Page 16 - BusinessWest May 27, 2024

“It’s hard to be a differentiator when all banks sell the same products, but
I feel we are different.”
>>
Country
“But while there’s less foot traffic, we’re still there to serve people, allowing customers to bank how they want.”
Other elements of the bank experience have changed over the years as well, including how — and where — employees work.
“Since the pandemic, it’s been a different way of working,” she told BusinessWest. “For some time, we were fully remote. Over time, we went with a more flexible work arrangement. So the average employee works three days in and two days out. There are some with a little more flexibility based on what kind of job it is.”
While some employees prefer to come in five days a week, and do so, McGovern added, for most of them — those who don’t deal face to face with the public, anyway — working remotely at least part of the time is a valued part of their job. “I don’t see how we can be competitive without that. I know different institutions that have lost staff when they requested people come in five days.
“So we’ll continue to do a hybrid approach,” she went on. “It seems to be working. The staff seems to be happy. We don’t see that changing — in the foreseeable future, anyway.”
Making a Difference
McGovern also doesn’t want to change a culture at Country Bank that she feels benefits both employees and customers.
“It’s hard to be a differentiator when all banks sell the same products, but I feel we are different,” she said. “Our peo- ple are spending a lot of their life doing something they like in an institution they like with peers they like. And we’re trying to keep that culture going.”
The challenge, she said, is understanding that employees want and appreciate hybrid work schedules, while maintain- ing a positive office culture whether they’re in the office or not.
“It’s a fine line managing both aspects,” she said. “But I think we’ve got a good thing going, and hopefully I can keep it going into the future.” BW
Continued from page 14
a big commercial bank that’s not as worried about the individ- ual communities that they serve,” she said. “As a mutual bank, obviously it’s important to make money, but making money also allows us to give back. So we’re trying to give back to
our communities. In a challenging time of food insecurity and other challenges out there, it’s important to give back to local nonprofits. They need our support to do their important work. That’s valuable to our staff, and I believe it’s valuable to our customers as well.”
Also of value to customers is a physical presence in their communities, even at a time when online banking is dominant.
“There are differences of opinion among financial institu- tions, some of whom are pulling back from their banking cen- ters,” McGovern said. “But we feel it’s important to support the different ways our customers want to bank.
“There are plenty of the younger generation who don’t want to talk to people, who would prefer to do everything online; self-service is important to them,” she added. “But we have a good component of customers who like to go in and talk to people face to face. Even younger people want to sit down and talk to somebody when they’re buying their first house; it’s an important, life-changing kind of event.”
In addition, she said, “I feel it’s important that we show
our presence. It’s hard to say that you’re in Springfield with- out having signage there. We have a business center in Tower Square, but it’s not quite as visible as having a branch location with a sign.”
Country Bank has consolidated in some cases as well — for instance, it used to have three branches in Ware, but now only houses its headquarters and a digital banking center there. And many branches are staffed with fewer employees than in years past, to reflect how many customers bank online only.
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16 MAY 27, 2024
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