Bank Makes Change in Coaching Employees

Robin Roberts, president of Pikes Peak National Bank, became interested in seeing how she might use PDP applications to hire, coach, and retain her staff. Before fully committing to the program, Pikes Peak National Bank chose to test PDP by developing a JobScan® Job Model to use in hiring four open bank teller positions.

JobScan Used to Hire

In the banking industry, teller positions typically experience high turnover, which made this situation an ideal test of PDP’s effectiveness. Using the ProScan® results of high performers, they were able to develop a JobScan Job Model that gave them a good picture of the kind of candidate for which they should be looking. They then used trait specific and motivator words in completely reworking the advertisements designed to attract candidates. Eventually, the bank hired individuals who fit the Job Model. By the end of 2007, the bank observed that the four individuals hired using PDP were considered really great employees. Two of them had already been promoted, and only one had left the bank. Even that one had been a fantastic employee and had simply been offered a promotion in another bank.

ProScan Used to Manage

After the evaluation of this test case, Robin felt that there really was something to PDP because it really worked well. As a result Pikes Peak National Bank signed a contract and Robin and her Senior Vice President, Vanessa Gaither, were trained as Certified PDP Administrators and to learn how to use PDP applications to better develop their employees. Robin leveraged the insight ProScan had to offer by coaching every employee in her bank. Any initial apprehension to this coaching process soon gave way to a deep appreciation for management’s investment into their lives. After all, the sessions—typically lasting two hours—created a safe environment for promoting honesty, openness to suggestions, and resolution of personality conflicts. The employees loved reading the reports about themselves and seeing how their unique strengths contributed to the bank’s overall success. During the coaching session, employees also learned where they could improve so that when the time came to complete performance appraisals, there were no surprises and everyone was on the same page. The whole coaching process was—and is—a win/win for everyone.

During this process, Robin found the discussions about employee Motivators and their Priority Environment particularly impactful on how supervisors managed their direct reports. First, supervisors were fascinated to see what truly motivated their employees. It was enlightening to learn that for many people, increased compensation was not a significant motivator. Often times stability, structure, or harmonious working conditions were far more motivating in a work environment than simply increased financial compensation. In one case, an easy change to a person’s title was enough to significantly increase that particular employee’s motivation at work. Second, when Robin facilitated the coaching session, the direct report promoted discussion about what was happening in the employee’s Priority Environment. This allowed the supervisor to better understand the actual causes of Stress or Low Satisfaction, and—when possible—how to take actions to alleviate it. Without the bank’s dedication to these coaching sessions, such vital pieces of information would never have been brought to light.

TeamScan Used to Develop

Once everyone had gone through the initial coaching session, Robin turned her attention to groups within Pikes Peak National Bank and used PDP’s TeamScan reports to develop relationships between the different teams of people. For example, Support Team members at the bank, wanting to follow the rules and established process, were not going to change what they did simply because members of the sales force wanted to please a potential client. Fortunately, Robin knew that the personal dynamics of an effective member of the sales force (typically High E and D) were different from those of an effective Support Team member (typically High C or P). Using the TeamScan reports, she was able to help each team understand that they were not going to change the personality of the other team members. Once this realization was made, the teams were able to set some ground rules and even practice how they were going to talk to each other, what tone they would take, and even what words they would use. Practicing these simple adjustments has helped considerably the understanding and cooperation of these teams.

PDP Keeps Retention Up

Even when the economy is down, Robin never thinks to cut PDP because she knows that retaining good employees is the least expensive thing she can do. However, more than simply avoiding the cost of training a new hire, Robin feels retaining her employees is also a critical customer service issue. Bank customers get to know and trust their tellers and account executives. A familiar and consistent face displays continuity and stability, two pillars of strength in any bank environment. She attributes her ability to skillfully apply PDP applications as one of the contributing factors to creating that kind environment for her customers.

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