Rich Spencer

Pride and delight: That’s how our entire team at North Easton Savings Bank felt when ranked the No. 1 Top Workplace USA and No. 1 Workplace by the Boston Globe in our employee-size category. That in addition to being named a best-in-state bank for the second consecutive year. 

Achieving these heights didn’t come overnight. They are the result of a multi-year plan centered around investments in our platforms, community and equally important, our people.  

We all know what it’s like to walk into a business and immediately sense that employees aren’t happy to be there. That is definitely not the vibe here at North Easton Savings Bank because ours is a culture that rests on the notion that success comes from empowerment.  

We accomplish this by providing our employees with an engaging environment of transparency and open communication where everyone understands their role within the organization.  

Pay Bump, Task Automation Improved Experience 

We take pride in providing our team with a rewarding and enjoyable work atmosphere that allows each member to attain their highest potential and personal fulfillment, and it shows.  This conscious decision to focus on our workplace environment sets us apart from other banks in our size category, resulting in regional and national “top workplace” rankings and the type of recognition typically reserved for larger national banks. And our customers feel the difference when interacting with empowered employees because they are more effective at helping them.  The proven end result is a consistently growing customer base. 

Establishing a nurturing and transparent culture is a thoughtful process and requires a deep dive into what employees need and want, starting with satisfactory salaries. To that end, and to raise the base pay for all of our employees, we promoted our entire teller line to relationship manager status, which came with a raise to their hourly wage. 

We have also introduced robotic process automation (RPA). This machine-learning mechanization takes care of basic yes/no decision-making, freeing up time for employees to concentrate on higher priorities. And no – the incorporation of RPA has not eliminated any jobs, but rather has allowed employees to use this newly freed up time to train for other posts within our organization. 

Our internal Shopify site, formerly used exclusively to order in-house banking supplies, now also offers high-end clothing and other custom merchandise with the NESB logo for employees who earn or win “shopping” gift certificates. We’ve found that many employees also use the site to purchase merchandise for family and friends – a great testament to the pride they take in their workplace. 

Another highly popular initiative is our mutual recognition program where employees acknowledge colleagues via the company intranet. (By the way, the intranet itself is a great tool that allows another line of open communication among all team members, and where we can celebrate all wins as a group.) A monetary award and a day off are given each quarter to nominated employees and the most recognized team members are welcomed into the Presidents Club, giving them a platform to lend their voice and share observations and opinions directly with our CEO and COO.  

Frequent employee socials give our team time to step away from desks and enjoy each other’s company across locations and across departments. Similarly, volunteer opportunities further cement a genuine desire to work as a team. Spending time together on charitable activities outside the office, such as participation in local food drives and days devoted to Habitat for Humanity builds, allows employees from all areas of the bank to get to know each other better. 

We Know We Can Do More 

We believe we are unique in our focus on employees, and we can see that our efforts are truly taking hold. Still, we know there is more we can do, so we constantly search to identify ways to further deepen this environment we’ve created. We ask team members if they weren’t working here already, would they choose to work here? Would they encourage others to work here? And would they bank here? We take the answers to these questions seriously.  

“We exist to invest our time and resources locally to improve the quality of living, working, and raising a family in the communities we serve” is the newly revised mission statement here at North Easton Savings Bank. And while our statement is reflective of what most community banks are known for, the difference is that we commit to elevating this mission in everything we do. We truly believe this.  

The shifts we’ve made in our experiences for our employees – fulfilling our mission in part by investing in our most important resource – have had positive outcomes that radiate outward and are seen, noticed, and felt not just by our employees and customers, but beyond our service communities to the greater banking industry.  

We’re proud of the workplace environment we have created, not only for our employees, but for our customers. By empowering employees and establishing a culture of transparency and collaboration, we can offer the best banking services and experience to customers. And isn’t that the bottom line? 

Rich Spencer is president and CEO of North Easton Savings Bank, with over $1.4 billion in assets.