Employee Engagement and Acquisition at Branches in the Work-from-Home Economy

The banking landscape has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the rise of remote work and changes in employee expectations impacting traditional branch operations. As financial institutions navigate this evolving environment, branch leaders face the dual challenge of engaging existing employees while attracting new talent. This article explores strategies for maintaining vibrant branch cultures in an era where work-from-home options have become an expectation rather than a perk.

The New Reality for Branch Employees

Branch operations represent the human face of banking institutions and remain crucial touchpoints for complex financial matters and relationship building.

However, the expectations of branch employees have evolved dramatically since 2020, with many now seeking flexible arrangements that incorporate remote work opportunities. This has created tension between the necessity for in-person branch presence and the competitive pressure to offer flexible work options.

Branch managers now face unique challenges:

• How do you create an engaging environment for staff who compare their roles to fully remote positions available elsewhere?
• How do you recruit talent when competitors offer hybrid arrangements?

These questions are particularly pressing as financial institutions compete for talent not just within the industry but against tech firms and other sectors offering greater flexibility.

Hawaii State Federal Credit Union: Succession Planning & Career Pathing

A key strategy for retention involves creating clear career progression within branch networks.

At the 2024 Future Branches conference in Austin, TX, Reid Hinaga, Division Manager, and Patrick Twohy, Senior Regional Manager at Hawaii State Federal Credit Union, offered a compelling perspective during the session on succession planning: "Annual raises aren't going to get your employees to a better standard of living. Promotions are."

Their insight underscores that meaningful career development goes beyond incremental pay increases. Creating structured roadmaps for career progression is crucial to ensure employees see banking as a viable career path.

Focusing on five key aspects of promotability—progression, performance, perseverance, perception, and passion— creates a structured approach that helps employees envision long-term careers within branch operations. This strategy could prove particularly effective in environments where remote work is limited by operational necessity.

These strategies also help in succession planning, where the lack of preparedness for leadership roles can lead to significant operational disruptions. As Patrick Twohy from Hawaii State Federal Credit Union noted, "We were creating good soldiers on the front line, but we weren't creating generals. And what was happening was when we promoted these people into management roles, they didn't know how to lead".

Navy Federal Credit Union: Recognition Driving Engagement in 2024

Navy Federal Credit Union provides an exemplary case study in improving branch employee engagement through a comprehensive recognition strategy.

In April 2024, the credit union was recognized for the 14th time as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, standing as the only credit union to achieve this distinction.

Under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Dietrich Kuhlmann (who assumed the role in March 2024), Navy Federal has implemented a multi-faceted approach to recognition that supports its nationwide network of over 350 branches. Its "Celebrate You" platform enables employees to appreciate one another for daily achievements through eCards and points, creating a culture of acknowledgment that extends beyond traditional performance metrics.5

This approach has yielded measurable results. As cited in Navy Federal's recognition materials, 91% of employees report that the credit union provides special benefits not found at comparable institutions, contributing to strong retention even amidst the competitive labor market of 2024. 

By emphasizing recognition at every stage—from onboarding with specialized welcome kits to celebrating service anniversaries with personalized Careerschapes—Navy Federal has created a comprehensive ecosystem that makes branch employees feel valued regardless of their position.

Notably, Navy Federal has balanced this focus on recognition with strategic digital transformation. For example, the credit union is working on streaming functions into “one unified platform, consolidating data, business logic, and workflows into a single, member-centric platform for efficient journey orchestration, benefiting both members and employees” through a 7-year partnership with Backbase, according to a press release on the topic.

"With this partnership renewal, we’re excited to reaffirm our mutual commitment to revolutionizing digital experiences for Navy Federal Credit Union’s members and employees,” said Jouk Pleiter, CEO of Backbase.

This dual approach acknowledges that engaging branch employees requires both cultural initiatives and technological support that reduces friction in their daily work.

Strategies for Branch Leaders

Financial institutions have discovered several effective approaches to engaging and acquiring branch talent in the hybrid work era:

1. Redefine "flexibility" beyond location. While branch roles require physical presence, institutions can offer flexibility in scheduling, cross-training opportunities, and special projects that provide variety and growth.
2. Create dynamic and transparent career pathing. Develop clear progression paths that demonstrate how branch experience creates unique opportunities within the organization, and lay out the requirements, time periods and skills needed to progress.
3. Invest in branch technology. Modern tools and streamlined processes not only improve customer experience but improve employee experience and efficiency while reducing frustration with clunky systems.
4. Create recognition programs that allow employees to feel seen and appreciated. Bringing the company culture together around excellent work creates cohesion among different departments and locations as well as calling out successes in roles that may feel underappreciated.
5. Emphasize community impact. Branch employees often cite community connection as a differentiating factor in their job satisfaction—highlight and reinforce this aspect of branch work.
6. Develop employee feedback and crowd-sourcing development opportunities. Create opportunities for branch employees to participate in new initiatives, or product development, through suggestions and feedback. As the people most engaged on the front line, bringing their customer-facing expertise to the table can create buy-in from branch staff while also pinpointing and trouble-shooting common problems ahead of launch.

Key Implementation Considerations

Branch leaders looking to enhance their employee engagement and acquisition strategies should consider:

Recognition Mechanisms

• Implement formal and informal systems for acknowledging contributions
• Ensure recognition is visible across the organization
• Connect recognition to tangible advancement opportunities
• Celebrate branch-specific achievements in company-wide forums

Recruitment Messaging

• Highlight unique benefits of branch roles in recruitment materials
• Showcase career advancement stories of successful branch employees
• Emphasize work-life integration strategies specific to branch operations
• Articulate how branch experience builds transferable financial expertise

Branch Staffing as a Strategic Advantage

The most successful institutions approach branch staffing as a strategic advantage rather than an operational necessity. The unique advantages of branch roles—customer relationships, community impact, and diverse skill development—provide value to the organization and set employees up for rich, meaningful careers in a variety of future roles. By articulating this value proposition authentically and supporting it with recognition and development opportunities, banks and credit unions can maintain engaged branch teams and attract new talent even in a competitive, work-from-home economy.

Building Tomorrow's Branch Workforce

The future of branch banking depends not just on adapting physical spaces to changing customer needs but on reimagining how we engage the people who bring those spaces to life. Through thoughtful strategies that honor the unique nature of branch work while embracing meaningful flexibility and recognition, financial institutions can build branch teams that thrive amid changing workplace expectations.

To learn more about how you can improve employee engagement at the branch level, don’t miss Future Branches Boston. Download the agenda and get tickets today.