PBN Healthiest Employers Awards 2024
100-499 EMPLOYEES #1. Centreville Bank
CEO (or equivalent): Harold M. Horvat, Chairman, CEO and president
Number of employees: 252
CENTREVILLE BANK leadership wants to solidify the West Warwick-based financial institution’s status as an employer of choice among workers and potential employees. To become that, a linchpin of the company’s strategy is to provide top-of-the-line health and wellness offerings that go beyond traditional health benefits.
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“It’s easy for a lot of companies to overlook wellness from a total picture standpoint,” said Jeff Kennedy vice president of total rewards.
The bank, Kennedy says, exemplifies the meaning of the words in his job title – total rewards.
“That is everything,” Kennedy said, adding that total rewards encompass benefits such as medical, dental, mental health and financial wellness perks.
Senior Vice President of Human Resources Josh Varone said Centreville is committed to offering a holistic vision of health and wellness to employees. One unique benefit the bank uses to keep employees engaged and in tune with their health and wellness needs is the Wellness Fair it organizes every spring before its health care enrollment period in the summer. This past one took place in May at the bank’s West Warwick headquarters.
Varone said the bank closed all its locations at 2 p.m. so staff could attend the wellness fair. As a result, Centreville had 85% of its employees, or around 200 people, show up engaged and they provided company leadership with lots of solid feedback, Varone says.
“The culture and the care that Centreville Bank shows for its employees here is phenomenal,” Varone said.
Centreville offers an employee assistance program to assist employees seeking mental health and financial health, Kennedy says. He says the bank contracts with an outside organization to provide such services, which Kennedy says are above the standard level.
“If a worker has a concern regarding finances, or if they are stressed or have anxiety, or they have legal help, the EAP is available for that person to contact,” Kennedy said. “The EAP is staffed with licensed health care professionals and counselors who can help over the phone or in person.”
Oftentimes, Kennedy says, the real power of an EAP is its referral network.
“Employees sometimes don’t seek help because they just don’t know who to contact,” Kennedy said. “The EAP can, in that instance, act as an intermediary and they can assist them with those referrals.”
A main pillar of the company’s health and wellness strategy is its recently built, full-sized wellness center at the West Warwick headquarters. It features a yoga room, quiet rooms and a full gym.
To beef up its benefit offerings for employees, Centreville draws from its ethos as a community bank. In the last year, bank leaders have reached out to local businesses, seeking to form partnerships that draw business to these local employers by offering discounts and special offers to Centreville employees.
“We’re branching out and going beyond just the four walls of what we provide to bring in the community aspect to our wellness plan,” Varone said.
Other key benefits offered by Centreville include a 401(k) plan that Kennedy and Varone describe as “best in class.” It features a 100% match for all employee contributions.
“That can be a differentiator for a lot of employees when they’re looking at different options for employers,” Kennedy said.
As a community leader, Varone says the bank also seeks to usher in positive change in local neighborhoods. Last year, employees logged more than 5,000 volunteer hours for the year, a record for the bank, Varone says. Also, each employee is given 16 hours a year of paid time to use in volunteering efforts.
The bank also issues engagement surveys, with the latest one issued this past April. The biggest testament to the effectiveness of the company’s wellness strategy is the high participation rate, Varone said.
Of that, 97% of employees said they love working for Centreville. The No. 1 reason? A focus on wellness and total rewards, Varone says.
“We’re pretty confident we understand what the people are telling us,” he added.
A HEALTHY THOUGHT: ‘We’re branching out and going beyond just the four walls of what we provide to bring in the community aspect to our wellness plan.’
JOSH VARONE, Centreville Bank vice president of human resources
