Australian banking organisation Westpac Group is replacing its teller incentive programme with a $500 (£266.27) increase to fixed pay for 2,300 customer-facing employees.
The change, effective from 1 April 2019, has been designed to simplify Westpac Group’s remuneration structure, by removing all teller incentives and implementing a new fixed pay only arrangement instead.
George Frazis, chief executive officer, consumer bank at Westpac Group, said: “Westpac was the first bank in Australia to remove product-related incentives for branch tellers in 2016, in a move to provide our customers assurance they are being served over-the-counter based on their banking needs, not sales outcomes.
“A simple fixed pay only model takes us a step further to reinforce the importance of putting the customer first and providing our 2,300 tellers with more clarity and fairness around how their work is remunerated.”
The current teller incentive scheme is based on customer satisfaction measures, which can be influenced by factors separate from customer service, such as product features and branch location. The fixed pay increase, however, works to ensure Westpac Group’s tellers are recognised for the individual service that they provide.
Westpac Group is liaising with both employees and the Finance Sector Union (FSU) on implementing this change.
All tellers working at Bank of Melbourne, Bank SA, St George and Westpac will benefit from the fixed pay increase.
Frazis added: “Our focus remains on putting our customers at the heart of everything we do. We believe these changes complement our ongoing focus on helping our people deliver an exceptional customer experience.”
