Jennie Schlei

Jennie Schlei can name a number of advantages of working at North Shore Bank: She enjoys her job; she likes the people she works with; she lives close to her Wauwatosa branch; and North Shore is family-friendly, which has meant a lot to Jennie, considering that she and her husband have four children.

She started as a part-time CSR in 1990 after her second child was born. When a full-time supervisory position opened, she decided to take it, as her youngest daughter had turned 3 and was starting preschool. Close-by day care and schools combined with parents who pitched in made it manageable.

Jennie now needs less help on the parenting front, and she has advanced to senior branch operations coordinator. In her pre-banking days, she had a lot of customer contact in retail management with Kids R Us. She likes interacting with customers, and her BOC position allows for plenty of that. She supervises tellers and assists with days-end balancing when necessary, she opens accounts, she performs branch audits, and she in general oversees the operations — versus the selling — side of branch function.

“The bank does a good job of recognizing employees,” Jennie says, adding another attribute to the North Shore Bank list. She is proud to have been named Supervisor of the Year twice, and her branch has earned awards for achieving goals.

“Upgrades in computer programs have made everyone’s job easier,” Jennie observes as she considers how banking has evolved. “Everything flows from the start of the transaction through talking with the customer about other services and products.”

One of her humorous memories is having had to work out of a trailer during the coldest months of the year while the current Wauwatosa branch was being built. “It was so cold that the pipes froze, and we had to walk to a nearby gas station to use the bathroom,” she recalls.

For those who enjoy sales, banking is a good place to be, according to Jennie. She advises newcomers, “Anyone starting out who likes to sell will have fun and do well,” given the incentives for achievement in that area.