I don't know if you have a family member, a friend or someone who works in a bank? They seldom have time for themselves say less of others. the work condition of the banking industry in Nigeria in my opinion, is appalling.

Hence i am of the opinion that the banks should run shifts like nurses, doctors, security formations etc. What do you think of it?

Asking banks to run shift is exposing the banks to high level of crime,

jbloggs:

Asking banks to run shift is exposing the banks to high level of crime,

How exactly would shifts increase the risk of financial crimes? Can you shed more light on this?

jbloggs:

Asking banks to run shift is exposing the banks to high level of crime,

Wanna shed more light hommie??

The only problem i have with shifts is safety and security of staff who finish late at night.

Seun, why should this topic be on the home page abi na your boi friend start am??


Abeg move am comot!!!, shift ni, shift ko!

Nigerians need to start embracing new ideas and innovation. Introducing shift schedules into the Nigerian banking system has its advantages and disadvantages. More jobs will be created with the coming of the shift system. This means that more graduates will be employed thereby reducing unemployment. The shift system will also bring gifted individuals into our banks. There will be a large pool of talent to tap ideas and knowledge from. Hitherto, many of these talented bankers had not been able to break into the system because of lack of vacancies, and the '' Know me, get employed'' syndrome that currently obtains in Nigeria. The shift system will also reduce lethargy. On the other hand, due to the lack of a Criminal Records Bureau in Nigeria, artful fraudsters and criminals might infiltrate the banking system. Lots of scams will be orchestrated by shift workers with criminal minds. Nigeria does not have accurate records on people and the Police force is not that good in tracking criminals down. It will be very hard for our security services to apprehend bank fraudsters when they've not even had a successful crackdown on the Yahoo Boys Besides, I'm not sure many Nigerian banks can afford to pay shift workers for now. The crisis in the banking industry [ that is if Nigeria really has a banking industry ] has to be resolved first. Cheers.

I still don't understand how bank shifts will lead to more crime. Can you break it down further for us?

Running shifts will mean the current 'bumper' salaries earned by bankers will reduce, since the workload being carried by one individual now will be spread over two or more people. While this looks good in terms of increased employment, it would likely still be underemployment for a lot of the people involved.

Would people be as interested in banking if they earned say 50% less than they earn now with more time? I'm sure a lot of unemployed people would go for it, but I wonder how the folk with greater financial demands would feel.

Shift work might be useful, in terms of making people choose how many hours they can work. But it will involve associated costs of training more people to do the same tasks.

@poster, i believe you have never worked at a shift job before otherwise u wont be suggesting this to bankers,
shift jobs especially if the company decides to run a 24/7 service has a nasty way of making you miss the most important of events especially on weekends,
i have been a shift worker for over 4yrs now in a telecom here in naija and there are times i just plain hate it but have to earn a living, the major problem with most bankers aside workload is the traffic situation in lagos especially on the Island. a couple of banks now close there doors and ensure the lights/genrator is off by 6.30pm daily, but most guys still get home like 9.30-10pm due to traffic.
most bankers outside lagos have ample time for family and fun,

The core jobs/workloads are better suited during the day.
A good example is board meeting, meeting with clients or even meeting with prospective employees etc etc

Staff who start their shifts later in the day MAY BE less skilled or a parent. As such their job description could range from filing, typing to keeping diaries etc. You may also notice that if proper checks are put in place it free's up space for those who work during the day to get on with other jobs which could in turn increase productivity.

If the shift system comes to stay in Nigeria, we'll start having casual bankers in the country. This means there will be a few permanent staff and more temporary workers. The temporary staff will definately not be paid large sums of money. Their work for the banks will be on a contract basis. Though most times, the casual staff will be sometimes more talented than the permanent staff. Knowing Nigerian Banks for what they are, they will start employing more casual workers for shift work just to cut costs. Now, a casual worker will not be too loyal to the bank he or she works for. This is because the casual banker can be chucked away anytime. It's just like having casual sex No Strings attached . Therefore, the shift bank worker would want to get all he or she can get before being shown the door for any reason. This is where the crime situation comes in.  Someone who knows his position is not secured and who's not honest will start playing his employers. If an opportunity to defraud bank customers come up, he or she will steal the money and do the sprints. The job had no benefits attached from the beginning, mates.

Nigeria has not gotten to the stage of the Western World when it comes to Banking and Financial services. How many Nigerian bank workers went through a thorough background check before they were employed? Already, there are scams occuring in the Nigerian banking system though most of them are covered up because the banks are scared they will lose their customers if the ugly news gets broken by the media. And those that participated in the scams were permanent workers who were trusted by their employers. Scams by dishonest shift workers will be worse off. I am also hazarding it that many of our banks do not have strong internal security systems for their computers. Many Nigerian banks are sick and they are merely deposit houses.

There is nothing wrong in shift work, the pay may be reduced but there are more times for other things like family, rest etc. Shift work can most certainly work in banks.

Why do banks needs to run shifts ?
Are you saying they should open their business offices all through the night ?

Pl if its a joke stop it o. Why would u ask banks to run shifts? do u want banks to start opening at night? Pl stop that.

kshow1:

Why do banks needs to run shifts ?
Are you saying they should open their business offices all through the night?

Currently most bank employees are overstressed.  They work until late into the evening and then they have to get into the horrible Lagos evening traffic.  If they have morning and evening shifts, at least those on morning shift will be able to get home early and attend to their families.

