This is a village bank where the leadership discovered significant issues with the management of branch staff. For instance, they were unsure when to manage and applied a one-size-fits-all approach to all personnel.
Although the leaders raised this issue in many meetings and even held special seminars aimed at helping newly appointed branch managers quickly become competent in their new roles, the results were not significant after some time.
Later, this bank approached us, hoping we could help solve this problem. After interviews and research, we found that the issues were largely consistent with those identified by the leaders. Ultimately, we decided to use the classic course “Situational Golf Downward Management” to address the problems faced by branch managers. Unlike traditional courses, we also incorporated the role of embedded supervision, which aims to enable branch managers to quickly grasp the concepts learned, essentially providing support and guidance.
After two days of learning, the branch managers felt that this course was truly beneficial. Traditional courses typically involve sitting in a classroom listening to lectures, whereas this course encouraged active participation, leading to enlightening moments through the instructor’s guidance. Although everyone felt they gained a lot, it did not mean they could effectively solve real-world problems.
After the course ended, I accompanied three branch managers to their work environments, spending two days at each branch to help them apply what they had learned.
I followed President W to the branch, where he immediately arranged a meeting. The attendees were heads of various departments, and the meeting focused on how to achieve the deposit targets for the upcoming week.
This meeting was significantly different from previous ones; instead of starting with individual target achievements, he first listened to everyone’s plans. When setting targets, he did not distribute them evenly among participants but rather emphasized different focuses based on departmental differences and personality traits.
I attended the meeting without speaking. After it concluded, I provided feedback to President W about what I observed. He was particularly excited, saying he recognized the points I mentioned and was intentionally applying the methods from the class. However, while he made some adjustments in task allocation, he still forgot some details. I provided guidance on this issue, and combining it with the knowledge from the class, he suddenly felt enlightened, stating he would definitely address these details next time.
Although President W was not yet proficient in applying personality traits, this is a normal phenomenon. Achieving mastery is not instantaneous; it requires continuous practice. However, due to the two days of embedded supervision, he was first encouraged to apply some classroom methods, and secondly, I was able to provide timely guidance during our follow-up discussions on unclear areas. This prevented him from giving up due to uncertainty in application. It was precisely because of the supervision and guidance that he truly benefited from the tools and methods provided in the course.
Half a month later, I revisited President W, who was very excited, stating that the tasks for that week were achieved at 110%. A key point was his continuous monitoring throughout the process, knowing which individuals needed close attention and which only required updates. This method proved to be effective. He continually asked me to return for further guidance and expressed his gratitude.
The situations of the other two presidents were similar to that of President W. When applying the methods, they also received positive feedback due to the supervision and guidance throughout the process.