HOW MANY OTHER INDUSTRIES CAN BOAST THAT 97% OF WORKERS WOULD RECOMMEND THEIR EMPLOYER TO POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES? THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 BEST COMMUNITY BANKS TO WORK FOR AWARDS TELL US HOW THEY KEEP EMPLOYEES FEELING FULFILLED IN THEIR ROLES AND EAGER TO SUCCEED. METHODOLOGY Each self-nominated community bank's full-time employees were asked to complete a workplace survey hosted by Avannis, an independent research agency. Access to the survey was protected by a PIN unique to each bank. Only community banks that met a minimum of 40% employee participation were eligible for recognition. The survey consisted of 48 scaled responses, and from that an " index " or composite score was calculated. The index represents the average percentage of employees who gave the top rating (Strongly Agree) across all questions. For example, a bank whose employees selected only the most positive responses would achieve an index score of 100%. Eligible banks were then sorted into five asset classes. The community bank with the highest index score in each asset class was chosen as the winner in that class. independentbanker.org // 33http://www.independentbanker.org