One sign of a good employer is its ability to retain strong employees. And one sign of a great employer is when strong employees leave — and then choose to return!

Heading into the long Labor Day weekend, it seemed fitting to talk with some North Shore Bank personnel who have left the bank for various reasons and then found their way back. Here are their stories.

Kelly LaBonte, Customer Assistance Rep
Kelly started at North Shore in February 2007, going on to hold positions as a teller, branch operations coordinator, service banker, and call center rep. In August 2014, she joined her sister and brother-in-law when they moved to Colorado. There, Kelly worked at T-Mobile’s tech support call center for almost a year.

“I hated leaving NSB — I’d been working here so long,” she says. “But I figured, why not try something new?” Still, she says, leaving her North Shore Bank “family” was in some ways harder than leaving her real family.

Working for T-Mobile was educational, Kelly says. “I learned that not all call centers are the same! I really enjoyed how close-knit everyone at North Shore Bank is.” At T-Mobile, on the other hand, she says, “I worked with hundreds of people every day. It was hard to get to know people there. We changed teams every six months.”

After a year in Colorado, Kelly’s sister and brother-in-law opted to relocate to New York, which meant Kelly needed to look for a new home as well as a different job. “I was catching up with a supervisor from NSB, and she mentioned that there was an open position in the call center. I figured, if I have to move anyway, why not go back home to Wisconsin?” Kelly returned in September 2015.

“I wouldn’t do anything different, though,” she notes of her move to Colorado. “I liked the adventure, and I think everyone should do something like that.”

Jewell Graham, Personal Banker, Pewaukee
In June 2014, Jewell was hired to work as a teller at our East branch. He left a year later when a large national bank offered him more money at a job closer to his apartment.

Two months later, Jewell came back. “The grass wasn’t greener over there,” he says. “The sales goals were outrageous. I asked for help a ton of times and barely received any.” His supervisors at the big bank also weren’t understanding about mistakes — the kind people typically make at a new job.

“One positive is that I learned a lot from making those mistakes,” Jewell says. “And the biggest thing I think I’ve learned was not to leave NSB ever again.”

Jewell has been back since October 2015; he’s now at our Pewaukee branch. “When I decided to leave, I was mainly focused on the money,” he says. “Not a good idea. But had I never left, I never would have learned that the other bank wasn’t for me.”

Peggy Theisen, Debit Risk Specialist
Peggy started at North Shore Bank in March 2000 as a security officer. In December 2012, feeling burned out and ready to stop dealing with cases of fraud and other criminal issues, she took a job with Waukesha State Bank, where she stayed for 11 months. “I was campaigning pretty hard to come back after about six months away,” though, she notes.

“I was homesick and missed everyone,” says Peggy, who’s been back almost three years now. “Leaving was a huge mistake. I made the decision too hastily and didn’t explore options about other opportunities at NSB. I learned not to make such an important decision without thoroughly reviewing all of my options.”

Maria Conway, Residential Loan Specialist
Maria’s story is a little different: She started at North Shore Bank during high school, working in mortgage lending and mortgage servicing, and eventually left after graduating from college, when a local mortgage broker offered her an underwriting position. She kept that job for two years before taking a job as a mortgage closing assistant at another area bank. “That company provided more growth opportunities,” she says.

Maria later left the mortgage world entirely to stay home and raise her three children. Almost a decade later, she came back to North Shore Bank in November 2015.

“I wouldn’t have changed anything about leaving,” she says. “It was the right decision for me at that time and for my early career. But I love being back in my current position. North Shore Bank is a great employer and is very accommodating, and the people here are wonderful. The transition has gone smoothly, largely in part to our great staff!”

Melissa Baccash, Customer Assistance Specialist
Melissa started at North Shore Bank as a teller at Oak Creek in September 2009, later became a branch operations coordinator, and transferred to our call center in 2011. In February 2013, she took a job as a financial service representative at Northwestern Mutual Credit Union. About a year later, they promoted her to a position in the insurance services call center.

“While Northwestern Mutual was a great place to work, I simply realized that insurance was not for me,” she says. “More importantly, I decided to come back to North Shore Bank because no other professional environment has been able to provide me with the support, leadership, and camaraderie that this call center has.”

Melissa returned in March 2015. “As the old adage says, you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone,” she says. “There were pros and cons no matter what I decided, but my mind was made up when I finally understood that having a healthy work-life balance and being part of such a supportive team was more valuable than a slightly higher paycheck. I’ve never regretted my decision to come back, and I believe I’m right where I should be.”