Union calls for end to sales targets at banks
Union calls on banks to end unachievable targets for their staff
Thursday, 12, Nov 2009 12:06
By Sarah Garrod.
The union Unite has today called for change to the banking culture system, saying workers are struggling to meet unachievable sales targets.
The UK's largest union said targets have remained unchanged since before the credit crunch and part-nationalisation of the banks, saying there is pressure on staff to promote financial products, often to those who can ill afford them.
Unite is today launching a campaign for staff in the Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) to fight for a change in the culture of the UK banking system.
Unite national officer, Rob Macgregor, said: "In this bank, which is part owned by the taxpayer, staff should be providing an excellent service to customers and being paid fairly for doing so.
"Instead we have a sales culture which encourages staff to sell customers products that they do not want or need.
"Unite has seen that failure to meet targets has meant staff losing out on money, and for staff earning a basic salary as little as £13,000 per year, it means meeting mortgage repayments or saving for Christmas is even harder than it already is."
Unite is "calling on Lloyds to replace the bonus culture with a pay system which gives staff fair pay that does not rely on selling products to customers".
A spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group told inthenews.co.uk: "Our reward policy supports our business strategy to build long-term relationships with our customers. Individual targets are therefore set across a number of areas not just sales, all of which are taken into account in determining overall reward.
"Bonuses make up just one part of our total reward package. We have a clear reward strategy to ensure we can attract, retain and engage with our people to deliver a high performing business managed on a prudent basis."
The union wants bonus arrangements to be consolidated into a single scheme, and the current arrangement of linking pay to bonuses to end.
At the beginning of the week LBG announced a further 5,000 job losses, which is in addition to 8,000 job losses that have been announced across the country since the formation of the group in January.