One way to understand why employees of Citizens Bank consider it one of Rhode Island’s Best Places to Work is by looking at the company’s range of benefits.
The list starts with the normal health, vacation and retirement offerings, but then spins off into unusually generous and family-loving territory.
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Some of the not-your-typical benefits include financial help and time off for adoptions; subsidies for child care costs; payments to employees on active National Guard duty that close the gap between their military and civilian salaries; paid time off for employees with relatives leaving for military duty; pre-paid tuition assistance; paid sabbaticals for community service, even discounts on health insurance for pets.
“When I talk about these things to my family and friends, they are floored,” said Dawn Coyne, vice president for human resources. “Our feeling is if we want our Citizens Bank family to be healthy, we have to take care of our colleagues’ families, too.”
She added that treating employees well “is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. People are more productive when they are happy.”
If the company’s benefits package sounds like a loaded Christmas tree, the tree is rooted in a formal credo that governs the bank’s corporate character. “The environment will be extraordinarily caring, like an extension of your own family,” the credo tells employees. Under the heading community, the credo adds, “We care deeply about our communities, and we demonstrate this commitment every day by volunteering where there is a need.”
Coyne said the credo was originally drafted by Lawrence Fish, Citizens’ president and CEO. “He felt that strongly about the culture he wanted to be living at Citizens,” Coyne said.
The company’s devotion to the well-being of employees has paid off in loyalty and long service. In Rhode Island, more than 2,200 employees have logged at least 10 years of service, and 225 people have passed the 25-year mark. When an employee reaches 25 years of service, the person’s name is engraved on a brick at 1 Citizens Plaza in Providence. Company-wide, three Citizens employees have received two bricks for their 50 or more years of employment, said Kathy O’Donnell, director of public affairs.
Citizens Bank, founded in 1871 as Citizens Savings Bank, is owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, and it has $155 billion in assets. Coyne said the bank employs about 26,000 people in branches in 13 states, with 5,400 people in Rhode Island.
The company’s commitment to the larger community shows, Coyne said, in its three-month paid sabbaticals for public service. This opportunity is offered to one employee a year in each of the 13 states where Citizens has a presence. In 2004, Ginger Holton spent three months working as a mentor at Sophia Academy, a school in Providence for at-risk girls, Coyne said.
This commitment to the general good was recognized last October, when Citizens received the national Freedom Award to recognize the company’s support for its employees in the military. Citizens was the first Rhode Island company to receive the award and one of only 15 in the nation.
Jennifer Shippee, 28, a concierge specialist in the switch support department, which assists new customers by moving their various banking services – such as direct deposit – into the Citizens system, said she thoroughly researched Citizens before joining the company.
“It has really good benefits, and it’s headquartered in Rhode Island,” Shippee said. “I wanted to make sure my job wouldn’t be going anywhere.” Shippee is taking a Spanish language class on the company’s dime, and researching the possibility of buying a condo with help from the company’s loans for new home buyers.
“It’s a fun place to work,” Shippee added. “They are always doing fun things, like employee appreciation week. And they offer a lot of opportunity for growth. It would take a lot to get me to leave here.”
