Connecticut Banking Magazine • Third Quarter 2019
CBA WELCOMES FIRST FEMALE CHAIR CYNTHIA MERKLE continued from page 17
THE BANK PUTS A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON PERSONNEL TRAINING, AS EVIDENCED BY THE NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL CSFM GRADUATES OVER THE YEARS; HOW DOES THE BANK SELECT ITS CANDIDATES AND DO YOU FIND THEIR ATTENDANCE TO THE PROGRAM BENEFICIAL? We believe strongly in investing in our team members, whether through schools such as the ABA’s Stonier Graduate School and the CSFM, or providing access to professional certification programs or licensing agencies. Fundamentally, we believe this added expertise is beneficial to all of our stakeholders (Employees, Customers and Communities). We work closely with our Learning and Development team in identifying individuals throughout the organization that have expressed an interest in further development, or individuals we believe have the attributes for succeeding in some of these programs. Each year our management team reviews the nominees and prioritizes the candidates based upon the program. Many of our leaders today have either gone through these educational programs or gained additional expertise through the various certifications that are available in the industry. The investment has been well worth it! u
We’ve also launched a “USB Gives Back” initiative which empowers our employees to contribute to causes near and dear to their hearts, as well as nominate their fellow team members for a Community Hero award in honor of their countless volunteer efforts and above and beyond willingness to lend a hand. It’s because of the dedication and commitment of the entire USB team that we are able to touch the lives of our neighbors and communities in so many ways. WHAT IS THE BANK DOING TO ATTRACT THE NEXT GENERATION OF CUSTOMERS, THE MILLENNIALS? We are working very hard to remain relevant in this sector. We spend a great deal of time on product selection and implementation. That is paying off as we recently introduced a number of mobile functions to our customer base and we are seeing an increased engagement from this sector. We also believe the USB team members are key in carrying our message, so we are working just as hard on engagement with them. We recently put a “Think Tank” challenge out to them to develop new ways of attracting new core customers and as a result we have five teams competing. I am eager to see their presentations and learn who the winners are.
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