Page 7 - Savings Institute Bank & Trust Case Study

“You can’t have the introverted, operationally
oriented, control and process-governed

person at a bank anymore. They have to do a
lot more than simply guard the vault today.

Those who are facing the customer in the

Financial Solutions Center are a very different
animal.” —Jonathan Wood
EVP, Retail Banking

Recruiting and Training Universal Bankers
New technology, a completely different approach to customer interactions, and the universal
banker staffing model are three interdependent components that together form the most
customer-centric version of the retail banking experience. The recruiting and training process
for universal bankers is radically different from that of the traditional teller model.

We asked Jonathan Wood: Are financial institutions finding the right people for the role, or is
the hiring process more difficult than it used to be?

“Absolutely, it is more difficult now to find the right people,” says Wood. “The skills required to
be a fully functional universal banker are three times that of a traditional teller. They need to

know all about consumer lending, mortgage products, closing loans, and tellers generally are
not trained on these solutions. They also need outstanding customer relationship and service
skills, sales closing skills, and the knowledge of how to involve key business partners. These are
advanced skills that require time to master. It’s something that can take up to five years. The
hiring process has changed; it’s far more difficult to locate skilled individuals, and the pool of
available candidates has shrunk. We have to look at modern retail strategies in other industries
to identify “best in class” people.

“If we learn Verizon has laid off workers we’ll go after them, because we’ve had good
experiences with Verizon people who are experienced in selling bundled packages, which
translates into delivering more value to customers. Some modern retail stores like Apple are
configured in a similar way to our Financial Solutions Center. The staff roams the floor, and it
makes customers feel more welcome. This is the same behavior we desire in the universal
banker.