Forewarning: A Banks Best Assets Are Trained Tellers

Tellers are the frontline representatives and the face of your Bank to anyone who walks through your institutions doors. These personnel are the first to meet customers, service their banking needs, and offer their suggestions on better products. Working directly with the customers, tellers are the key to building comfortable relationships that create and maintain a strong client base. Due to their role and position at Banks, tellers reign as the most important member of any banking institution.

However, in order to be effective as frontline personnel, tellers need to be motivated and capable of consistently exhibiting a positive can do attitude toward understanding and exceeding customer expectations. To achieve this goal, tellers need to have a clear understanding of your banks infrastructure, systems, internal procedures and new products.

Tellers also need to know how to keep a client, listen actively, complete a timely transaction, resolve problems, and look and act professionally at all times.

In order for tellers to be effective at sales and service, it is the responsibility of the bank to properly recruit, prepare, continuously improve, and compensate tellers. It is also important for supervisors to encourage tellers, just as we do in any other banking business area, and on any other banking level.

Untrained tellers can:
Frustrate customers
Make the bank vulnerable to regulatory compliance and legal exposure
Incorrectly complete transactions and short bank money and fees
Perform poorly, exhibit low morale and ruin a banks reputation

To avoid the negatives of untrained personnel, a banks basic teller training should include:
On the job training
Instructor-led classroom
Distance learning
Combination strategies

In addition, the full treatment would include:
Ongoing staff development
Frontline supervisory strategies

Choosing the basics of teller training delivery needs to reflect your banks culture, capability, and budget.

On the job training:
oPro:
Is inexpensive to administer. No need take trainers/trainees off of the job.
Does not require the investment of a training program and trainers to administer the program
Training is performed in a live environment within the branch that they will be asked to perform
Offers lead tellers an opportunity to train

o Con:
Creates an inconsistent training program
Less opportunity to learn beyond the tasks and events that they have experienced while they were training
Less time for why to do something, only how to do a task
Less means to measure participants retention of the trained concepts
Trainee error can result in a real customer problem
Decreased productivity of both teller that is being trained and the teller who is administering the training

Instructor-led classroom
oPro:
More consistent training program
Trained knowledge can be monitored through observation and testing
Training occurs in a controlled and safe setting where the customer will not see errors by the training participant
Responses to specific questions are available more readily

oCon:
Costs associated with a training program materials
Requires training staff and simulated environment to administer the training program
Training classes and training schedules apply and must mix with new hire tellers
You will need critical mass of a sufficient class size to conduct a training class
Teller training classes will need to be scheduled around other training programs that the department delivers
Teller participants must adhere to the learning schedule and pace of the class
Classroom environments are not real-world

Distance learning
oPro:
More consistent training program
Knowledge can be monitored through testing
Testing results can be monitored and reported quickly and accurately
Training to occur in a controlled and safe setting
Teller training is completely flexible to the teller hiring schedule
No need to reach a critical mass in size to conduct a training class.
Training classes can be as small as a class of one

oCon:
Cost associated with the investment of a training program
Requires the infrastructure to deliver the distance learning strategy
Pure distance learning limits practical hands on experiences of teller transactions
Less ability for participant to question and obtain enhanced learning of subjects

Blend learning strategy of OJT, Classroom, & Distance Learning:
oPro:
More consistent training program
Trained knowledge can be monitored through testing
Testing results can be monitored and reported quickly and accurately
Allows training to occur in a controlled and safe setting where the customer will not see errors by the training participant
Allows the training schedule to be completely flexible to the teller hiring schedule
Participant can obtain responses to specific questions
A portion of the training can be performed in a live environment within the branch that they will be asked to perform

oCon:
Costs connected to the investment of a training program
Requires the infrastructure to deliver the distance learning strategy
Requires the investment in a training staff and simulated environment to administer the training program
Critical mass problem of class size still exists, but is limited to only a portion of the training experience

Whichever basic teller training solution is chosen, a full-circle teller-training program needs to be:

Inclusive for all personnel
Motivational for the staff and management
Adaptable to your products, culture, and needs
Cost effective to administer
Delivered in a consistent, measurable, and engaging manner

Last but not least, there are several finishing factors that fix the outcome of well-rounded and successful teller training initiatives:

Whether you are a large or small banking institution, you need to underscore teller training by reinforcing its value across new hire training events, supervisory support and ongoing development. Without these final touches and consistent commentary, tellers will succumb to the stress of everyday situations that test their patience and skills and cause them to look elsewhere for entry-level pay. Be prepared by reviewing your banks approach to teller training - you are forewarned.