Recessions are inevitable, and some economists believe we may face another one fairly soon. Oddly, the very behavior that could help an organization maintain stability, and quite possibly thrive during an economic downturn, is the one that is often the first to be abandoned when times get tough — collaboration. A study, highlighted in The Harvard Business Review (HBR), revealed interesting but unsurprising results that in poor economic times, employees will collaborate less. It may just be the old lizard brain and self-preservation kicking in — a case of Fight and Flight where one, fearing job loss, will fight to look important and therefore flee from more collaborative activities that dilute their personal influence or improve another’s. It makes evolutionary sense but not good business sense.

The recommendation by the author is that managers, following cues of economic downturns, “should actively manage the psychology and behavior of their workforce to avoid an erosion of cohesion and productive work behaviors in the organization,” is in my opinion a typical, reactive, and doomed approach, one where leadership turns on initiatives only when it serves them best and then it’s back to status quo. This manager approach is symptomatic of a larger disease best described by author and business guru Henry Mintzberg in “Rebuilding Companies as Communities” (2009). 

“Decades of short-term management, in the United States especially, have inflated the importance of CEOs and reduced others in the corporation to fungible commodities — human resources to be ‘downsized’ at the drop of a share price.”

Efforts to improve employee engagement today typically fall way short not only because they are seen as superficial, but also because the issue of engagement is beyond just the organization or industry they are in; trust is damaged at a macro level today. Workers now carry this baggage from job to job. Many are either jaded through past experiences or if younger, have learned not to trust through friends and family member professional experiences. 

A sea change is needed if companies are going to weather future economic storms and maintain high levels of cooperation and collaboration. Organizations must start today to create a different and more permanent mindset that prevails in good times and bad. As Mintzberg says: “ … The organization has to shed much of its individualist behavior and many of its short-term measures in favor of practices that promote trust, engagement, and spontaneous collaboration aimed at sustainability.”

So how is this done? 

For starters, a new collective history needs to develop, one where in times of recession, layoffs are avoided at the cost of short-term gains and where executives forego exuberant salary increases. A reputation of all for one takes time and likely more than one dip in the business cycle to develop. Next, and most importantly, the role of middle management needs to be reframed. Those in middle management are the cornerstone for community building as they are often the only real leadership touchpoint for workers. It’s here too that Mintzberg says the remnants of community often still exist. This level of leadership typically rose through the ranks and has plenty of connection to the past and passion for the business. They are also not so close to the work that they miss the big picture and not so far away that they can’t see how work gets done. Middle managers are a key artery in reviving community in organizations, but not in a reactionary way as noted in the HBR article, but more continually as an ongoing steady drip into the culture vein. 

It’s at this level, the middle, where leadership must put the most focus in order to form new partnerships in the company if a better organization is to emerge; one that recognizes the importance of community over individuality to weather the change that inevitably comes to all companies.    

Mark Britz is a workforce-performance strategist who has launched ThruWork (ThruWork.com), a talent-development consultancy for small to mid-sized businesses. The company specializes in solving organizational performance problems and focuses on non-training approaches to scale employee performance. Contact Britz at (315) 552-0538 or email: mark@thruwork.com        

The development of the universal banker model has been one of the biggest recent shifts in the retail banking industry.

As banking has become increasingly automated during the last few decades, the average client visit to the branch has become more complex than a simple teller transaction. Gone are the days of long teller lines at the bank on paydays. Direct deposit, automatic loan payments, ATMs, and Internet banking have greatly reduced the more basic transactions from our day-to-day branch customer traffic. Some clients still need basic teller transactions, but the typical client who steps into a brick-and-mortar branch has more in-depth needs that are beyond the scope of an app. Client-facing digital tools have raised the bar considerably for prompt service: if it’s possible to handle most day-to-day banking business from a smartphone, why wait in line at the teller window?

In response to this, the specialized roles that typically defined bank employees are becoming less relevant. Clients look to bank employees as experts. They might not always understand the difference between a traditional teller and a personal banker. The universal banker model is designed to meet that level of expectation, empowering bank employees to confidently perform a wider range of services.

The role of the universal banker is a hybrid of several functions — a branch employee who can run a teller window, open personal and business accounts, and provide cash-management services to commercial clients, while also performing general customer assistance. Universal bankers train to become lenders for personal loans and home equity loans. These versatile bankers also look out for any financial-planning needs their clients may have, and make recommendations to the appropriate wealth advisor on the branch team.

Any dramatic structural shift in the way a workplace operates involves challenges in transitioning away from a more traditional banking model. Team members who are accustomed to more defined specializations can sometimes feel as though their familiar roles are being threatened. Team buy-in is key. 

Many employees who work with customers have already begun to recognize the shifts in client expectations; with this in mind, the universal banker model can be presented as a dynamic response to a shifting business landscape — not eliminating roles, but redefining them.

With the right team and the right training, the universal banker model can be a very effective and proactive approach to the new requirements of retail banking.

Tompkins Trust Company has begun to adopt the universal banker model, and our experience has been very positive overall. With the needs of our average client moving toward in-depth service and away from basic cash transactions, we have recognized the need for branch staff to be able to handle a wide range of tasks. Our branch staff is now made up of several employees who can handle cash transactions, new accounts, loan requests, and more. As a result, the focus of our branch has become more service-related and less based on cash transactions. 

The training involved in the universal banker role has been particularly rewarding for our younger team members. Hired as entry-level tellers, these employees first master teller work and handling branch cash; they quickly become eager to learn new account work and the lending function. These new, young bankers aspire to become universal bankers. It is a challenge to learn the retail banking business, as client-service needs are wide-ranging and diverse, but in our experience, our trainee team members have enjoyed the challenge and celebrated their achievements as they work toward becoming universal bankers.

Today’s bank customers continue to enjoy all the modern technologies available for managing their finances. However, we’ve found that many of our customers still like having a branch office in their neighborhood, or at least within a reasonable driving distance. By and large, customers expect two things when they come into their local branch — personal service and dependable guidance. The universal banker model provides a framework for meeting and exceeding those expectations, while at the same time empowering our employees to be as versatile as possible.       

Matt Valaik is the VP and branch manager for the Triphammer branch of Tompkins Trust Company in Ithaca. Contact him at mvalaik@tompkinsfinancial.com