Dear Sir,
In the previous edition of "Contact" a letter addressed to you from Mr J A Smith was published. Whilst there are several
points in his letter which will provoke discussion, I feel that his latter comments, particularly on holidays, make my blood pressure
rise to the point where it can only be released by my writing to you and giving Mr Smith some answers to the queries he puts.
A Holiday
Scheme, allowing for length of service, incidentally an EMINENTLY WORKABLE SCHEME, suited to the widespread nature of the Staff, was
rejected at an Extraordinary Meeting (!). Neither discussion nor amendments were allowed as the motion before the meeting was not
even entered in the minutes; the Staff Committee, who had been instructed by the Staff to work out this alternative scheme, were thus
prevented from approaching the Management to discover whether it is possible to alter the lamentable system which shows respect for
neither position nor service. The new scheme, the result of weeks of hard work by the special Sub-Committee set up to find a solution
was thrown out ungraciously by those who demanded it. Why? Apparently because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't
know (OR CAN'T UNDERSTAND), and this meeting was under the control of ---- guess who ---- Mr J A Smith!!! YOU WERE THERE!! YOU WERE
CHAIRMAN!!
Come, Come, Mr Smith -- I know that long service means advancing years, I know that advancing years lead to senile decay
-- but, surely, you are not THAT old!!
As to the remark that the old codgers are expected to work the hardest, I can only suggest that
if, as the Manager of a large-sized Branch you are unable to organise the work to suit your own requirements, the answer to that one
should be not hard to find. After all to quote a colleague of yours "A Manager is paid for what he knows, NOT what he does".
Thank
you, Mr Editor, from your regular contributor.
JACK
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Sir,
It is clear that a very strong feeling exists at the present time that, as a Bank, we must
endeavour to extend to our depositors some of the facilities enjoyed by customers of the Joint Stock Banks. Not only have cheque-book
facilities been discussed but the acceptance of Hire Purchase instalments has also been mentioned.
Before embarking on these new ventures,
however, it may be as well to ask whether we have either the quality or quantity of Staff to carry them out.
Experienced members of
the Staff are leaving in ever increasing numbers and for painfully obvious reasons, replacements are not easily forthcoming. Again,
the problem of the older members of the Staff - a little less able "to cope" than formerly - is one which will demand close attention
in the immediate future.
The following figures are worthy of attention:-
Deps. & W/drwls. Corpn. A/cts.
1935 £14,012,334 £855,423
1959 £68,198,661 £5,380,543
Transactions.
1935 1,993,516 402,704
1959 3,243,205 1,592,967
In addition, in 1959, a further 140,194 transactions involving nearly 2½ million pounds were dealt with for such items as
E.D.A., Certificates, Bonds, School Meals, etc. which were non-existent in 1935.
To summarise, in nearly 25 years transactions have
more than doubled and cash handled has increased five-fold, while it is true to say that the great increase in Salary Credits etc.
and general difference in the type of transactions has changed the picture completely from the comparative simplicity of pre-war days.
It
would be interesting to learn by how many the actual counter staff has increased during this period.
Future years may well disclose
the necessity for a marked reduction in the number of tasks we perform for other Corporation Departments, Nationalised Industries
and the National Savings Movement before we expand cautiously into the field of Banking proper which we must assuredly do if we are
to offer a competitive service.
To many on the Staff the knowledge and qualifications obtained over the years seem of small use in
dealing with thousands of Gas and Electric Bills etc. They may be our "bread and butter" - but a more indigestible diet would be hard
to imagine.
Yours etc.,
VOX ET PRAETEREA NIHIL
(no name supplied)
(The receipt of an anonymous letter is always distasteful. The
above letter is published only because the position has not previously been clarified and because I did appeal for help in the last
issue. In future no anonymous contribution will be published. I have no objection to the use of a pseudonym but your name MUST be
supplied to me. IT WILL GO NO FURTHER. Incidentally, a mistake was made in the figures quoted in the above letter, the correct figures
were obtained by one who shall remain anonymous BUT whose name I know!! - Ed.)
Sir,
The older I get the more like Alice do I become - not because I work in Wonderland, but because I find myself getting curiouser
and curiouser. To you, Sir, my thanks; you are the first person who had given any answer to my former queries and what a concise answer
it was - certainly if we had help most of our anxieties would go.
It is amazing how lackadaisical people are today. I have recently
spent some time in other Departments of the Corporation and also in shops in the City both big and small; the time one is kept waiting
- the lack of attention to detail - the air of "take it or leave it" - the attitude of "couldn't care less" leads me to state that
our customers have "never had it so good" and what we do for nothing is really quite a lot.
