Sheri Livermore marks 20 years with North Shore Bank this week.
If you work at Corporate, when was the last time Sheri Livermore popped by to drop off a memo?
What? Sheri has never stopped by?
Well, you must not be a long-timer, because that was one of Sheri’s primary responsibilities when she joined North Shore Bank 20 years ago.
“When I started, my position was word processing specialist, and there were four of us in the department. There was no email,” she explains, “and we had to type up and photocopy memos, promotions, etc., write names on each document of the person who should receive that particular item, put them in order by department and floor, and finally walk around the building, placing one on each person’s desk. I used to know who everyone was and where they sat.”
Her title has changed — she now is the only office services specialist — as have her duties. Sheri spends her days preparing and sending mostly email communications to customers: marketing surveys measuring satisfaction with bank staff, services, and products, or requesting feedback related to mortgage and home equity loans; promotional pieces; and updates to internal policies and procedures.
There still are customer holdouts who either don’t use email or don’t want the bank to have their email address, so some of the material is sent via U.S. mail.
And there still are printed pieces such as marketing promotions that go out by standard mail. “We print these in-house now,” says Sheri, who oversees the process, “and there can be a few hundred to 10,000 at a time.”
Years of NSB experience, computer expertise make Sheri go-to person
Technology advances in general have streamlined just about every bank function, requiring less time and effort. “Electronic outreach has increased greatly over the last couple of years,” Sheri says. She would not be able to process or distribute the large quantity of surveys she handles without email, and she expects the bank’s electronic outreach to expand.
In addition to her daily responsibilities, Sheri sometimes fills in on the corporate switchboard, and because of her eye for detail, she proofs weekly Shorelines stories as well as marketing letters and newsletters.
Her years of hands-on computer experience have contributed to her Microsoft Word expertise, making her a go-to person for staff who have questions about the software.
Efficiencies, staff variety make for job satisfaction
Technology and Sheri’s efficiency have made it possible for her to continue as a part-timer for 20 years, although she has increased her hours from the original 20 to the current 30; she works four days a week and has Fridays off — not a bad schedule, especially in the summer months. She’s grateful that she was able to be home more when her two children were in school. Now young adults, they need less supervision.
Sheri’s business career began at a large architectural firm, but downsizing sent her to a firm of just 20 people. She soon sought a change and found the opening at North Shore Bank. “I prefer large organizations where I deal with a variety of people,” she says.
Reflecting on 20 years, Sheri is happy with the changes in technology and the “reams of paper” being saved by not printing internal documents for distribution — although she does miss the broad personal contact she had when she distributed information office by office.