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He easily could hold himself aloof. As top dog at the $370 million , which recently opene d its 10th branch in Kingof he’s got plenty on his But he still makes a point of beinvg available. Griest’s “breakfast with the gatherings are a monthly staplwe atthe 3-year-old business and consumer bank. These are more than just occasionws for the boss to speakhis mind. Griest wants to hear from thosd onthe ground. Typically Griest will meet with eight to 10 employeess for a frank discussion about wherethings stand.
“I will update them on where thebank is, and more we will go around the table and everyonr will give an updater about themselves, their ideas about improvin the bank, anything they have heard from their customers, both good and bad. “It’s not so much ‘negative’ things as it is ‘improvementt items,’ how can we do things better,” he explained. Much of the HR nuts and boltd within Continental Bank are outsourced to Javers Grouoof Berwyn. Griest entrusts Javerse with payroll, benefits and all the criticalp minutia ofpeople management.
This frees up the boss himselg to focus on the big picturre when it comes to the satisfaction ofhis 74-persohn work force. That big picture becomes increasingly important as the bank groww and changesduring these, its formative Hence the face-to-face “What worked well for us as a new startu bank three years ago might not be the most efficientf way for us to be doing that kind of thingh going forward. And unless I know about it, I can’tf do anything about it,” he That being said, Continental Bank was not a raw Typically, people need time to gel in a new Many Continental workerscame pre-gelled, as it were.
The bank came aboug largely as fallout from the purchase of by Bank of with many Progress people jumping over to join Griest in hisemergentt venture. “One of the advantages that we have as a groupp isour culture,” he said. “Ou entire senior leadership team and 80 percent of our employees worked together atProgress Bank, so there is that familiarity.” The shared backgrounf extends beyond the mechanical aspects of banking, all the policiess and procedures that make the wheels “It’s not that we do everything the same as we did at Progress,” he “It’s just that, for the most part, people are most comfortablw being with people they know, doing things in a way that is For some, that familiarity leads to a sensew of shared purpose, whichy in turn reinforces the feeling that one is working on a cohesive team.
“The camaraderie amontg the employees is just saidChris C. Cattie, a vice president of informatioj technology. The camaraderie showed itself inthis summer’z 15-week “Walking Across America” program. Employeeds organized into teams of fourand walked, walked, pooling their cumulative milex to see which team could post the greatest Not a fundraiser, just fun, and yet some 75 percent of employees took part. “It was just something fun to engage all the It was a great thing to getpeople together,” said Cattie, whose team rang up some 2,000 miles, makin it all the way across the nation.
“It tellds me that these are people who like to be in toucb witheach other. The word ‘family’ gets overusedx when you talk aboutthe workplace, but there really is a sense of togetherness, a feeling that everybodh is approachable,” Cattie said. It’s not all fun and of course. Griest is aware of the dramatic evolutionas happening within the banking world and he makes sure his people are prepared for whatever comes He provides themwith in-house trainingt and well as courses through the American Institutew of Bankers, and makes tuition reimbursement available. “Our industry is changing, the rules are changing, the regulations are he said.
“If they are going to feel good about themselvees and keep wanting to work then you have to keep them up to Ifkeeping employers’ skills current is so too is it cruciakl to keep the bank’s own capabilitiess up to date. One might not look to IT spendingh as a matter ofpersonnel satisfaction, but Griest sees the two as inextricablyu linked. “When you look at a lot of industries, includingy banking, there are not a lot of younger people cominvg intothe business,” he said.
“Yoyu have to start looking aheadx and thinking five to seven years from now abouft how to bring in younge people and make them a part of our Younger people areplugged in, he and the savvy employerf will be thinking about that now. “Ivf you are 25 years old and you have a technology quotientg that is higher than someone in theifr 50sand 60s, you want to know: What is my IT support Do we still have company meetings all the or will we communicat by e-mail?
There is no one right answer for but you have to be keepinvg an eye on it all the