Management Skills

Replace the words very private bank in point a) to very well established private bank

Dear Sir,

Well, Policies are meant to be broken…..isn’t??....:)

Without going in detail I would say u want win-win situation & only a Diplomatic solution can do that. In fact solution is there in the study itself I am only trying to justify the solution

Why Cashier should not be sacked –

1)     Since Local Press has already made him a Hero in the eyes of Public & if Bank sacks him then it can damage their reputation/goodwill.(Remember it’s a well established Bank)

2)     At the end of the day there was no harm caused to the Bank or to any customer because of the heroic act of cashier. (situation doesn’t warrant any negative action)

3)     Exceptions are everywhere as policies should not be applied in a rigid manner & to be applied according to the situation. I mean what’s the point of Brain then if policies are to be applied in such a manner then Robot’s would do everything.(common sense)

What Bank should be doing –

1)     Bank can advertise & take advantage that our employee endangered his life just to save the hard earned money of our customers. This might improve their goodwill.(Since the incident happened in a Tier II City where definitely Bank can explore possibility of more business)

2)     Bank should strengthen control like more security personnel and all so that these situations can be minimized if not eliminated.(real and true decision/outcome of the incident )

3)     Bank should make one thing clear in silent terms so that message reaches only across all branches & employees that there is a difference between showing “presence of mind” & “being heroic & end up doing stupidity” and that such an irresponsible act will not be tolerated in future & he is being ignored / excused this time just because of reasons stated above & if necessary just to send the strong message across, bank may impose a penalty in lieu of sacking the cashier within the four walls of the Bank only (although Bank should decide not to levy any such penalty in actual)

4)     I would say as a Manager one should keep 3 faces in this case one for the public as if they appreciate and encourage such an act by their employee, second is for other employees & branches to discourage such acts & third one is sympathetic one for that cashier (may be giving some compensation/reward to him without revealing to other employees)

I hope whatever I have written make some sense..:)

Amir it has been a real pleasure seeing you respond...

Now for my solution:

I too have thought of diplomatic solution but trust me we write policies and we actually hate it if they are broken...

In the given scenario, which I must admit is pretty well explained by you... I would advice the client the following:

a) Impart him training again on the policies of the bank with fresher, to make him understand that his heroics are unwarranted..

b) Transfer him to a back office job but with slight improvement in his designation if possible else monetary fervor..

c) Beyond it nothing..

Amir I think that imposing cash penalties on employees is not an option as it demoralizes the entire system (I agree there was no actual collection but an announcement for the rest of the employees but they are the ones who are demoralized first)

But Amir appreciate honestly your style of thinking..

Dear Nicky Sir,

Thank u for ur kind words......

I know I shouldnt be doing this but just want to express my views on reply -

a) Impart Training - 100% agrree - I would categorise this as "measure to strengthen the control" in my above answer.

b) Transfer - Though I dint think about this but still finding it logical..I mean I would say agree with this suggestion (but with a caution to keep goodwil/reputation of the Bank in mind)

c) Monetary favour - Agree - I have also said the same thing but my concern was not to do this in the knowledge of other employee.

c) Promotion - Sir I think in present case the organization wanted to send a different message to the employees & things like promotions and all cannot be done in vaccum - Employees will surely get to know about this promotion & thereby who knows someother employee end up showing his skiils in a situation like this. (Pls dont take in an offensive manner but I just feel with my little understanding it is not a good option & infact just becos of this reason I stated that management should make an announcement of fine/penalty but only within the Bank itself & should not be in public)

hi friends

this is really a gruelling sitution for the bank

it  makes me remember of a childhood story "" of a king and his sleeping knight"" where the helpless knight who was supposed to be a watchdog but he slept ,saw the dream about the death of his king in an accident,but before anything could happen,he SAVED the king.

king rewarded him but also FIRED him.

but this is not a king's story. we should find out a feasible solution

i think the bank policy is alright,the cashier is also right at his place,

i would suggest to make the cashier the head of security department.(dont laugh if it seems stupid,i have some rationale in making my point)

---there is much followed policy of job rotation in the bank

---the security departments are not so big in tier-ii city,that it would be impossible for him to handle

---the cashiers ,generally in tier ii city, are not so much educated,that the post of head of security  will embarrass him

---this will send a messge to other employees to follow the bank's policy

---the cashier will also be rewarded to a higher level (as he will be a head)

---this will make bank more popular among the customers also

---the cashier can be resorted to the earlier position after a year or so

and finally this will make him learn "what the policies are meant for?"

He will learn that cashier should follow the bank's policy as he has gone through a policy-making or policy-implementation process as a head of security department.

Dear Amir,

Like the way you interpret...

a) Agree

b) See Transfers are a norm of banking business

c) Pretty interesting but these payments information seek out even before u pay

d) I agree to an extent and probably would drop the idea of promotion.

Dear Abhishek,

A lovely answer and I like it but wouldn’t be suggesting the same as I have my own thought process of making a Cashier a security chief, I Understand you have pretty well explained but intuitively I don’t agree but 2 different opinions bridged together could bring a third opinion too..

But Still sounds an interesting solution

Hello Nicky Sir, this is what i would do:

a) Recognise the cashier's courage and give him a letter of appreciation, hinting to him that he has done something for the bank which was beyond his scope of duty. This he could use to boost his morale, slightly realise he was too enthusiastic, and adds to his carreer development (read resume) in the long run.

b) Yes, reward for saving the bank's cash and boosting its reputation for safety and alert, selfless staff in the locality. Make him star of the month.

c) Hold a meeting of staff as soon as (a) and (b) is over, in which mr. X is appreciated, but all staff are reminded of bank policy in such situations, and told not to put in risk any person or property, whether that of self or others'.

d) Circulate a memo that repeats practically the same thing, but emphasising that the bank cannot accept responsibilities for violation of such important policies in future. (Of course, you have to meet his not-so-grave medical expenses now)

e) Make all future employees doubly aware of bank's policies and non-acceptance of responsibilty for acts of valour which are not warranted by prudence.

In my opinion, there are two different aspects- 

1. The heroics of the cashier which made him a hero
2. Not following the company's policy

These 2 should be treated and dealt differently. Its not the question about only the cashier but its more about what message do we send to other employees. 

As such, the cashier should definitely be rewarded and motivated for his heroics and fighting the robbers, but at the same time, appropriate action should be taken to remind him and other employees that its not ok to break the rules. 

Dear GK,

Reminding other employees and rewarding the cashier would send confused signals to emplyees for sure... which without doubt is not validated...

(This is something I feel)

Dear NIkhil,

I agree to what you say, but the problem is what is the ideal solution

Nicky sir, i meant call all staff, including the cashier to the meeting....

Employees should be given an empowerment to deviate from policy, but only where it is indispensable....

And empowerment of employees is also in pre-defined situations only