HSBC removes sales targets from staff incentives

HSBC has become the latest high street bank to announce changes in its incentive structure so staff no longer earn bonuses based on how many products they sell.

The bank said that at the start of 2013 it had removed sales targets from its 1,200 branches, regional teams and call centres, and that staff appraisals and bonuses would now be based on "customer satisfaction and sales quality". It said the new structure would affect 20,000 employees of HSBC, First Direct and M&S Bank, and was designed to encourage them to act in the best interest of consumers.

In December, Barclays stopped paying branch or call centre staff commission based on sales volumes, introducing a new focus on service, while the Co-operative Bank launched a similar customer service bonus scheme in its branches in October.

HSBC's move, which was introduced without fanfare but will be announced as the bank publishes its latest lending figures on 20 February 2013, follows the introduction of "values and behaviour" criteria in January 2012, which means that for the past year branch sales targets have been just one factor in staff bonus decisions.

Antonio Simoes, head of HSBC in the UK, said: "We have changed how we assess and reward our employees, removing any sales targets, so they can completely focus on serving our customers' needs and providing superior service.

"We want our customers to know they can depend on HSBC to do the right thing for them, and this is the absolute focus of our employees."

Banks' sales practices are currently under close scrutiny by the City regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Last autumn it told financial firms that it expected them to clean up their act after finding "serious failings" in a number of incentive schemes. It said many, if not all, of the recent mis-selling scandals had dysfunctional incentive schemes at their root.

However, a spokeswoman for HSBC said the bank had been planning the changes since 2011. "It is not something we have decided to do overnight – these things take a long time to introduce."

Along with its high street rivals, HSBC has been caught up in a number of mis-selling scandals in recent years. It has put £1.3bn aside to reimburse customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance, and in January it was one of four banks accused by the FSA of mis-selling interest rate swaps to small business customers.

Although banks have started to make changes to staff incentives, research published in December by the consumer group Which? found many frontline staff did still feel under pressure to sell products.