Independent Banker - December 2021 - 65

the employee, who has a more dynamic role that allows
them to be the in-person face of the organization.
" Today, our bankers feel empowered to help their
clients, " Krempasky says. She says some of the traditional
red tape and waiting times are minimized because
bankers at Fidelity Bank can make decisions and assist
clients on the spot. In turn, clients view their bankers
as trusted advisors who can handle a host of topics and
why one community
bank is keeping its
tellers
While large numbers of community
banks have been making transitions from
traditional teller roles to more holistic
roles, one bank that continues to find
value in traditional tellers is First Federal
Bank & Trust in Sheridan, Wyo.
" We still do hire the traditional role, "
" BY FOCUSING ON CROSSTRAINING,
WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO
EDUCATE, COACH AND MENTOR
BANKERS WHO HAVE THE RIGHT
SKILLS AND PERSONALITY TO BUILD
LASTING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR
CLIENTS IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF
CONFIDENCE, VALUE AND TRUST. "
-noelle krempasky,
fidelity bank
provide guidance and support during clients' journeys to
financial wellness.
" For instance, we've allowed bankers to make decisions
on matching CD [certificates of deposit] rates right within
the client conversation, " Krempasky says. " The banker
knows the criteria to look for and can match the rates if
warranted, without calling a manager. "
Responsibilities don't end there. " Bankers offer clients
appropriate solutions to meet their financial goals of saving
money, making money, protecting their money and saving
time, " she adds.
" We have experienced stronger client satisfaction
and deeper client relationships through these changes, "
Hobrough says. " Our CSRs and relationship bankers have
the skills to build clients for life because they are more
knowledgeable about a wider variety of financial products
and services. "
William Atkinson is a writer in Illinois.
independentbanker.org Q 61
says Kristen Butler, chief operations
officer and senior vice president. " This is
largely due to the volume of customers
we serve. If we did not, our wait times and
complaints would elevate and ultimately
result in customers leaving our bank. "
In addition, the community bank
believes in having employees-as opposed
to hiring automated call centers-answer
the phone. " Therefore, we do have more
tellers than the average bank our size, so
we can operate a call center, " she says. " All
our tellers rotate between the call center
and other locations, so this allows them to
be cross-trained in several areas due to the
number of questions they receive. "
To provide some distinction in roles, the
bank has two teller positions: tellers and
lead tellers. " Our lead tellers are groomed
to assist the assistant branch operations
manager with certain tasks, so that the
manager can focus on cross-training and
leadership growth for their staff, " Butler
says. " Our lead tellers conduct audits,
ensure the vault and tellers balance daily,
fill/balance our ATMs, train staff, scan
deposits, etc. "
Traditional tellers have a lot of
responsibilities, too. " We believe in crosstraining
our staff, " Butler says. " They have
the ability to take on more advanced
requests, such as closing accounts,
ordering debit cards, increasing limits, etc.
The only part we are restricting during
cross-training is opening new accounts,
since that takes more time. " For that, the
bank uses dedicated personal bankers,
she adds.
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Independent Banker - December 2021

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