I wonder, Sir, if anyone has ever
fully realised the work involved in dealing with, say 100 M.E.B. Accounts under the free Standing Instruction Scheme - even at the
end with this wonderful indication system, each item listed on the Advice Sheet requires 9 figures to identify it. Just ponder for
a few minutes the links in the chain of actions necessary from the receipt of these accounts to posting them to the consumers - I'm
sure you will be amazed.
To pass on to another topic, I note from the last issue of "Contact" that one member retiring from the
Staff is to purchase a picture to remind her of happy years spent with the Bank. In the "Glory Hole" at my Branch there are pictures
of the Old Hams Hall Power Station, an old type Key Sign (how about this to decorate the Porch?) and other etceteras -- If you are
thinking of retiring these items are going cheap -- Any Offers?
I learn, without the use of spy planes, that officers with more
than twenty years' service in a major Department of the Corporation are no longer required to "sign on" the Attendance Sheet in their
Department. Is it yet "time" in our Department?
Yours etc.,
Jim the Penman.
_____________________________
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Q. Should
we cut out payment of Corporation accounts on Saturday mornings? Should we reduce tasks for Corporation Departments?
A. To quote from "Britain's First Municipal Bank" by the late J P Hilton, C.B.E.: "A Municipal Bank must be a Bank of service -
service to its depositors and service to the citizens as whole - it must make itself a convenience to the people. Its motto should
be 'Service - First, Last and All The Time'."
Q. Why should we take instructions
from another Corporation Department as to the acceptance of Standing Instructions during two months of the year?
A. In 1921 a proposal was made by the Water Department, (who were fully capable of collecting their own accounts) that the Bankshould be allowed to assist in the collection of these accounts, thus serving the two-fold purpose of releasing officers from the
Water Department Staff to take over duties in the Bank, and of persuading the citizens to use the Bank in order that they may
be tempted to become depositors. The Bank accepted this suggestion most gratefully. Should we now object to the comparatively
simple operation of holding Standing Orders for two months in the year?
Q. When
are we going to refuse to do something?
A. When the citizens of Birmingham no longer require
us to do it.
Q. What have we to publicise?
A. The tremendous success of the Bank to the extent that the Staff are now overworked and business continues to increase. Publicity
is given by every member of the Staff who deal with the public by the manner in which the service is performed. Compared to servicesgiven elsewhere WE can say "our customers never had it so good".
Q. Should officers
with more than 20 years' service be exempted from signing the Attendance Sheet?
A. The
signing of the Attendance Sheet serves the obvious purpose of recording the whereabouts of the Staff at any time; but it is also
a useful record which can prove when you were NOT at a particular Branch at a particular time!
This leaves the question
of "moving into the field of Banking proper".
Are we to assume that our future lies in cheque-books, short and long term loans,
discounts, overdrafts, stocks and shares, Bills of Exchange, issue of Traveller's cheques, passports, foreign exchange, negotiations
with the Inland Revenue Department, Banker's Orders, acting as Trustees, acting as Executors, and what about our personal loan scheme.
If this is to be our "bread and butter" we shall soon be able to tell the difference because the Joint Stock Banks will quickly cut
off our supplies. We are not here to duplicate a service that already exists but to provide a Municipal service.
_____________________________
The
important question is:-
WHAT SORT OF BANK DO YOU WANT TO BE?
If a commercial Bank on the lines outlined above, we shall be committing
commercial suicide.
If a Municipal Bank then we are committed to giving a service to our depositors AND TO THE CITIZENS OF BIRMINGHAM
AS A WHOLE. This means the mixture as before under the present inadequate regulations and fighting to get the benefits that are officially
conferred on every other Savings Bank.
The alternative must be a form of Trustee Savings Bank - guaranteed by the Corporation
with a Committee of Management of elected representatives of the citizens to act as Trustees. We should then be committed to perform
all our present duties (including the stamping of rates), but we should incorporate those extra duties that the Trustee Savings Banks
perform for their depositors --- or shall we talk of sealing-wax and cabbages and kings???????
Meanwhile let us not think of cutting
down our tasks, of closing the door to business, let us rather open the front door to more business AND THE BACK DOOR TO MORE STAFF.
A
final quotation from "Britain's First Municipal Bank" - the last words in the book - "The great thing to be determined is whether
what is proposed will be for the good of the community or not; if it is then no opposition should be permitted to frustrate that benefit
being conferred".