Almost every report we get from members in branches and offices across TSB is about staffing levels. There is no recruitment activity and staff are leaving in their droves. One senior manager recently told staff that the bank was getting rid of its “dead wood” and was “quite happy for people to leave now because it won’t have to pay them off in future”. That’s a very cynical way to manage staff reductions.
And let’s be clear, the appointment of Mr. Robin Bulloch, Customer Banking Director, should send shock-waves throughout network because TSB’s branch closure programme will be accelerated and more jobs cuts will become inevitable. You only need to see what’s happened in Lloyds to realise he’ll be doing the same in TSB. There will also be a big push, and we are seeing this already, into selling more products and improving front-line seller productivity. The union’s salesforce survey will be going out to TBU members shortly. A similar survey carried out in Lloyds, just before Mr. Bulloch left to join TSB, showed the sales culture he’d left behind. 81% of Lloyds respondents said the sales culture had got worse; 74% said that they felt under pressure to justify their salary and 76% of staff said: “Everything is still just about sales in the bank. Nothing has really changed”.
We are also aware that TSB is approaching a number of Local Bankers telling them that if they are not prepared to take on further accreditation, then they can have a settlement agreement worth 12 months’ salary. In the cases we have seen, such staff would be entitled to 24 months’ pay if they were made redundant. The bank is effectively saying the Local Banker A role doesn’t really exist anymore but it’s not prepared to compensate staff appropriately in line with the job security policy. Members should think carefully about accepting those terms because they are only being offered now because the banks knows that those jobs are going to go in the near future. In any event, members should contact the union’s advice team on 01234 716029 before making any decisions.