Words From the Closet. Bankers Mouth Off

By Art Gillis

I don't like surveys because respondents generally answer according to expectations, ego and "how fast can I get rid of this task?" In other words, survey responses are a collection of lies. But in this world of change, I decided I had to conform, so I did my first-ever survey. What influenced me most was that I knew the population. They were bankers who had sent me money for some reason and I thought for that reason they would be truthful. Five hundred and fifty something bankers were in this population, and indeed they answered as if no one was listening. Besides providing quantitative answers to a form, there were a few free-form questions for bankers to answer in short narrative structure. I selected popular keywords in their responses as if I were a Google, and I'm presenting them here. Draw your own conclusions.

In describing their culture or what makes them successful, these are the most frequently used words: compete with the big banks, use the latest technology, provide personal service, part of the local community, excellent customer service

What they don't like about technology: not enough integration, too complex, too much change, unreliable, weak vendor support, password constraints, slow, insufficient training

What they liked about technology: reliability, lots if information, friendly, efficient

Things they don't like about their tech vendor: slow to respond, too costly, weak support

Things they like about their tech vendor: let's us focus on our work, no big blowups, tightly integrated products, responsive to us, keeps up with change

If there's one common message from this survey, it's choose your tech vendor carefully.