In 1960 Martins starts a programme of staff training, that says goodbye to many of
the time-honoured ways of passing down knowledge from
the experienced senior clerk to the “wet behind the ears” junior. The establishment of Staff Training Centres is seen as important by many of the high street
banks, and coincides with the arrival of new technology – for which there
can be no passing down from previous experience. Training centres or schools are set up in Liverpool and the North
East to begin with, and later rolled out to London and other parts of the
country. Courses are run for female
staff to show them how to operate the various accounting machines that will
form part of their daily work. These are established all over the Country.
Many courses are actually based and run from branch premises in larger
towns and cities.
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WHY NOT ALSO VISIT THESE PAGES
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Here we reproduce an
article from the Summer 1960 edition of Martins Bank Magazine, which
introduces the idea of the Bank’s training schools and courses as:

The New Look…

In
the old days you learnt your job from the man above you. You learnt it well
or badly according as to whether his and your standards were good or bad,
and to some extent as to whether he had the patience and the time to teach
you. In a busy branch there wasn't much time for instruction and you
picked it up as best you could, learning by your mistakes and by having to
do the job all over again. We have a
better system nowadays and much more importance is attached to the value of
proper training.

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THE LIVERPOOL TRAINING BRANCH
Mr E G Shaw is at the top right
of the picture and Miss Pat Hart
can be seen standing at the
counter facing the camera.

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Schools or training
branches are being established in the big cities and it is hoped that every new entrant will go
to one of these branches in order to learn the Bank's book-keeping system under expert
supervision. First of all the training
branches to function was the one at Manchester which is located at Brown
Street. It does not operate all the
year round, but just at the time when the annual intake of new entrants
takes place. Mr. D. G. Settle was in charge of it last year under the
supervision of Mr. R. Tanner, Manchester District Inspector, but other
arrangements are now contemplated.
The North Eastern District Junior Training School was opened on 5th
October, 1959 and is situated on the second floor above Northumberland
Street branch, Newcastle upon Tyne. The accommodation provides for twelve
students at each session of three weeks' duration.
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The layout provides for
three separate branches, each with a staff of four students, complete with
adding machines and all necessary vouchers and ledgers to carry out a
normal day's work in a branch bank, including the posting of the General
Ledger and a weekly balance. The instructress at the time the photograph
was taken was Mrs. S. Whyte, formerly of the North Eastern District General
Manager's staff, under the supervision of the Senior Inspector, Mr. W. S.
Blaylock. After a short address of welcome by the District General Manager,
the first day of each course is devoted to an introductory lecture by the
Inspector, covering a general survey of the banking system, the history,
organisation and book-keeping system of Martins Bank, the standard of work
and general conduct.
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NORTH EASTERN DISTRICT JUNIOR
TRAINING SCHOOL
at Newcastle Northumberland
Street Branch. Mr W S Blaylock and
Miss S Whyte can be seen
supervising their pupils.
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Friend of the Archive, David J
Watson recalls the North Eastern District Training School:

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 {The District Training School for juniors, machinists and
cashiers was housed above Northumberland Street branch. In the picture the door to the
left led to the bank whilst the door on the right was the access to the
machine school (first floor) and the junior and cashier courses were held
on the top floor. When the branch moved to Market Street the training took
place at Gateshead Branch.”}

{“In the article “Staff Training- The New
Look”, it refers to the Junior
Training Course lasting three weeks, which may have been the case in 1959,
but the time I was on the course it had expanded to four weeks. I did two
weeks in December 1963, returned to my branch for two weeks to assist with
the year end balance, before returning for a final two weeks on the course.
At that time the course was run by Mrs Nora Murray and her assistant, Jean
Hardy. As the article says the
twelve pupils attending were split into groups of four and each week each of
us did a different aspects of the banks accounting procedures e.g. machine
work, writing up ledgers, etc. Mrs Murray was in charge of the Cashiers'
Course I took a few months later which took place in the same room, lasted
only two weeks, and catered for six budding cashiers”}
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THE LIVERPOOL TRAINING BRANCH
A Cashiers’ Course in Progress.

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The emphasis of the course
is on practical work, which commences on the second day of attendance. Four students are allocated to each of the three
separate training branches, with regular interchange of duties within each
branch as well as between branches. On the
same date, October 5th, 1959, the Liverpool District New Entrants Training
School was opened above the Castle Street branch. Mr. E. G. Shaw is in
charge of it and he has Miss Pat Hart to help him. As in the case of the North Eastern
District, the New Entrants Basic Course can accommodate twelve students,
who are divided into three branches of four. There are also training
courses for young cashiers. It is hoped to
have the London training branch started. before
the end of the summer.
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Training is key…

Martins
continues to take the training of its staff very seriously, and with a
large influx of new entrants, the age at which staff achieve the role of
Manager is coming down all the time.
Add to this the initial need to employ MORE staff to cope with
computerisation, and you find that you have to work hard to attract the
right people – hence the production of more sophisticated careers
literature such as “A Career with Martins Bank”. (Click the leaflet at the
top of this page to read more). The
following article is published in Martins’ Annual Report and Accounts for
1964, and shows that a training policy has been in place since the end of
the Second World War…

Throughout
the post-war period industry and commerce have become
increasingly aware of the need
to train management. Courses for senior management have been available at
the business administration colleges at
Ashridge and Henley-on-Thames, and a large number of firms have evolved their own schemes of management
training. In the last two years, however, there
has been a remarkable transformation in the attitude shown by British
industry and commerce, as well as by the
Government and the universities, to this type of training, as it has been felt that British industry, despite many
notable successes, has in many respects fallen
behind some of its competitors. Moreover, as the pace of technological and
scientific progress has accelerated the
business of management has changed. The
transformation has affected all levels of management.

