2023 Community Bank Case Study Competition Journal

THIRD PLACE: Messiah University

Another benefit of working for LINKBANK is that the executives are personable and make themselves available and present throughout the week. Not many workplaces have a culture where employees are able to stop by an executive’s office and ask how their week is going. They take pride in their employees to encourage them to continue working for the company, as well as participate in the LINK Foundation, so the community is continuing to be served by people who are nurturing. The LINK Foundation was created to give local nonprofit organizations within their community financial support where over half a million dollars have been donated to fifty local organizations. Volunteer Time Off being a benefit offered, LINK employees are given the opportunity to take VTO and participate in community service which are often put together by HR to complete charitable work with LINK Foundation participants. With the upcoming MOE with Partners Bancorp, the HR team believes that it will be a seamless merger of cultures. Mr. Samuel takes pride in the culture he has created and this is discussed with other banks he plans to acquire. What made Partners stand out to him is that they have very similar values and a culture similar to that of LINKBANK. The HR teams for both banks have also had continuing discussions on this topic and both sides have no concern of the merger in relation to company culture. After the pandemic hit in 2020, a historically strong and competitive labor market sprung out. During this time, the bank made a huge investment in compensation in order to

differentiate itself from competitors during this unprecedented time and it was their first major step to ensure that their pay scales remained competitive with other community banks in the area. Like most companies, they allowed their employees to have more flexibility in their schedules by working from home. They also understood that many employees are parents and they had to adjust to working from home alongside their children being sent home from school. Even now, LINK allows a flexible schedule on the basis of making sure the work that needs to be done is completed. Despite most employees working remotely during the pandemic, the executives remained in office and made themselves personally available to everyone in case there was ever any issue and as a support system for the employees. Beyond that, the bank has had a strong affiliation with Messiah University that began

There is emphasis placed on the fact that the employees of LINKBANK are humans who strive for personal connections and not working robots who are stuck in a cubicle in confinement for eight hours of their day.

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