50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

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Case 25

Problems Behind the Counter

Background Information

Bob Cramer, 36 and recently divorced, manages the Oak Street Branch for the

Second National Bank and Trust. The Oak Street Branch has six tellers and does an

average amount of business. Bob has been with Second National since he graduated

from college and joined the management training program there. Bob is well liked

and generally enjoys his job, although now, at the height of summer, he is carrying

out the difficult job of preparing a disciplinary warning for one of his staff members.

Eight months ago, in January, Bob hired a new teller by the name of Connie

Tremont. Connie was 23 years old and a graduate of a local high school. Connie

had experience working as a claims clerk with an insurance company prior to com-

ing to Second National. Bob spent about 15 minutes interviewing her, and although

he had a few reservations about her appearance and communication manner, he

desperately needed someone who could start soon, and she was available immedi-

ately. Bob decided to take a chance.

She started in Second Bank’s three-week teller training school the next Monday

and finished it successfully. On her first day at the Oak Street Branch, Bob gave her

his standard five-minute welcome, then turned her over to the head teller. The head

teller introduced her to the other tellers, helped her get set up, told her to ask if she

had any questions, and then went back to her job. Connie began serving customers

soon thereafter.

Like all new tellers, it took her a long time to get adjusted and settled in. During

these break-in periods, Bob would wonder whether the teller training was really

needed because it always seemed to him that the tellers forgot everything once they

walked in the door. Nonetheless, he noticed that in spite of these difficulties,

Connie picked up the essentials of her work and began performing at an acceptable

level relatively quickly.

Unfortunately, Bob was also finding that the initial concerns he had about Connie

during the interview process had been well founded. While she could complete the

technical aspects of her work acceptably, she had a major problem with presenting

herself to, and working favorably with, the bank’s customers. Bob wondered almost

daily when she would recognize this problem and do something about it, but she

seemed oblivious to the matter and simply would not change. After six months, Bob

knew that if she did not come around quickly, he would have no other choice but to

release her. Although he dreaded the thought of being short-staffed again, he

thought to himself, “I’ve been short-staffed so many times before that I should be

used to it.”

Connie’s major problem is really a result of several factors. One factor is her

physical appearance: she is pretty and slightly overweight, but pleasingly so, but

she is obviously inattentive to grooming and personal hygiene—and Bob does not

have any sympathy for poor, sloppy grooming. After seeing repeated examples of