…lament ‘our colleagues are dying everyday of stress-related complications’
. Stop imposing impossible deposit targets on staff, CBN warns banks
Due to the hiccups currently being experienced by the economy owing to the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers in the nation’s commercial banks have been exiting the sector in droves as they can no longer cope with meeting the ‘outrageous’ deposit targets set by their employers and which many of them see as ‘impossible.’
The situation, FirstNews Online learnt, is being compounded by the attendant worsening illiquidity state of the Nigerian commercial banking system, which has forced many of the commercial banks to now rely heavily on their marketers and the CBN for liquidity support.
Consequently, the banks now heavily task their workers, most of whom are now deployed on the field as marketers, to pursue deposit targets that are often considered to be outrageous and unrealistic.
The resultant effect of this, it was learnt, is the negative impact now being made on the health of many of the bank workers lately as many of them, due to the inability to meet with the set deposit targets by their employers, are now succumbing to stress-related complications, leading to the high casualty rate being experienced in the nation’s banking industry in recent times.
Senior bankers across the major Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria have, therefore, called on drivers of the banking industry to reignite the seeming lost glory of the banking profession by tilting the current structure towards professional banking and laying less emphasis on outrageous deposit targets.
Some of the bankers, who spoke to our correspondent in separate interviews, but who pleaded not to be identified to avoid reprisals from their employers, said many of them would gladly take lower paying jobs to exit from the banking sector given the current situation and circumstances under which it is operating in the country.
They even claimed that many of their colleagues were now being forced to resign in droves as a result of pressure being mounted on them by the banks’ managements to meet up with such outrageous and unrealistic deposit targets made virtually impossible as a result of the poor state of the Nigerian economy.
The bank workers said if a research were to be conducted on the industry whose staff have now become known for the highest cases of High Blood Pressure across hospitals in Nigeria, the banking sector’s records would be unbeatable by any other sector.
They alleged that many of their colleagues had been dying of stress-related complications, which have now been worsened by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.
A banker, who resigned some months back as a senior manager of one of the top five banks in Nigeria, said the banking profession had long lost its sparkle and attraction, adding that many of his colleagues still in the banks’ employ were just holding on to their jobs because of the fear of the unknown.
“I resigned last month, and I would tell you, it was not a pleasant experience at all. Being at home now, I feel relieved, though there would be the initial fear of how you would be able to manage outside the banking sector. But I tell you; it is crazy in there. I have told my children never to look for jobs in the banks. It’s not worth it in this part of the world. What you see outside about bankers is just make-belief,” the senior banker said.
Pleading not to be identified, he explained, “The higher your level in the banking industry, the greater your problem because target is critical. If they have any reason to flush you out, may be because of your high salary, they would only use your target assessment, which they know you can’t meet. They would say they are retrenching based on performance review; that they cannot go on subsidising your salary. Once you can’t meet your target, it means that someone else is paying your salary.”
A branch manager of another bank, which is known to have a very large and diverse customer base as a result of its aggressive account opening drive, noted that she had already mapped out plans to leave the banking sector anytime soon.
According to her, the Nigerian economy, as of now, does not favour the kind of results the banks want from their staff, saying, “This cuts across all departments, including operations. Targets have always been outrageous, but people managed. Somehow, in the past, accounts officers grew and they got promotions.
“Today, because of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, whistle blowing and the risks for politically exposed persons, so many people find alternative means of doing business with, or keeping their money. This is why alternative banking institutions are growing by the day.”
A visit to some of the banks along Allen-Opebi Road, Oba-Akran and Ogba metropolis, all in Ikeja, Lagos, showed that many of the banks’ workers were in a dilemma on how to meet the huge deposit targets given to them by their various employers.
One of the marketers at one of the conservative banks in the Ojodu-Berger area told our correspondent that it was traumatising not meeting with the targets.
“I have been mandated to bring above 1,000 account deposits every month. In fact, the more I am able to bring, the better for me because it adds to my assessment at the end of the day. But meeting up this target is almost impossible, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic,” she lamented.
Reacting to this latest development in the nation’s commercial banking sector, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, warned that commercial banks in the country must desist from imposing on their marketers impossible and unrealistic deposit targets.
Speaking at a stakeholder’s forum in recently in Lagos, Emefiele said the practice could induce negative moral implications, which are not in line with the best practices, especially as female marketers would be forced to engaging in illegal and immoral acts to meet such outrageous deposit targets.
According to him, the practice of making targets a prerequisite for employment, confirmation or promotion for the marketers or any other staff of the banks must stop, as it negates ethical conduct and corporate governance code.
“We have been talking to banks about it. It is a continuous effort that we are making and we see the trend coming down. We cannot sanction the banks because it is completely a business decision. But we are telling them that it is a wrong business assessment. They have to change the strategy because it is affecting the banking culture and the landscape of the industry,” Emefiele said.
The CBN governor explained that the management of the banks should step down on some of the policies.
“The intention is not to kill the marketing departments but to reduce the pressure by reducing the unrealistic targets that they place on them. The target should be realistic and decent,” Emefiele said.