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As companies mature, they often face a dilemma of how to accelerate business growth without completely changing their business model.
Home State Bank in Jefferson, Iowa arrived at this crossroads in 2014. HSB was healthy and heading in the right direction, but they were looking for alternative solutions to better serve their rural community and accelerate growth. The decision was made to change their company culture and become more of a sales-driven bank.
Specifically, HSB needed tools to develop a consistent interview process to hire the best candidates for their openings and the bank needed a development plan for managers.
Home State Bank decided to implement the hiring and team-building tools offered by ZERORISK HR. Not only did HSB achieve their goals, but they were recognized as the Extraordinary Bank of the Year award winner in 2016 and a Hall of Fame recipient in 2017.
Home State Bank Needed to Differentiate Itself from Competitors
One of the reasons why this award-winning bank sought a new direction was to differentiate itself from competitors.
Home State Bank believed they were already proficient serving customers through their relationships within the community. However, to accelerate growth, HSB management decided they needed to become sales-driven. This required a culture shift to expand the capabilities of their teams.
Instead of employees operating in silos to reach basic success metrics, the bank needed to achieve a greater sum of the parts. ZERORISK HR was able to support this objective using our Team Development program. The program helped HSB managers communicate more effectively with their direct reports, unlock the thinking patterns of HSB employees to discover how to motivate them, and create a clearer vision for each team within the bank.
HSB also utilized a personal development plan for managers. The managers appreciated the opportunity to describe their own success, evaluate strengths and weaknesses within the organization, and have quality discussions that allowed them to open up about their challenges.
Individuals were also able to set 90-day goals that they revisited every three months to evaluate their progress. Because accountability was built into the company culture, there was no shying away from the results! Then, using the results, Home State Bank was able to develop a consistent plan to fuel growth throughout the organization.
How did HSB achieve this objective implementing company-wide change? It started by enhancing their culture to accelerate growth.
Top Management: The Key to Change
The decision to change started at the top with Home State Bank CEO Sid Jones.
Mr. Jones was committed to a plan to improve teamwork, implement a new company culture, establish a hiring process, and embed management training into the culture. He also committed to holding individual contributors accountable to follow the process.
One of the big decisions during this process was committing to the development of a culture coordinator position that was filled by Danille Curtis. In order to implement wholesale changes to the culture, Mr. Jones knew the right person would be very impactful. The role would be a game changer and with the right person in place it would positively impact the whole organization specifically in areas like customer satisfaction and employee engagement which would lead to growth and greater profitability.
We were already a really healthy organization, but we knew that more was possible, says Danille. We knew that more had to start with culture. Right from the start, management and ownership were onboard. They knew the importance of having someone organize all of those changes and to facilitate all of the changes that needed to happen.
After implementing these changes, the Culture Survey Score at Home Stank Bank increased five percent from a 5.8 score in 2015 to a 6.22 score out of 7.00 in 2017 Now, because of the bank's reputation, people in the community come to HSB looking for jobs, which has allowed the bank to become an employer of choice. This means a higher-quality talent pool to choose from to select the best of the best to fill available positions.
HSB still needed a process in place to hire and retain the best candidates. This was important not only to ensure they were hiring top talent but also to make sure the talent was a good match for the culture they worked hard to create through their top-down approach.
ZERORISK HR Provided Reliable Hiring Tool
As part of their growth strategy, Home State Bank sought an assessment tool to evaluate candidates. HSB also desired a consistent interview process.
ZERORISK HR worked with the bank to structure a hiring process that uses a pre-employment assessment and behavioral interview to obtain objective, measurable information about each candidate. Then, using the assessment results and information from the behavioral interview, the bank was able to compare the top candidates for each position to the benchmarks that predict success in their company.
This process was embedded in the company culture, helping create a structured environment to make hiring decisions. Additionally, because the management team bought into the process, Personal development plans have been created for each employee. By updating these plans each quarter, employees understand how their role fits into the overall strategic direction of the bank.
By following this process, HSB was also able to achieve one of their key objectives to accelerate business growth: implement a consistent hiring process.
7 Statistics About Home State Bank That Make Us Proud
It is very rewarding to hear stories about how the clients we partner with are able to use ZERORISK HR tools to grow their business and differentiate from competitors.
These are seven of the most exciting statistics that HSB shared with us about the results from working with our company.
Total Assets: 54 percent growth from 2012 to 2016.
Total Loans: 61 percent growth from 2012 to 2016.
Bank Size: $100 million increase over a six-year period through 2016.
Top 10 Small Iowa Workplaces: Already ranked high at #7 in 2016 before improving to #3 in 2017.
Sales Culture Score: 11 percent increase from 5.40 in 2015 to 5.97 in 2016.
Customer Service Score: 6 percent increase from 6.13 in 2015 to 6.48 in 2016.
Culture Survey Score: 5 percent increase from 5.8 in 2015 to 6.22 in 2017
More importantly than these statistics, HSB has become a pillar of their community. This award-winning bank has helped farmers become more successful on their land, helped expand the local medical center in their area, and reached into their community to positively impact individuals.
We Are Here to Support Your Organization
At ZERORISK we believe in a world where people love their jobs, bosses, and company culture. A world where bosses are great coaches, and they lead and develop their teams to consistent achievement of their goals and the development of their skills. A world where businesses innovate, grow, and contribute to the betterment of the their community, the economy, and the world. Home State Bank is a perfect example of this. We are excited to be their partner and help them continue to achieve success.
If your company is in a similar position needing to accelerate growth through a culture change or reliable hiring process, ZERORISK HR is available to help form a plan. Contact our team today to discuss your needs and how we can support your organization.
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