Five Questions With: Sharon E. Trask

Sharon E. Trask is senior vice president and market manager for Webster Bank’s Rhode Island and shoreline Connecticut region. In this role, she oversees 13 banking centers in Rhode Island and two Connecticut banking centers in Groton and Waterford.
Trask joined Webster Bank in 2009 as vice president and branch manager for a new banking center on Pontiac Avenue in Cranston. Prior to that, she had a 19-year career with Citizens Bank.
She is a member of the Cranston Chamber of Commerce and a volunteer financial coach for the Capital Good Fund.
Trask has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in finance, from Bryant University.

PBN: Webster Bank has been implementing a new concept in its operations by cross-training staff as “universal bankers.” When did that begin and what was the impetus for that change? Have you seen that this is a trend in banking?
TRASK:
The first phase began in the last quarter of 2012 with Cranston as the first banking center to train staff as universal bankers. The impetus for the change, certainly, was looking at efficiency. Banking transaction levels have been decreasing over time because customer behavior is changing. Not many folks are coming in to cash payroll checks anymore. Electronic banking means online banking, mobile apps and ATMs. Customers choose when and how they bank. As the transaction levels began dropping and teller time was not being used as effectively as it could be, we looked at how to leverage that and train employees to be more well- rounded. Yes, it’s a trend in banking – banks have different names for it.

PBN: What are the skills and responsibilities of Webster’s universal banker? How is that different from their previous responsibilities?
TRASK:
There are three basic training components to our universal banker model – banker training, consumer lending and operations. Some of it is in the classroom, with some online modules to be completed in advance. The classroom portion of banker training is five days, consumer lending is three days and operations training is two days. That classroom training is done in phases so there’s time to work on the skills that are learned. The training continues with coaching from branch managers. We have one document specific to each employee, so their training is based on their current skill set and rounded out with the universal banker training.

PBN: How many universal bankers has Webster trained since this concept was launched a little more than a year ago? How does that number compare to the overall staff they came from, such as tellers or other positions? Does Webster expect this number to increase and become a larger percentage of the bank staff?
TRASK:
In my Providence Shoreline region I have 63 FTEs – full-time equivalent positions – and 30 are at the management level as branch managers or assistant branch managers. So that means I have 33 FTEs under the management level. As of the end of 2013, we had eight promotions to universal banker and senior universal banker. For first quarter 2014, I just submitted 14 promotions to universal banker and senior universal banker. So now I’ve got 22 of the 33 positions trained in universal banking. Some of those positions in the FTEs are part-time – the 11 remaining FTEs could be 20 employees and those people are being trained as well. The universal banker training is ongoing and with some people moving or retiring, we’ll never be at 100 percent fully-trained, but we will continue to train our employees to be universal bankers. We are no longer hiring “tellers” – that stopped after the first quarter of 2013. The people who are coming in understand that transactions are not their only responsibility.

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PBN: Is this new broadly-trained universal banker having a positive impact on the bank’s bottom line, as far as decreasing personnel? If so, has it or will it cause staff reductions?
TRASK:
It has definitely helped the bottom line. We didn’t lay off anyone. In each banking center we have a staff of about five employees, including the branch manager and assistant branch manager and a lot of the coaching comes from the management level. Through attrition and as positions become open and we migrate through the change, there may be some folks who want to opt out. Some liked being a transaction teller – that was their preference. Now everyone goes through the training and once they’re able to be promoted, they not only get the title but an increase in salary.

PBN: From your perspective overseeing Webster’s 15 banking centers in your Providence Shoreline region, what’s been the impact of the implementation of the universal banker model?
TRASK:
The feedback we’re getting has been positive. We’ve not had any complaints. From the standpoint of the employee, we’re investing in them. Now they can handle a wide range of customer requests, like a wire transfer, a certificate of deposit or opening a checking account. From the customer’s standpoint, when they walk in, instead of someone saying, “Take a seat and someone will come help you,” now the person who greets them is empowered to take care of all of their needs

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