Understandably the bottom line is important, but how SPIRE gets there is very off-putting for its employees and members. In big-bank style, management forces you to solicit members through cold calling and face-to-face interrogations which encompass all financial departments of a member’s life. Nothing’s off limits - questions relating to retirement, assets owned, liabilities, future plans, is on the table. Management claims these intrusive inquiries are in the spirit of improving lives, but it’s really about performance bonuses. It’s a huge numbers game in the guise of spirited service. These advances are generally unwelcome by members and are awkward. Members should not feel harassed by their own bank when they make simple requests like to open a second savings, or add a joint.
All these interactions must be documented - in over five places! Management monitors and scrutinizes notes from each appointment. They seldom celebrate the successes you report. Rather they micromanage you over perceived missed opportunities - “opportunities” that members simply are uninterested in or are unqualified.
Management is profoundly insincere. For example, the weekly all-staff is an over-inflated song and dance that reads like a series of uninspiring social media posts.