By far the most important decision
that has been taken is to implement the recommendations of the Report by
Lord Franks in 1963 to establish two
business schools, one in London and one in Manchester, which would run on lines similar to business schools in
the United States. Numerous courses for
managers and potential managers have been initiated by various bodies
during the last year or so. For some years
now a series of advanced management seminars has been conducted under the auspices of the University of Liverpool. More
recently, the Manchester School of Management
and Administration was formed and initiated, last April, its first
middle-management course of three months duration for junior executives. In
July an Advanced Management Programme was
held at Durham. This followed the pattern of similar courses which are held
at Harvard for senior executives, and was notable
for the fact that it was directed by four Harvard
professors.

This growing interest in management techniques has not passed
unnoticed by Martins Bank. In fact our appreciation of the need for training
in the post-war world has been reflected by
nominating members of our staff for attendance at the Henley Staff College
on every possible occasion since the
College was inaugurated in 1948.

Each year we have seconded staff to the International Banking Summer School; this has
resulted in staff visiting most of the European
countries, the U.S.A. and Soviet Russia, and a senior member of our staff
is presently attending the 1965 School in
Australia. Members of our staff have attended also the Oxford University Business Summer School, Liverpool University
School of Business Management, the
Manchester School of Management and Administration, as well as the Advanced
Management Programme at Durham. Moreover, for some years we have supported
courses in business administration and
agriculture conducted by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

The
bank has thus been associated with a majority of the important developments
that have taken place
in management training. In Martins Bank
about 50% of the male staff attain positions of responsibility in branch
management or administration. As there is no recruitment at managerial
level, the need to provide a wide range of
training facilities for staff to fill these positions will be appreciated.
Moreover, the pattern of ordinary bank routine is
changing and staff are called upon to assume
responsibilities at a considerably earlier age than was the case some years
ago. Weare fortunate in having a reservoir of young men and women who are
able to accept such responsibilities after
training. Less than twenty years ago under war-time conditions the bank operated with a staff of approximately 45% of its
present strength, comprising 10% more
women than men. Today there are 10% more men than women in a total staff
approaching 6,400. The fact that the majority of
the women on our staff are engaged on work of
a routine nature does not detract from the importance of the contribution
which they make to the successful operation of the bank. Mechanised
bookkeeping, first introduced in the late 1920’s, has been progressively
developed. We now have over 500 branches either mechanised, partially
mechanised or dependent upon computer
accounting. Research in the latter field has extended the use of the computer beyond current account operation and
further major developments lie ahead. Our
branch representation has expanded and routine activity has progressively
increased, necessitating the substantial
growth in staff. The planned direction of their efforts in the use of the additional mechanical and electronic aids to
maintain our bookkeeping and other services
is essential. The bank has met this
challenge by a wide extension of training at all levels. Until the post-war years “on-the-job” training was virtually the
only type available. Such training will
continue to play a very important part in the day-to-day development and
broadening of the knowledge of
individuals. Interchangeability of staff is a prerequisite for the
maintenance of a satisfactory branch service and a hedge against
emergencies. A number of years ago, in the
face of increasing pressure of work at the branches, training schools were opened under the control of our seven
district offices in order to initiate junior clerks and machinists and interest them in the bank and in their
work. At a later stage the schools are
revisited for cashiering and advanced basic training courses.

Our decentralised system of control offers geographical convenience for
such routine training and provides a more
intimate basis of selection for the more advanced training. Selection for a Securities Course or other specialist
department training is a reward for self-development
and more particularly for initial success in the Institute of Bankers'
Examinations. Completion of the Institute
Examinations, in most cases, leads to an extended course in District Office as a preliminary to a
responsible posting. During the past fifteen years the bank has been recruiting a small number of university
graduates each year. These and a number of
regular entrants of promise are given a special programme of courses in
branches, departments and district offices
to equip them to take posts of responsibility. Subsequently an intensive residential Training Course for Junior
Management, in which members of the Board, General
Management and Heads of Departments take a close practical interest, is
operated on a syndicate basis and employs
case study methods. Wherever possible training is organised as a team exercise to inculcate team spirit so
essential to the harmonious working of branches and departments and to the development of desirable
personal qualities in the individual. Further
recognition of the importance of character development is shown by the
sponsoring of young men for Outward Bound
and Brathay Hall Courses. We appreciate to
the full that it is the quality of our domestic performance which underpins the successful operation and progressive
future development of the bank.
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