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Fairness Favoritism Threats Assertiveness

I am a teller at a bank, and one of my responsibilities is to generate customers for checking, savings, loans, etc. I have a monthly quota, but there are a few tellers who meet their quotas without doing any work. Some of the officers who close the sales are giving these chosen few all the sales they need to stay afloat. Meanwhile, the rest of us are picked on by the managers and officers if we don't make it, often threatened with our jobs. How can we stop this from happening without looking like sour grapes?



If you are absolutely certain that the bank officers' treatment of the tellers is far out of balance, you and your associates should deposit yourselves in the bank manager's office to discuss the situation. Your approach should be one of asking questions, rather than making statements or demands. After you listen to what the manager has to say, you can plan your next step.

If you still find that the quota system is filled with inequities and threats, you should seriously consider taking your concerns to a higher level of management. When officers and managers engage in this type of unfair, unethical, and unprofessional behavior, it is often a sign that there are other questionable behaviors going on as well. You can bank on the fact that someone in senior management is going to be very interested in hearing about this.

Rather than being a case of sour grapes, this is one of serious gripes. If you do nothing about it, the threats and penalties will only compound.




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