If you want a bigger pie don't sack the cooks!

KPMG FIPS Report: If you want a bigger pie don't sack the cooks!

"Two recent reports confirm that contemptuous treatment of staff and customers doesn't pay, said Don Farr of Finsec.

"The first is a Christchurch Coroner's Court Report which found work-stress contributed to the suicide of an ANZ worker. The second is today's KPMG Financial Institutions Performance Survey 2002 which shows that ANZ wrings more out of fewer workers, but fails to win the battle of the balance sheet.

"An anlysis of KPMG's figures since 1994 shows that the ANZ – with its cavalier treatment of staff and customers – is less profitable than the National Bank though NBNZ has a more friendly approach.

"ANZ's policy is to cut staff to the bone and squeeze more from those who remain. It paid for this, with smaller profits, its employees paid with high stress levels and its customers paid with unsatisfactory service.

"The National Bank takes a different line. It has maintained staff numbers, cut fewer branches and made more profit. Customer satisfaction is higher.

"Massey University's bank staff satisfaction survey last year showed the same pattern. Satisfaction is low at ANZ and high at NBNZ.

"Profits in the end are about people - customers and staff. If you want to make profits don't increase your demands on a shrinking pool of workers.

"In other words, if you want a bigger pie don't sack the cooks," Mr Farr said.

[Don Farr noted that since 1994 staff numbers at the ANZ have halved, branch numbers have dropped by two thirds, and their net profit has increased by 207%. In the same period NBNZ staff numbers have increased by more than a fifth, branch numbers have reduced by only 11% and net profit has increased by more than 215%.]

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