When Change is Coming, Bring Your ‘A’ Game

Navigating, planning, and embracing change through a global pandemic

By Stefanie Bonesteel

To say the last two years have been a wild ride at Citizens Bank is an understatement. We had both our president and our CEO retire following lengthy careers at the bank. Then we completed a full core conversion, which included several projects and implementations before and after conversion. Next came an upgrade to our online banking and mobile app. As if a change in leadership and a complete system overhaul weren’t enough, like everyone else we were navigating through a global pandemic that brought lobby closures and staffing shortages, among other challenges.

With so many changes in a short period of time, we knew our internal communications would be paramount. Not only did our team members need to know what was coming and how it impacted them, we wanted our team to understand the “why” behind decisions as they were made, in order to gain their buy-in. Through our changes, some of the tactics we employed included:

A solid communication plan:

Just like communications to customers need to be planned out, messages to employees should be mapped out, as well. Thinking ahead helps you ensure all relevant parties are consulted and included, plus it allows you to group points together to cut down on the frequency of messages — which may mitigate the feeling of information overload. Prior to sharing, all communications were reviewed for accuracy and completeness to avoid the need to correct points or share missed details.

One source of information:

At Citizens, our intranet is the hub of what is happening at our bank. At the start of our core conversion, we created a special and separate area on the intranet to be The Spot where everything about the project was posted. Instead of searching through emails for relevant information, our team members knew they could find what they needed on the intranet. Email notifications would alert everyone when new content was added.

Separating the responsibility:

At any given time surrounding our conversion, we had two to four implementations going at once. We quickly realized that because the implementation managers were so focused on the minutia of their projects, we needed someone else who was involved but not quite as deep in the weeds to think about what needed to be shared and with whom. A communications point person for each project helped to keep the big picture in view.

Do your best to stay connected:

Fostering a sense of team is crucial during periods of intense change. While COVID prevented us from meeting in person during much of our transition, we made the most of meeting virtually. We also tasked a group who wasn’t directly involved with the conversion to be our sunshine committee. This got everyone involved while showing extra appreciation to those doing the heavy lifting. Because our team was accomplishing great things in the face of adversity, we adopted a superhero theme for the treats and care packages we assembled and sent out.

 

Bonesteel is senior vice president – marketing at Citizens Bank, Mukwonago and vice chair of the 2021–2022 WBA Marketing Committee.

This column is published bi-monthly in Wisconsin Banker and is written by members of the WBA Marketing Committee.