Independent Bank Boosts Employee Engagement and Company Culture with UKG Pro

Independent Bank has served communities in Michigan for more than 150 years and is currently the fifth-largest community bank headquartered in the state. With 63 branches, Independent Bank delivers a full range of financial services, including commercial banking, mortgage lending, investments, and title services.

Challenges

Independent Bank sought to build engagement by enabling managers to establish measurable goals and objectives for an employee’s specific position, providing employees with easier and more direct access to their HR information, and creating one of the best workplace environments in the industry. To achieve these goals, Independent Bank selected UKG as its human capital management (HCM) provider and implemented the UKG Pro® solution.

Solutions

“Our previous solution made it impossible for our managers to provide meaningful feedback to their employees, so the breadth of our performance management was reduced to little more than determining employees’ annual salary increases,” said Jack Klott, Vice President of Human Resources for Independent Bank. “With Pro, we have been able to build an ongoing, comprehensive talent management process that is a critical part of greater employee engagement.”

When Independent Bank launched Pro, the company re-evaluated its performance management process and conducted focus groups to align jobs with appropriate competencies. Because these competencies are automatically assigned to roles using Pro, managers have a consistent, accessible platform for meaningful discussions with employees about their performance.

“The strength of UKG’s ‘Our purpose is people’ culture is visible not only in the national recognition UKG has received, but also in the quality of the company’s HR software and the incredible level of support we receive from UKG employees. With UKG’s culture serving as a model, and Pro improving our people operations, I have the inspiration and tools to achieve my own goal of continuing to make Independent Bank a great place to work.”

Jack Klott

Vice President of Human Resources

Results

“Pro has changed the mindset of our employees because performance discussions are now entirely independent of salary changes,” said Klott. “Since our employees know the skills, behaviors, and attributes for success in their current positions and the priorities and goals for potential growth, they are more engaged in their career development.”

While Independent Bank has strengthened talent management interactions by providing more clarity and insight into job expectations, the company also reports that employees’ instant access to HR information in Pro has helped enhance the employment experience.

“Banks have many hourly employees, and Pro gives them online visibility into their compensation and benefits,” said Klott. “For example, the calendar feature helps employees and managers conveniently and rapidly schedule and track vacation. In addition, Pro provides another layer of flexibility by providing employees with mobile access to their records when they are outside the bank’s network.”

According to Klott, Pro’s ease of use creates a virtuous circle of talent management. Widespread employee adoption of the solution enables managers to use the solution more effectively. With better data at their fingertips, managers can more accurately measure performance at the individual, department, and branch levels, and help guide their employees’ careers using data and analytics available in Pro. With employees and managers empowered by Pro’s easy and convenient people management functionality, HR leaders can turn their attention to more strategic initiatives, such as improving company culture.

“We looked to partner with an HCM provider whose focus on people aligned with our own core values,” said Klott. “The strength of UKG’s ‘Our purpose is people’ culture is visible not only in the national recognition UKG has received, but also in the quality of the company’s HR software and the incredible level of support we receive from UKG employees. With UKG’s culture serving as a model, and Pro improving our people operations, I have the inspiration and tools to achieve my own goal of continuing to make Independent Bank a great place to work.”