Employee retention

Meritrust Credit Union in Wichita is giving $400 to each of its 370 employees to start or grow a rainy day fund.

The financial institutions in American Banker's Best Banks to Work For ranking are skilled in hiring new talent and ensuring those employees want to stay.

Neglect of the employees who personally interact with customers can undermine even the most carefully crafted business strategy.

When running a bank branch, there are certain employee behaviors that must be nonnegotiable. But that still leaves plenty of room for improvisation and creativity.

The Truist Leadership Institute is part of a growing corporate leadership-training industry that says it's focused on creating more empathetic leaders. But critics decry the institute's blurring of personal and professional boundaries, and question its scientific backing.

Putting the pressure on employees to return to the office could cost financial companies their leadership.

Oregon Community Credit Union in Eugene is seeing employee productivity and satisfaction increase, but is still wary of declaring the program a success.

Wise bank managers make sure that they are training employees for their next roles, and creating a deep bench of versatile talent.

The banks that succeed in keeping top talent, from the branch to the corporate headquarters, do it by facilitating and encouraging employees' professional development.

Oregon Community Credit Union is piloting a new schedule to address rising absenteeism and concerns about stress among its call center staff.

Hannah Olson, CEO of disability compliance solution Disclo, explains how she moved through days of uncertainty when her startup's bank failed.

Almost 70% of bank chief executives surveyed by KPMG said they envision fully in-office working environments within the next three years. That is close to double the average of other white-collar industries.

Even the most passionate workers may need a more flexible schedule, a hybrid office or unique training. Credit unions that want to hire and retain those people need to not only meet those needs, but also know when to help them move on to a new employer, experts say.

Refining internal processes and reassessing daily workflows is more important than ever at a time when bankers are frequently asked to do more with less.

The nation's three largest lenders — Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group — said they are allowing more flexibility, eschewing a minimum number of office days per week, as experienced elsewhere.

The institution took the lead spot in American Banker's annual ranking of Best Credit Unions to Work For in part by giving employees freedom and flexibility in how they do their jobs.

Merely telling employees what to do may get the job done, but telling them why they're doing it fuels engagement.

As the industry manages high turnover, more companies are expressing dissatisfaction. Among firms that switch to a new bank, the previous bank's lack of knowledge about their business is an increasingly common reason, according to a recent survey.