1/ Get out in front of it.
Word will spread quickly if something like this is on the horizon.
Rumors will spread, and most of them won’t be accurate.
Don’t let that happen.
Get out in front and let all of your employees know well in advance that major changes are coming and that there will be major shifts in roles around the bank.
2/ Let employees know that their experience is valuable.
Just because an employee’s role is changing, doesn’t mean everything they were doing previously no longer matters.
Quite the contrary.
They likely know many areas that could be improved, but simply never had the time to do anything about it.
They have great insider knowledge on how your bank works and will be able to contribute in many ways, even if they are different than before.
Make sure everyone clearly knows this.
3/ Don’t be afraid to completely restructure.
With a major change like this, there’s a good chance that slight modifications to roles won’t really work…
You may need to upend every role and create and fill new ones.
This isn’t a bad thing as long as you are transparent about everything as you go.
Maintain clear lines of communication, and be sure to explain everything thoroughly.
For example:
Your job as a teller will no longer look like reconciling a cash drawer.
We are adding kiosks that will take care of this.
Now instead of 5 of you helping 1 customer at a time, we’ll have 5 kiosks managed by 1 of you, just like airlines now use at the airport.
The other 4 of you will be given new roles that make the most of the experience you already have.
A big change in roles doesn’t have to be scary.
You just have to be upfront and transparent about it.
Most people are better with change than you expect.
Especially if you give them time and space to prepare for it.
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Digging deep on banks is what I do.
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