the bank gain more such high end customers who believe and want such kind of personalized services.

Here the HR department will have to put more effort as it won’t be as easy as installing a system or software and would completely depend on how the HR department is able to induce the rep’s.