Field Notes ·
Building a teller productivity measure that branch managers will trust
Teller counts without context create resistance. Here is how we frame productivity for Hong Kong retail floors.
Teller productivity is the measure most likely to start an argument in a branch review. Count only transactions per hour and you ignore complex cases, language support, and the time spent walking customers through forms that compliance requires.
Separate volume from complexity
We recommend two companion figures rather than a single league table:
- Handled volume — completed transactions and assisted digital enrolments
- Complex share — percentage of items that required dual control, exception handling, or extended KYC
A branch with lower volume but a high complex share is not automatically inefficient. Publishing both numbers keeps the conversation honest.
Floor checks matter
Where possible, we pair extracts with a short observation at a sample of branches. Numbers that look “soft” on paper sometimes reflect a layout constraint—one printer shared across counters, or a queue rope that funnels every enquiry to the same window.
Trust grows when managers see that the scorecard noticed their floor, not only their export file.