Independent Banker - January 2025 - 55

prioritize it. Lance Hall, president and
CEO, emphasizes that customer focus has
dictated the approximately $10 billionasset
bank's structure.
Each of Origin Bank's varied
geographical markets-from urban
areas of Dallas, Fort Worth and
Houston to north Louisiana, south
Alabama, Florida and Mississippi-
has a market president to lead local
operations and keep a pulse on the
community. " Empowered, intelligent
people close to the customer create a
better experience, " says Hall.
The community bank also recently
created the role of chief experience
offi cer. " We work in an industry that
is super commoditized, " says Ryan
Kilpatrick, EVP and chief brand and
communications offi cer. " To compete,
we [focus on how we can] be more
responsive, deliver faster [and] make
customers feel a certain way.' "
The chief experience offi cer works as
an internal consultant within the bank.
" [He] is the customer champion inside
the organization, " says Kilpatrick. " He's
fi nding ways that he can break down
the silos that he fi nds. "
HOW MERCHANTS & MARINE
HELPS EMPLOYEES GROW
If your community bank is reorganizing, it's imperative
to help employees navigate the organization and chart
potential career paths.
" As a baseline, community banks need to provide
clear organizational structure and clear criteria for
promotions, " says Valerie Utsey, ICBA's EVP and chief
people off icer. " The transparency piece means a lot. If
people can see the information themselves, it helps them
make self-determinations about whether they're meeting
the criteria. "
Merchants & Marine in Pascagoula, Miss., off ers
self-paced promotions for frontline employees, giving
employees considerable leverage over their own
advancement. A level-one retail banker, for example,
can complete assignments over a couple of years,
demonstrate proficiency to a retail bank manager and
promote herself. " We really want motivated people, " says
Clayton Legear, the bank's president and CEO.
Merchants & Marine Bank also has a job posting board
that lists positions across its family of brands. " People are
moving from division to division, " Legear says. " People
who want growth opportunities can grow within a division,
but we also make employees aware of every single
opening. They can move and stay within the culture. "
Ingrained culture in
each department
Tompkins Community Bank has
worked to embed cultural and
development roles within each
department. Mastin explains that the
bank completely restructured its HR
department, dividing it into one side led
by a culture manager and another led
by a manager of data and analytics.
While there's a lot of buzz around
new, culture-building titles such as
chief culture offi cer, many banks, like
Tompkins and Origin, are opting to
embed these responsibilities as widely
as they can in the organization.
" It's a great testament to the vision
and practice of Origin that today we
don't have the position of director of
culture strategies, " says Kilpatrick, who
previously held that title at Origin. " It
permeates through the company,
and there is ownership through
the departments as to what the
culture is. "
Hall emphasizes that Origin's
focus on culture is central to the
bank's business strategy. " Culture is
a diff erentiator when it's connected
to strategy, " he says. " We said, 'How
do we create a culture that's so strong
that it attracts banking teams to us, so
we can grow organically?' "
Origin maintains a culture council
that meets quarterly through
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Independent Banker - January 2025

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