2023 Community Bank Case Study Competition Journal

2023 COMMUNITY BANK CASE STUDY COMPETITION

with an informal program of interns. In the summer of 2022, they made that program more formal with a structure of shadowing other departments and an end project to present to those of the bank. For this summer’s program, they partnered with the Banking Association with Shippensburg University to expand the diversity of interns. Continuing with the topic of diversity, amongst the 143 employees currently working for LINKBANK, as of March 27, 2023, every generation is represented. This keeps the workplace diversified in terms of thinking and work styles. With each generation wanting different things from employers, LINK has worked diligently to add benefits and perks that apply to all. This has led to limited turnover within the company. No one was laid off due to the pandemic so most employees were retained, but an anticipated increase of turnover occurred in late 2021 and early 2022 because of the merger with Gratz National Bank. While LINKBANK’s turnover rates are significantly lower than competing financial institutions, they want

outside observers to keep in mind that with them being a smaller company, that will swing percentages more heavily than the larger competing institutions. In the five years of LINKBANK’s life, they have had several notable hires that have brought their talent to the roles that they hold. Recently Dee Bonora was hired in 2023 as the Chief Technology Officer. This has been a relatively unstable position for the bank, as she is the third person to hold this role in a year and half. Dee Bonora has executed her expertise in the few short months she has been with the team due to her background in both banking and nonbanking technology. Next, was the hiring of Ali Carney, the manager of HR. She came at an imperative time when the HR team was very small but the amount of employees was growing. Ali Carney has a reputable background in analyzing employee benefits and she implemented changes to the benefit packages. These key players were sought out by the executives largely due to knowing the community they participate in, and having leaders who are not afraid to pick up the phone and go out and recruit personally. Their recruiting methods are not simply social media posts, a big reason LINK experiences low turnover and can recruit valuable members to the team. Everyone there has the understanding that relationships matter the most at the end of the day. As previously mentioned, the bank has dealt with the exits of a few senior executive officers, losing two Chief Technology Officers over the course of a year and a half. The departure of

Figure 8: Generational Makeup of LINKBANK

Gen Z

Millennials

Gen X

Boomers

Silent Generation

50