West Plains Bank and Trust's chief executive said the company's turnover is low and its benefits are robust — from 100% paid medical coverage to an employee-stock award plan.
Yet, President and CEO David Gohn said, the key to a long-tenured staff and high employee-satisfaction ratings is the company's emphasis on collaboration and constructive training that hastens career development.
"It all starts with culture for us," Gohn said of the West Plains, Missouri-based bank. "We always want people to be helpful, not only to customers but to each other. Anyone can ask questions at any time and get answers. And that attracts people who want to learn and advance."
Gohn said that it begins with him, as the $635 million-asset bank's leader, but he and staffers across the organization with seniority embrace mentorship roles, cross-training each other and teaching newer hires. He said employees are encouraged to succeed, and they are coached — not punished — when they fail.
"We never berate people," said Gohn, who has helmed the company since 2017. "We praise but we also help to course correct. People take on the culture, become part of it. … They come to think like employee-owners."
West Plains came in at No. 11 on American Banker's Best Banks to Work For ranking this year. The ranking is determined in collaboration with the Best Companies Group, and honorees are selected based on employee responses to a survey measuring different aspects of workplace satisfaction and a review of each company's policies and benefits.
The results from the employee surveys reveal how the values that West Plains tries to exemplify are critical to being an employer of choice. For instance, 91% of employees at banks on this year's ranking said that there was a spirit of cooperation within their organizations. For the banks that applied but didn't make the cut, that figure was 82%. As for career development, 88% of employees at institutions that were considered one of the Best Banks to Work For said they received "as much ongoing training" as they needed, compared with 78% of staff members at the institutions with scores too low to be on the ranking.
Nathan Cropper, a West Plains senior loan officer, worked for much larger companies earlier in his career, from a megabank to a big regional lender. He prefers the community focus of West Plains. Cropper said the bank prioritizes excellent service, long-term customer relationships and stability. Some larger competitors, he said, often emphasize fierce competition in pursuit of near-term profits — and fall short on long-term reliability for both customers and employees.
"There was a lot of uncertainty at bigger banks. West Plains is much different," said Cropper, who has worked at the bank for several years. "It's by far the best place to work I've ever been."
Cropper also said the bank perpetually pursues improvement. "It's very collaborative, a place always willing to make smart changes, to evolve," he said. "And the leadership is transparent, always stepping up to explain why things are evolving, how we intend to improve, how everyone is a part of that process and is important to make that happen.
"Yes, the benefits here are great," Cropper added. "But it's so much more than that."
Industry trends
At a time when deposit costs are high following multiple
As a result, an increasing number of institutions are announcing job cuts to draw expenses and bolster future profits.
The Pittsburgh-based
Another case in point:
To be sure, West Plains is not immune to the
Tim Scholten, founder and president of the community bank and credit union consultancy Visible Progress, said the high-rate era in which the industry hovers in 2023 threatens to slow the economy and drive up loan losses.
"More challenging credit times are ahead," Scholten said.
However, should
Chris Stanley, Moody's Analytics' senior director and Americas banking industry practice lead, offered a similar take. Talent, he said, will be critical for banks that rebound once rates level off.
"Setbacks lay the foundation for comebacks," Stanley said. "Savvy bankers have a multi-scenario strategy and a truly integrated risk management program to manage duration gaps, rationalize risk and prioritize profitable relationships.
"Expect immediate action to manage margins," Stanley added. But, he advised banks, "avoid confusing blunt cost cutting" with strategic shifts needed to manage through periods of weakness or volatility.
Community focus
Cropper, the senior lender, said he is confident West Plains is taking a long-term view. He said the bank might, during a lean period, delay filling a vacant position. But layoffs are unheard of.
"West Plains does everything right in terms of what's right for people, and that in turn is what ensures everything gets done right for customers," Cropper said.
"Your word is your bond here, and we live up to our word for customers because we are well staffed with people who care," he added.
Those same people are highly active in community events, too, Gohn said.
"We're extremely involved in our communities," he said. The bank routinely supports fundraisers and provides flexibility for employees who volunteer. "Giving back is a huge part of our culture."
Gohn shared one example: The bank provides branded debit cards for local schools and for a hospital foundation. Each time one of those cards is swiped, he said, three cents get donated to the customer's school of choice or the health care organization.
"It's really popular," Gohn said, noting the program has raised tens of thousands of dollars. "It's gotten to be real money."
These are the types of efforts that not only engage charitable-minded employees, he said, but also deepen ties with customers and catch the attention of prospective clients, helping the bank to continually ingrain itself as an integral and critically important component in the communities it services.
Michael Jamesson, a principal at the bank consulting firm Jamesson Associates, said this kind of focus on local communities is a hallmark of the best local lenders, especially those that stick to their knitting in turbulent economic times.
He said the specter of loan losses looms large when the economy slows, and community bankers in particular tend to pull back on their bread-and-butter small-business lending and, in many cases, consumer credit as well. This often elicits conversations about how to cut costs.
But the best banks typically have financial buffers in place that allow them to weather storms, focus on talent retention, current customer satisfaction and lay the runway for future growth.
"And the fact is, it's competitive out there for talent," Jamesson said. "It can be hard to keep good people. You have to work at it."
