Donald Doyle
President and CEO, Webster Five
Age: 59
Industry experience: 35 years
When Webster Five wanted to expand its customer base into the Worcester area’s growing immigrant communities, president and CEO Donald Doyle decided the bank needed a more holistic approach to diversity and inclusion. He created a 15-person committee to promote diversity internally and develop external initiatives for reaching out to the community. Earlier this year, Doyle joined more than 900 other presidents and CEOs nationwide in the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge, which also includes Berkshire Bank, State Street, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and KeyBank.
Doyle spoke with Banker & Tradesman in March about the pledge, which requires CEOs to support open dialogue around diversity and inclusion, collaborate with other companies on the initiative, implement unconscious bias training in the organization and share diversity and inclusion plans with the board of directors.
Q: Why did you decide to commit to the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge?
A: This has been an ongoing journey for the bank. We started our diversity and inclusion conversations several years ago. I think we’ve been very successful in adjusting the culture to be more inclusive and having a more diverse culture here at the bank. It’s important for the organization, but in my mind, it has to start right from the top.
And by the top I mean myself as the president and CEO of Webster Five and also the board. I’ve had numerous conversations with the board that this is an important initiative for the bank, and they completely agree. This pledge makes a statement not just to the employees, but it makes a statement to our customers and it makes a statement to the community.
It’s also important because studies have shown that it’s just a good business practice. If you have a diverse employee base, you get better solutions. For example, if you’re trying to develop a new product or some new technology, and you’re sitting around in a room to figure out strategy or tactical plans, if you have the whole group from the same economic background, same race, same age, you’re going to get a very different solution than if you had a more diverse employee group that came from different backgrounds.
Q: What else will the pledge accomplish?
A: If you’re trying to develop products and services for the community that you serve, which obviously we do, then I think it’s better to have an employee base that reflects the community that you’re working in. The Worcester area is growing. The population and communities that we serve are becoming more diverse. They’re looking for financial solutions or products that best fit their needs. The employees and the customers and the community – they all intertwine. Having a diversity and inclusion culture, I think, really is the best practice from a business perspective and also from the standpoint that it’s just the right thing to do.
We’re pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, but like I said it is a journey. It’s not something that you just issue a memo and say, “Ok, we’re going to be more diverse and inclusive.” It takes hard work, it takes training, and it takes a pledge of everybody right from the top – myself and the board and all the employees – to commit to that initiative. It’s something that we’ve been working on, and as it evolved, making the pledge continues to solidify the initiative that we’re trying to accomplish here.
Q: Were there barriers to making these changes?
A: From a workforce standpoint I would say, no. We’ve been very transparent, and the employees have been very honest with us that they feel that this is the right thing to do. It’s been all–in from an employee base.
From a customer base, it’s the issue of developing trust with certain groups. I think if you talk to any CEO of a bank, one of the challenges with regards to developing relationships with first–generation immigrants is developing trust. A lot of the groups don’t have trust in financial institutions. A lot of them don’t have banking relationships. They get paid on a weekly basis with a check, they bring that check to a check–cashing business, and they’re paying a pretty significant fee. If they had an account at a bank with direct deposit, they wouldn’t have to pay any fees.
We have an outreach program to develop relationships with some of the key players that are in high standing with some of these groups. It could be a local attorney that represents a particular group. It could be a real estate agent that maybe has strong relationships with a particular group. It could be someone who’s involved with a nonprofit that’s providing services. Those are the types of people that we have been developing relationships with, so they can develop a trust with Webster Five and then in turn refer us to those potential clients.
It isn’t something you just snap you’re fingers at and it’s going to change overnight. It’s a lot of hard work. But it’s fun too because you’re developing relationships with individuals and organizations that maybe in the past you would not have reached out to.
Q: The pledge requires training related to unconscious biases. How did employees react to that training?
A: We went through the training and then the instructor went around the room and asked, “What did you take away from this?” Some people had biases that they didn’t realize, so it was healthy for them to recognize it and to include that in their day-to-day lives, not just at the bank but externally as well. And I think they appreciated the fact that they now feel comfortable that they can have an uncomfortable conversation talking about it here at the bank. Part of our overall training is to make people feel comfortable that they can have these uncomfortable conversations. It was great to learn some things, but it was, I think, a good training from the standpoint of both recognizing our biases and creating an environment where you feel comfortable that we can talk about it.
Doyle’s Five Favorite Travel Destinations:
- Paris, France
- Florence, Italy
- London, England
- Dublin, Ireland
- Hawaii