@Redman  nice analysis

well i think shift work will be more stressful 4 bankers remember that means no more weekends

Banks cannot run shifts because their operation is not 24/7, so it wont be cost effective. Just like Redman said, the security implication is also very high. The core operating period in the bank is between 8am and 6pm. So, one wouldnt expect two shifts to run in just 10 hours (about 5 hours per shift). In order to give employess more time for rest, families and other personal engagements, employees should be given more holidays in form of leave or something like that. Instead of running shifts, the banks should rather be operating like offshore companies such that you work for two weeks and rest for the other two weeks, or work for one month and rest for two weeks. This means that the salary would be reduced (to about 50%) because banks would have to employ two employees for the same job position, hence employing about twice what  the industry current does with more time to rest as well. I know alot of employees would go using their off period to do other temporary jobs, hence defeating the whole purpose of giving them the break in the first place.

I like redman's analysis. The truth is that desperate times call for desperate actions. If as redman analysed, bank work is separated in such a way that the core work of attending to customers are done during the day and at night the back end jobs are done, more people will be employed and there will be less stress on the bankers themselves and more people will be employed.

INfact, I do think that it should also be extended to other sectors and not just banking and telecomms alone. BIg cities like lagos should be 24 hr cities and not just simply go to 'sleep' at night. That is a way of boosting the economy. We should have 'night' markets (markets that specifically only open at night). The advantage of that is people who work proper jobs during the day can do a little bit of buying and selling at night to earn more cash rather than taking their wares to offices to sell likethey currently do.

@poster, nice idea.

FerrariGP:

@poster, i believe you have never worked at a shift job before otherwise u wont be suggesting this to bankers,
shift jobs especially if the company decides to run a 24/7 service has a nasty way of making you miss the most important of events especially on weekends,
i have been a shift worker for over 4yrs now in a telecom here in naija and there are times i just plain hate it but have to earn a living, the major problem with most bankers aside workload is the traffic situation in lagos especially on the Island. a couple of banks now close there doors and ensure the lights/genrator is off by 6.30pm daily, but most guys still get home like 9.30-10pm due to traffic.
most bankers outside lagos have ample time for family and fun,

you are right, i have never been in a shift job before because my job needs me 24/7, uglier than the bank folks but better in all ramifications, seriously.

Look at the bankers, they are passing through real s***t.

i ll not advise any of my kids or family to take one.

proudly9ja:


@poster, nice idea.

thanks

sleekender:

Seun, why should this topic be on the home page abi na your boi friend start am??


Abeg move am comot!!!, shift ni, shift ko!

Some one is j-e-a-l-o-u-s

Not all roles in banking, can be run on shift basis.

Also, for those roles that could be, we have better alternatives.

Eg. the bulk of operations roles, tellering etc can be more effectively managed with automation and introduction of more robust IT systems.
(which is actually the case, y'all must've heard about the atm machine that collects & pays)

Also if our ppl embrace e-banking practices more we wont have need to run shifts.

The only role i can see that'll require shifts r the IT personnel that'll oversee these systems. And actually, these dudes already run shifts.

So basically most support functions can be automated those that can be are already running some kinda shift system.

It cant work.then go just they fuuuuck thierselves till day break

I think its a nice idea and im sure if the bankers themselves are asked if they'd let go of a percentage (say 10-15%) of their salaries which will now be used to employ those who'd finish up after 5pm and work weekends they wont mind. many nigerian bankers now miss their lives with family and friends.my female cousin had to resign from a bank when she was forced to go on leave 6weeks before EDD and asked to resume 6 weeks after delivery!

I still don't understand this "Shift" Idea. Like @Yourangel noted, banks generally do not run for 24 hours and there are core work hours (In Nigeria it should normally be 8am to 5pm). All that is required is for the banks to hire more people to do the work so that the current workers will be less stressed and be able to go home at the latest 6pm.

The idea of shift for some categories of bank staff should be looked into. I have once worked in a Bank, and if I were to detail the stress bankers go through on the job (even without considering Lagos traffic), you 'd feel for the hapless staff. You may even conclude that bankers are not earning enough!

Shift system is needful for the following reasons:
1. It will help Nigerian Banks better align themselves with developments in the global economy. Currently, there's a delay in getting transactions passed through Nigeria because when economies like USA are just starting a new day, that is when Nigerian banks are closing to their customers. US Banks never sleep. One can get account services (overdrafts, cheque requisitions, bill payments, etc) done in advanced economies even in the dead of night and on weekends by simple phone call or online chats.

2. Bank work isn't just receipt and payment of cash. Much back-end work goes on daily to enable even the simplest process take place. I can't go into details here, but suffice it to say that it entails more than filing and photocopying. The advent of shift work will enable operations staff better deliver on their deliverables.

3. It will enable cheques clear faster. Technology isn't everything. There's need for more man-hours in the cheque clearing system in Nigeria if value date has to move from T+3 to T+1 as is obtainable elsewhere in the developed world.

Critical Success Factors:
1. Shifts be limited to male staff only in order to avoid abuses
2. Only critical areas like Foreign Operations, Customer Service, risk management, and funds transfer units should be run using shifts.
3. The current branch structure format that doesn't allow staff of other branches handle critical businesses of other branch's customers, should be jettisoned. Customers don't care which branch/unit the person attending to them comes from, all they want is service.
4. Shift work should be done in a safe place without cash-holding so as not to attract armed-robbers who could hold the staff on duty to ransom in exchange for the cash in the vault.

In conclusion, I 'd say shift work appropriately done, would help the banks in growing their business in ways not previously imagined.

Thank you.

A welcome idea. Someone should help pass this piece to a member of the house of representative. It will help
1. Give jobs to more people,
2. Give those already in the industry time to relax the body well.
3. Give more time for family interraction which will lead to building good home.

I think it is a very very very bad idea. Highest, they should have 3 breaks. Two 30-minute coffee breaks and an hr lunch break

@TexMex
this is a great contribution, thanks.

Let them run shifts, 24hrs.