Your newsround this month
We’ve continued our regular dialogue with TSB on a wide range of issues which effect your working life in the bank. Here’s a brief round-up of the news...
TSB’s Q3 results
TSB announced its quarter 3 results at the end of October. The results show a healthy balance sheet with positive news of continuing profits, reduced costs, increased lending (including the bank’s first green lending product of preferential rates for additional borrowing to help mortgage customers reduce carbon emissions) and helping customers with money confidence.
This is all welcome news and should bode well for the year end results which are significant for the TSB annual award.
The budget also announced recently indicates an improving economic outlook, however against a backdrop of rising living costs, pay negotiations for a meaningful increase will be as challenging as ever.
We’ll continue our talks with TSB about the issues that matter most to our members - resourcing and attrition, pay and grading, job security, career pathways, system issues, abusive customers, diversity and inclusion, green issues, health and safety, managing Covid-19 and more.
If there’s anything else you want us to raise at our next meeting – let us know. Email [email protected]
Increased demand for Accord reps across TSB
Due to changes in ways of working and our increasing membership in TSB, we’re expanding our representatives’ structure across the business.
We’re looking for at least one rep for every cluster in the branch network and one rep from each business area in the large sites.
So, if you like the idea of making sure that your colleagues’ voices are heard and you want to contribute to our joint consultations with the bank, this could be the role for you.
Training will be provided by Accord and fully supported by TSB. Any time off for union duties will be included in your work pattern as paid facility time.
It’s an exciting opportunity for career development and for you to learn more about what’s happening across your business area, how we negotiate with the bank and how you can influence what happens in your workplace.
In the last week, our senior reps; Michelle White from Sunderland site and Stephanie Hunter from St Andrew’s branch, have been involved in negotiation meetings, policy meetings, and meetings with senior managers in the Branch network, Business Banking, Customer Telephony and Fraud Telephony about issues raised by our members.
Both Michelle and Stephanie are happy to chat with anyone who’s interested in the role and wants to know more. Feel free to drop them an email: [email protected] | [email protected]
Or, please contact me at [email protected] or give me a call on 07766 518 390.
Health and wellbeing
We continue our regular discussions with TSB about Covid-19 and the impact on individuals and workplaces. Although there’s an increase in cases reported across the UK, the numbers are settling across the bank with fewer cases reported and fewer branches closing or offering reduced hours.
However, we cannot be complacent. Covid hasn’t gone away and cases may well continue to rise over the winter months. The bank confirms it’s well placed to deal with any worsening of the pandemic and will monitor and follow changes to government guidelines.
All TSB staff are entitled to paid time off from work to have Covid vaccines and boosters. The bank has also offered to reimburse the cost of a private flu vaccine for those who are not eligible for a free one. Details of how to claim can be found on TSB’s intranet news pages.
Menopause
Menopause isn’t a dirty word. It’s a fact of life and affects us all. Not just women of “a certain age”. All of us – in one way or another.
Employees should feel comfortable talking to their manager about how menopause may be affecting them personally, their health and their performance at work.
It’s also important that those not directly affected can show support and empathy for their colleagues, friends and family who are going through a major life transition.
Many often miss out on a diagnosis and treatment. Thankfully, there’s more public awareness and media attention around menopause and lots of useful guidance and resources.
TSB has some good advice and guidance on its intranet. The bank hosts support groups such as the menopause café and has evolved its manager training to recognise, support and signpost individuals on how to live and work with the symptoms. The bank also provides support for colleagues whose loved ones are going through the transition.
But there’s always more TSB could do, and we’ll continue working with the bank to improve its support.
By working with your employer on matters such as menopause, we can ensure a much more inclusive working environment for everyone. And that can only be a good thing.
If you need help in accessing menopause support, please do get in touch. Email [email protected]
Early resolution and mediation
Our senior reps, Michelle White and Stephanie Hunter, recently joined TSB’s team of mediators and its People Services team in a workshop with TCM (Total Conflict Management) to help to spot opportunities to resolve issues through early resolution and mediation. The workshop shone light on the importance of being able to talk issues through early, before they escalate.
If you need to talk through any work-related issues, please get in touch with your local union rep or officer. You can also visit the ‘Guide to resolution’ on TSB’s HR intranet for further guidance.
Diverse membership
Every quarter, Accord’s Chris Rimell meets with TSB’s Diversity & Inclusion team.
One thing we’re working on across the union is how we can increase the diversity of our membership to ensure we’re representative of the ethnicity of TSB’s workforce.
We’d also like to increase the number of reps from ethnic minorities where possible to ensure we at least have the same proportion of reps to members from the same ethnic background.
And it doesn’t stop there. We’re looking at our own staff & PEC structure to see what we can do to attract ethnic minority candidates in the future.
If you’d be interested to know more about our equality, diversity & inclusion agenda in TSB, please get in touch. Email [email protected]
BWC: Reducing stress and building resilience
A little bit of stress can be good for us, it can motivate us to get things done and can help improve our alertness, performance and memory. But too much stress can lead to headaches, tiredness and irritability.
We all experience stress from time to time, but it’s how we deal with it which determines whether it becomes unmanageable or not, and this all comes down to our resilience.
The Bank Workers Charity has developed a variety of guides and tools to help you look after your mental health and wellbeing - view our blog post on reducing stress and building resilience for more information.
As a TSB employee, you also have access to Unmind (workplace mental health platform) for yourself and your plus one.
