Ethics and Sales Training in the Financial Services Industry

Originally Published on TrainingIndustry.com.

In September of 2016 news broke that Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for “widespread illegal” practices, including opening accounts without customers’ knowledge. In the weeks since then, details have emerged about a “pressure-cooker sales culture” in which employees say they felt they had to cheat the system in order to achieve quotas and keep their jobs.

Some argue that Wells Fargo is not alone in this type of behavior. How can scandals of this nature be prevented? What should financial services organizations do to ensure that ethical standards are followed by their employees at all levels? One key answer is to examine training practices.