Recent experiences at speaking events reminded me of discussions I've had with bank leaders and
I was asked to address a large banker group twice over a 30-day period. On my first visit, the gentleman running the A/V equipment in the banquet hall described himself as "old school."
After assisting with my lavalier microphone during a break, he had me walk to the stage to ensure everything was working properly.
When I later chatted with him, he said, "I always tell our younger employees that if the person on stage ever has to reference you once they get on stage, you messed up. When we do our job just right, no one even knows we're here."
I told him I appreciated his perspective on being a pro. Then, 30 days later, I was back in the same big room as the kickoff speaker, with the same company running A/V.
This time, a much younger man was running the board. When I approached 30 minutes before my speech to get set up, he told me to return 10 minutes before I spoke. He wasn't doing anything at the time, but hey, he's the A/V pro — not me.
When I later put the mic on, I asked if we needed to test it. He had me talk while he watched the levels on his board moving. According to him, we didn't need to do anything from the stage — we were good to go.
As I got onstage after being introduced, I had a quick (I thought funny) comment to start with. But it fell on deaf ears … literally.
I quickly learned that things were not good to go. I smiled toward the back and pointed at my mic, only to see my previously confident young friend frantically sliding dials and flipping switches.
After about 15 seconds of the "Is this thing on?" plea, I went to Plan B and grabbed a handheld mic from the podium that (thankfully) worked.
Was this the end of the world? Of course not. But I joked with friends later that a guy fighting with a microphone isn't exactly the best first impression to make on a group.
Whether or not the audience blamed me for the awkward start, the "customer experience" was negatively impacted by behind-the-scenes operations that, unfortunately, took center stage.
I later shared that story with a good friend who is a senior executive of a large regional bank. She joked, "You know, I think some of our top producers shut off their laptops at day's end and never give a thought about how many people are working nonstop to deliver on the promises they made customers that day."
This year, 90 banks made American Banker's 12th annual Best Banks to Work For ranking. The leaders of these institutions share how they keep their employees happy.
Banks may not have the most moving parts in the business world, but they're in the running. And bankers' work often goes unnoticed by customers because they provide highly complex products and services with remarkable consistency and reliability.
As my older A/V friend suggested, people do important behind-the-scenes jobs so well that you don't even know they're there.
That said, whether or not customers — or even our own frontline personnel — fully understand and appreciate what support personnel do, it's critical that support personnel know their leaders do.
We rightly celebrate and reward our personnel who are most effective at developing new relationships and expanding existing ones. One of my most repeated mantras to groups is, "Sales is oxygen." Without it, businesses perish.
But there are teams of people working behind the scenes who make it possible for those producers to do their jobs. Yet, there's a tendency to think that jobs you never think about cannot be all that hard.
Think about the engine-maintenance folks next time you're on a plane. Do you hope they are experienced and were fully engaged in their work this week?
Beyond that, in a world of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters, armed with improved technology to prey on customers, a competent and engaged "back office" is perhaps more crucial now than at any other time in banking history.
Through the years, I've observed that good employees tend not to burn out or become disengaged because of challenging jobs and hard work. No, they burn out when they feel they are doing a thankless job.
Effective bank leaders recognize that the success of any team relies not just on those in the spotlight but also on the numerous unsung heroes working behind the scenes.
Through personal visits, recognition meetings, phone calls, emails and any number of other thoughtful gestures, they continually strive to ensure these individuals know their contributions are valued.
Great leaders ensure through their words and actions that no job under their leadership feels thankless, because when every role is valued and acknowledged, the entire team — and customers — succeed.
