Frontline employees are asked to do it all. Teller line, process loans, membership, call center, selling, acting... and do it all at once. Way too much to know. Rules change almost daily and Frontline staff is not told.
There are a lot of people in management positions who for the most part keep making changes and adding responsibility to Frontline workers without an understanding of what that position requires. Real leaders can get in there with you and do what they expect you to do. Even Branch Managers and Branch Operation Managers (BOM) are lost. Member Advisors are required to fill in for these Managers occasionally but BOMs only know half of the job of a MA and the BM might only know the half.
There is a lot of focus on role playing make believe situations. This can be extremely uncomfortable and unproductive. The expectation is to hone in on robot skills so that you know what to say in order to sell the most products. If you just be yourself with your own style, they grade you and try to change you. I think the goal was to mimick a fancy hotel mixed with the sales of a cell phone store.
They spend lots of money shopping the Frontline employees. Secret shoppers pose as customers on the phones, at the interactive tellers and in branch. They score you which equates to your evaluation. You may be shopped by the same person more than once. They are looking for a robot like experience such as certain phrases and sequences.
There are lots of new people. They are nice people but with the vast amount of expectations for Frontline employees, it can be overwhelming. It is hard to find people with accurate answers.
Role expectations are unclear. Frontline employees are expected to fulfil the dreams of every other department which causes conflicts.
