REALITY VS SENTIMENTS
“Sometimes all you need to do is look at things from a different perspective” – Michelle Rice Roberts.
I have read with keen interest different opinions on the leaked Access Bank video and the decision of the Bank’s management to disengage some of their associate staff. I sincerely feel the pulse and pain of the families that have been affected by this decision and I hope they quickly get something else to sustain their families.
I will try as much as possible to eschew all emotions and sentiments while giving a dispassionate analysis to this.
Most people have hinged their criticism of Access Bank’s decision on the N1bn donation they made to the FG for the fight against COVID 19 as they couldn’t understand why the Bank would donate N1bn only to turn around and sack some staff. The simple truth is that you cannot fully appreciate this argument if you don’t first try to understand the cost structure of the Banking Industry.
My research revealed that monthly wage bill and other related costs of Access Bank stands at about N8bn which means that the N1bn donated to the FG only represents about 12.5% of that sum. So even if the Bank decided to save that money, it wouldn’t have been enough to pay these people who according to the Bank’s CEO make up 75% of the total staff strength.
Everyone keeps talking about the donation as if the Bank poured water into a leaking basket but let me remind us that as much as there may be some persons who “may” have diverted these funds ( “What everybody knows is frequently wrong” – Peter Drucker) there has been some traction gained as a result of these private sector driven donations.(at least 400,000 test kits were procured, Isolation centers valued in excess of N500m built and so many palliatives given to the people, albeit we may not like the handling of the process)
Is the action of Access Bank surprising and Immoral? In my opinion, the answer is an emphatic NO. I believe the bank took the bull by the horn by being the first to do what many companies will still do in the coming weeks or months and I will advise Nigerians to brace up for this. The time for subjecting reason to discount and embracing emotion is over.
Let me further break this down for you. The Bank’s MD said in that video that most of their branches will still not open for business till December 2020. Further discussions with a friend of mine who works with Access Bank revealed that more than 50% of their branches will not be open for business till year end so the question is: will it be easy for the Bank to pay the cleaners, office assistants, drivers and tellers in those branches? It is much easier to keep the relationship managers (Marketers) who are still expected to manage their customers’ expectations and direct customers’ transactions to branches that would be open.
Those of us following the trends in other countries would agree with me that there have been massive job losses since February till date running into millions, these are stronger economies than ours. We have seen the major football leagues re-negotiate wages of both staff and players while major players in the aviation industry have asked a lot of their staff to proceed on compulsory leave without pay.
This is not to sound insensitive to the plights of those who have lost their jobs as well as those who will still join the labour market but the first law of survival is self-preservation as such it is normal for these companies to do whatever it takes to remain in business (Unfortunately salaries are usually the highest recurrent expenditure of most companies).
I am always of the opinion that self-development should be the new crude oil in Nigeria, we must try to be experts in at least one other field different from what we currently do while striving to be the best on our jobs.
Remember, “You don’t get paid by the hours you put in but the value you bring to the hours” – Jim Rohn.
I encourage you today to work smart and build a future that you will be proud of. You may just be the next big thing waiting to happen in the world.
Think. Create. Grow
