Stress In Banking

It seems as if all areas of banking these days have over-stressed people.

The teller area (usually understaffed) is trying to cope with a volume of customers that the ATM was supposed to reduce...but didn't. And now the tellers get to take care of the machine too!
And the drive-in.
And the night deposit.
And the new compliance rules.
And loan payments and clubs.
And cross-sell.
And settle promptly.
All to be accomplished while smiling, if you please!

STRESS ON THE FRONT LINES
Platform area people and customer service representatives are not only expected to verify identification, handle customer's exceptions and problems, assist the managers, type up the loans, take care of the safe deposit area, answer the phones, and cross-sell while they're typing up CD's and selling travelers checks, but they are also expected to know who to call in Operations to get this answer RIGHT NOW! (They normally would get the answer off the computer, but they can't right now...the computer is down!)

...AND IN MANAGEMENT
Managers - whether in the branch system, the main institution, or in operations - know that with the promotion should have come a sign for their desk that reads, "The buck stops here....from both directions!" Mid-management gets dumped on by customers, employees and administration all at the same time. They are expected to uphold and enforce policies they had no hand in making and do not always agree with, take calls and attend functions to represent their institution, settle disputes among employees, do reviews and salary recommendations, attempt to hold good people who see better opportunities and better pay elsewhere, stay up-to-date on all regulations and compliance, be security minded, make calls, and, in their spare time, cross train their people and do the budget!

EXECUTIVE PRESSURE
Even our executives do not work stress-free. A recent poll in USA TODAY showed 57% of executives in financial institutions worry about losing their position due to merger or acquisition.

SO...
How are you dealing with all these stresses each day?

Surprisingly enough, probably very well. We need stress in our every day life in order to perform to the peak of our ability.

The problems we have with stress come about when we go into stress over-load?adding the stress on the job to the stress at home and in other areas of our life.

Your body will tell you when you are overstressed. You may even now have some of the symptoms that relate to stress.

STRESS RELATED SYMPTOMS:
Headache
Backache
Fatigue
Skin Rashes
Sleep Difficulties
Eye Strain
Nausea
Nervous Stomach
Feeling "Burned out"

These are only some of the stress related symptoms that our bodies deal with.

There are many ways of helping yourself handle your stress.

WHAT TO DO
First, you must identify what is causing your stress, and then you can set out to control your reaction to that stress. Make no mistake about it, YOU CAN CONTROL your reaction, even though you may not be able to control the source of the stress.

The important thing to remember is your power of control.

Copyright © 1990 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1/90