A piece in The Economist about Sir “Fred” Goodwin who has managed in exchange for Lord knows how many millions in salary and pension to screw up the Royal Bank of Scotland, prompted me to comment.
(He sounds a thoroughly unpleasant oaf, by the way). Anyhow, this is what I wrote:
An airline head once commented that if the seat back trays are not properly kept clean, passengers start to wonder how well the engines are maintained.
It seems to me that a sound way to assess the management of any organisation is not from the preening and self-aggrandisement of the bosses, but how they attend to detail.
There cannot be a bank customer in this country who is unaware that not one of the big banks is even vaguely competent at anything except ceaseless and, judging by the fuss about their dubious charges, frequently dishonest rapacity.
Anyone who has worked, as I have with all of them, in a marketing capacity knows that they are hopeless at that – which is where their money comes from, by the way; it is no surprise that they are hopeless at everything else, including it would seem, the ability to do their sums.
People like Goodwin in so many large organisations are essentially only really good at three things: getting to the top, big talk and making damn sure they get well paid, no matter what happens to the staff and customers.
The analogy with Gordon Brown, whom we were also assured by the media for so many years was a financial genius, is hard to ignore.
“There cannot be a bank customer in this country who is unaware that not one of the big banks is even vaguely competent at anything except ceaseless and, judging by the fuss about their dubious charges, frequently dishonest rapacity.”
Oh, how true this is.
I worked, among others, in a retail bank.
The one thing these people were very good at were making sure of taking charges for every, damn little thing.
The problem with these place is that the staff seem to think it’s their own money and gleefully apply the charges.
I personally couldn’t stomach it…
I left after nine months.
UK banks? A gang of thieves!
How useless is the Royal Bank of Scotland?
Although I live in Edinburgh where they have their HQ and lots of branches, my business account is based in some town 400 miles away.
(where I’ve never been)
Why?
Because my Edinburgh branch doesn’t answer their phones … and when I went in to open the account in person, I “couldn’t” because I had to meet with their “advisor” first.
However, as this advisor was never around, never called me and I couldn’t get through to them on the phone, it was like trying to have a meeting with Major Major in the book “Catch 22”.
And, while all this was going on, they were running ads on TV promoting their business accounts on the grounds of good customer service.
(then presumably ignoring the leads those ads generated)
If they’re such a bunch of fuckwits when an existing customer wants to open an extra account, no wonder they’re up shit creek.
Steve
How useless is the Royal Bank of Scotland?
Although I live in Edinburgh where they have their HQ and lots of branches, my business account is based in some town 400 miles away.
(where I've never been)
Why?
Because my Edinburgh branch doesn't answer their phones … and when I went in to open the account in person, I “couldn't” because I had to meet with their “advisor” first.
However, as this advisor was never around, never called me and I couldn't get through to them on the phone, it was like trying to have a meeting with Major Major in the book “Catch 22”.
And, while all this was going on, they were running ads on TV promoting their business accounts on the grounds of good customer service.
(then presumably ignoring the leads those ads generated)
If they're such a bunch of fuckwits when an existing customer wants to open an extra account, no wonder they're up shit creek.
Steve
It’s interesting your mentioning about the airlines attention to detail. Just read an article on the BBC’s website which is about this very subject and how important it is.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24344341
It shows have valuable attention to details are to a business and that even those at the top should be involved.