Typical Day
Debbie Debitson wakes up to her alarm at 7:00AM, yawns, and stretches. It's Monday: the start of a brand-new week. Debbie decides to start the week right with a heaping mound of whole-wheat pancakes doused in honey and yogurt. Her job involves a fair amount of sitting, so it's not critical that she eats crazy amounts of protein, but it still takes lots of energy to motivate a team for nine hours straight.
After breakfast, Debbie showers, gets dressed, and does her hair and makeup. She's out the door by 8:00AM, and by 8:30AM, she's rolling into the bank branch parking lot, suited up and ready for the day.
As she's getting out of her car, the early morning cleaning crew is on their way out. Debbie says hello and thanks them for their work. They're all bleary-eyed and yawning. As the crew heads home for some rest, Debbie opens up the branch. She flicks on the lights, sets out the cups with pens and lollipops, and turns on the electronic calendar board that hangs behind the counter. Then, she makes herself a second cup of coffee and settles down behind her desk to review some numbers.
The branch hasn't been meeting its sales targets lately, and management has noticed. Unfortunately, Debbie's branch is on the outskirts of town. While the city is expanding rapidly, Debbie knows that her branch is still too far away from people's homes and jobs to garner a lot of business. If only the upper management would listen to her.
The rest of the employees arrive at 9:00AM, when the bank officially opens for the day. It's pretty unusual for customers to come in this early, though, so Debbie rounds the crew up for the mother of all pep talks.
"Alright, everyone, glad you're here," Debbie begins. She looks down at the email that she got from management on Friday. "I've got upper-level management's notes from last week. We're flagging a bit on sales, and I wanted to share management's suggestions with you."
There are some sighs and mutters from the staff.
Debbie plasters on a bright smile. Time to motivate some people. "So let's talk about 'customer experience,' shall we? Joanna, what do we do when a customer comes in the door?"
Debbie diligently covers every single bullet-list item on the weekly memo she receives reviewing last week's progress and suggests alternative strategies. It's mostly reminders about the proper way to interact with customers: how to greet them (with a happy "hello"), how to make small talk ("What a lovely hat!"), and how to get a 10/10 on the customer satisfaction survey (with prompt and friendly service). It's not what you'd call thrilling, but it's necessary.
The meeting takes about forty minutes (management sent a lot of notes). By 10:00AM, the bank is in full swing, with customers trickling in and out. The staff is careful to ask each customer if they want to open a business checking account. Most don't, but the important thing is that they know that it's an option. Debbie knows how discouraging it is to be told, "Not today, thanks," over and over again, but she's proud that her staff keeps trying.
At half past noon, Debbie breaks for lunch: a tuna melt sandwich, extra mayo, a mango yogurt parfait, and an iceberg salad that she doesn't even touch. Some days just aren't meant for lettuce.
She's back to her post by 1:15PM, keeping one eye on the staff and the other on the customers. She offers some smiles and pointers until 2:00PM, when she's called away to place some phone calls with other branch managers. After those are done she makes a call to the regional manager, who ominously mentioned in his message that he "needed to speak with" Debbie. She's a little nervous about it, frankly.
"Sales at your branch are low, Debbie," the regional manager opens with. "Loowww, Debbie."
Debbie sighs. "I know, I know. I—"
"I don't want to hear about 'I,' Debbie. I want to hear about 'we.' I want to hear that your branch is working as a team."
"Oh, we are, I—"
"There's that 'I' again, Debbie..."
Debbie sighs. "Sir, I keep telling you. This branch is in an inconvenient location. My team is excellent, but the amount of sales that we can make is limited by the amount of people who physically enter the store. We need to relocate."
The regional manager grumbles for a bit, and then says, "Okay, Debbie. We'll give it another year. If the branch isn't turning out good numbers by then, we'll find a new location. You're a good manager; we all know that."
After the phone call, Debbie takes five minutes to bang her head against her desk. Another year in this location. Unless a miracle happens, it's going to be a long, slow year. Her staff will want to move to a busier, more promising branch—or maybe even a whole new bank. Things will be rough for a while.
However, Debbie didn't get to a managerial position by griping. She goes back out to work with the staff until 5:00PM, when it's time to clean up. She says goodbye to everyone as they pack their bags and scoot out the door. Debbie herself takes a little more time to clean up her area and straighten out the bank.
About two seconds after she locks the front doors, a customer shows up. "Sorry," Debbie says, "but we're closed."
The customer's not happy, but Debbie can't go against protocol. Anyway, it's been a long day. She's tired, and she happens to know that there's an extra-cheesy lasagna waiting for her at home. She advises the customer to come back tomorrow and drives off.
She's home by 5:45PM. She takes half an hour to go for a jog to work off the stress of the day, and then watches 30 Rock while her lasagna bakes. By 10:30PM, Debbie's rolling into bed. She's still a little worried about how the branch will make it through the next year with the staff—and the management's confidence in her—intact. But she's sure she'll figure it out. And if she doesn't...well, hers is hardly the only branch on the commercial banking tree.