Western Independent Banker - May/June 2009 - (Page 16)

ASSET APPRECIATION: continued from page 15 bank, and set the standard for the service you want your bank to be known for providing. Better banking begins with making a positive customer impression. To that end, creating a sales culture within your financial institution can be achieved with the optimal mix of observation, training and measurement at the branch level. The highly appreciable assets that walk out the front door of the branch each night are the keys to creating cross-selling opportunities, optimizing customer experience and sustaining customer relationships. When properly motivated and incentivized, your bank employees can be the driving force behind increasing market share and maintaining customer loyalty. Joe Gillen is CEO of Pinnacle Financial Strategies in Houston, Texas. He can be contacted at 866-737-1235 or visit www.pinnstrat.com. Bank Operations Prof itability Con sulting and Check Overdraft Protection Offered by Pinnacle Financial Strategies are WIB-endorsed Value & Income Program Partners (VIP). TODAY’S MARKETPLACE continued from page 13 Develop an ongoing program to enhance the employee experience An onboarding program needs to be about more than learning policies and procedures. Brand orientation is a critical component to the training process. How can your new employee sell your products and services, answer customer questions, or maximize your marketing efforts if they don’t know the following: Who are you? What makes your bank unique? What differentiates you in the market and what is your competitive advantage? Brand orientation should cover your bank’s history, position in the marketplace, your offering, your brand promise, how to protect the integrity of your brand, and how your brand applies to everyone. Brand orientation helps create a bond and a connection between the new employee and the financial institution. The bank becomes more than a business. It becomes a living organization that serves a purpose in the community. Find ways to energize employees at the 30, 60, and 90 day marks and beyond An effective onboarding program has an engagement process ranging from 3 months to 6 months, and recognizes key points in this timeline to address the standard emotions of a new job. Typically, the 30-day mark can be a delusionary time – what the employee thought the job and the bank was going to be like may not be reality. At the 30-day mark, sit down and talk with the new employee. Find out if the new hire perceives this to be the job they were expecting it to be. What obstacles exist that prevent them from doing their job or reaching their goals? Ask them what is the best thing that has happened so far during their employment and what they’ve noticed that could be improved upon. You should also factor in testing during this onboarding period. At the conclusion of the first 90 days, new employees should also be tested on what they’ve learned so far. This will allow you to identify further areas of coaching for continued learning. Remember it’s important to inquire about how the employee feels things are progressing. It’s not just about if the employee has met your expectations. Find out if the financial institution and the workplace have met the employee’s expectations. Rebecca Doepke is director of culture for NewGround, a design and implementation firm serving the financial industry, based in St. Louis, Mo. She may be reached at 314-440-8420 or rdoepke@newground.com. We would like to thank the advertisers who helped make this publication possible. www.audit-one.com | 2 Locations: San Jose 408-980-8099 | Santa Fe Springs 562-802-3581 16 www.wib.org Western Independent Banker http://www.pinnstrat.com http://www.audit-one.com http://www.wib.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Western Independent Banker - May/June 2009

Western Independent Banker - May/June 2009 Contents A Message from the Chairman How to Keep Employees Happy … On a Shoestring Budget Keeping Good Employees in Today’s Marketplace Asset Appreciation: Front Line Employees Hold the Secret to Balancing Customer Loyalty and Profitability Great Places to Work – WIB Member Banks Why Real, Live Bankers Still Matter Getting the Best Results from an Executive Search Best Practices in Lender Incentive Programs The Enlightened Control Freak: How to Lead So Your Team Will Love, Follow and Work Like Crazy for You Even in These Wild and Tough Economic Times The Frightened Leader Don’t Train – Educate! WIB Service Corporation Report WIB Calendar New Members Advertiser.com Index of Advertisers

Western Independent Banker - May/June 2009

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