By Molly Schissler, SVP, Human Resources & Compliance

Molly Schissler

Thank you to everyone who completed our engagement survey back in November — we had a 76 percent response rate, which is very good. I’d like to share some of the overall results from that survey, which is used each year by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to determine who makes it onto the paper’s list of Top Workplaces in southeast Wisconsin.

A few words from employees

Our 2019 survey word cloud.

The “word cloud” depicted above comes from the comments employees made in the November engagement survey. To decipher this cloud, it is helpful to understand that the relative size of the words in it depict the frequency with which a particular word appeared in employee comments — so, the larger the word, the more frequently it was used. Words in green were most frequently mentioned by employees who scored the bank positively; words in red were more frequently mentioned by employees providing less positive scores; gray words are “middle of the road” scorers. And it is great to see that the word helpful is also highlighted — this means the most frequently used word is also found in our core values and customer promise statements. Also scoring very highly is the word friendly, which is found in our customer promises as well. This is very encouraging to see!

It is interesting to see the words in red, used by employees scoring things less favorably — sales, sales-focused, and goals, for example. While sales-related careers are not for everyone, sales is something that is a very necessary part of any business, and North Shore Bank is no exception. To thrive and succeed, “sales” to our customers are required. North Shore Bank works to identify our customers’ needs and provide the appropriate solution to help them achieve their goals. It is the spirit of that process that a “sale” is the successful outcome.

By comparing this year’s word cloud to last year’s (see below), we can see a marked improvement in the types of words used: The top five words that increased in frequency were: family, caring, professional, supportive, and collaborative.

Our 2018 word cloud.

How we scored overall
We’ve also seen a positive trend in our overall engagement results, as the graph below shows:

Relative to the survey’s commercial bank peer group (all the light blue dots), North Shore Bank has scored higher than many, and our scores are up since our last survey date in 2018. While we can’t announce yet whether or not we’ve been named to the Journal Sentinel’s Top Workplaces list for 2020, we are pleased with these results.

Some standout items
The survey company provides us with an amazing amount of data, including more than 800 employee comments. In summary fashion, they let us know about our strengths to celebrate as well as areas where we can focus on improvement. I will give some information here and share more over the course of the next several issues of Shorelines.

Some of our strengths by major departments include positive scores in the North region, CSC, and Retail Branch Administration. Scores were high in areas such as “Managers caring about concerns,” “Managers supporting learning and growth,” and “Managers making it easier to do job well.”

Areas for focus include a few departments/regions where there were lower scores for some of the same topics that are viewed positively by others: “Managers not caring about concerns” and “Managers not making it easier to do job well.” So, we have some work to do in terms of making every department/region feel that their managers are supportive. Another topic area that scored lower for some departments was “Not feeling genuinely appreciated.”

North Shore Bank remains committed to being a Top Workplace, where everyone feels appreciated and has the opportunity to be heard. We have a team of senior leaders who are meeting regularly to review our survey findings and not only working to address the concerns raised, but also celebrating and continuing to do the things we do well already. If you would like to share any thoughts with a member of this team, please reach out. Members include: Milene Below, Chris Boland, Margaret Capper, Nicole Daniels, Sue Doyle, Kate Johnson, Jude Lengell, Dana Scherff, Molly Schissler, and Craig Witz.