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The stocks of 10 community banks will be added to the Nasdaq ABA Community Bank Index next week while the stocks of four others will be removed.
December 12 -
First Horizon paying employees to engage in physical activity; BB&T chief Kelly King not the Ayn Rand disciple former chief John Allison is; and more.
August 20
For the past few months, employees at Virginia Commerce Bank frequently paced back and forth in the hallways and bolted out of the building.
But there was no cause for alarm.
The Arlington bank launched a 12-week walking competition in September called "stepitup," which counted employees' steps using pedometers given to each contestant. Its goal was to promote workers' health.
"One element we know that strikes a chord with people is competition," says Shannon Vega, vice president of marketing and communications director. "And it was heavy competition, I assure you."
The results, announced Friday, showed just how competitive Virginia Commerce's employees can be.
More than 72% (or 231) of the bank's employees participated, breaking into 48 teams. They walked nearly 162.2 million steps, with the winning five-person team taking nearly 12 million steps. Members of the winner, called JavaWakaBeezzz, received a bejeweled Converse sneaker on a pedestal and a day off.
"We were very impressed with the amount of participation. ... We just took it and ran with it," Vega says, no pun intended.
To keep employees motivated during the three-month process, Virginia Commerce awarded prizes every four weeks to those who met minimum goals. Rewards included gift cards to local retailers provided by an insurance brokerage partner. The bank also made team T-shirts for the group with the best name: Hell on High Heels.
Human Resources Director Trish Smith spearheaded the program, which was adapted from and supported by UnitedHealthcare. The bank is looking for its next health-related challenge this spring, Vega says.
