Cityside Financial Services
As the demographic pattern started shifting in the nearby local community, Cityside Financial Services thought of initiating a diversity recruitment in order to provide better service their new clientele base. The diversity effort was initially considered a success by many. The bank reached superb level of minority employment which helped them in providing better customer service. Now, Cityside gained reputation of a high-functioning, multicultural organization and a business model of diversification. The firm was able to consolidate a large number of minorities, notably in the retail division. The retail bankers were mostly from the local community, as they had the majority of their interaction with local clients.
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White bankers perceived black bankers as uninspired and as only willing to work a 9 to 5 job; they narrowed down their ability to perform only because of historical racial issues. White bankers were supposed to be more energetic, intelligent and more suited for blue-collar jobs, mostly in dealing with wealthy white clients. The racial backdrop of a banker determined his/her career path at Cityside and not their interests or dexterity.
This mentality was not only limited for the employees of the Cityside. The customers of the bank were also being targeted with the racial divide. Local customers were assumed to be not eligible for certain premium banking products. This stereotyping became evident to the customers who were mislabeled thus causing Cityside to lose some of its customers.
The lack of integration compounded the frictions between the two divisions when they both tried to service and sell to the corporate clients. The retail division argued that the local businesses were within their client category while the external bankers believed that the wealthy investors should be theirs. This problem stemmed from Cityside’s practice of labeling customers by their address instead of their relationship with the bank. The internal rivalry increased the rift between the two