It’s now been more than a year since John Ciulla took over the reigns as Webster Bank’s CEO, and in that time, he says Webster has remained committed to being the values-based and community-focused bank its always been while adding to Connecticut’s economic landscape.
“We’ve always been really focused on trying to be part of policy discussions, on trying to help Connecticut and our other markets become more robust and viable from an economic perspective,” said Ciulla.
To do that, Webster Bank has been getting people to work. It is increasing the number of employees being hired out of college and business school for its two-year rotational program, which gives people the experience needed for a career in financial services. It’s also bringing on more interns across the company.
“Us doing our part by partnering with the colleges and universities, hiring more interns, training our people and investing in them better. If all of the private entities in this state engage and invest in their people, the state will ultimately be better off, and we’ll see continued growth,” said Ciulla.
The recently opened Customer Care Center is already showing growth. The plan is to hire an additional 30 employees over the next 12 to 18 months, bringing the number of C3 employees to 180.
“It’s critical because as time goes on and customer preferences change, the customer care center really becomes the nerve center of the bank, and it’s a way for us to connect with our customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” said Ciulla.
Webster puts an emphasis on the employees who are connecting with those customers. The company raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour and has already had about 700 employees come through the Customer Care Center and onto higher positions within the company.
“It’s important for us to focus on training for our employees so they can be successful, not only to help our customer, which is primary, but also to help develop their career. We have a heavy focus on employee engagement and employee progression, so our folks know that they can come to the customer care center and have opportunities for their own career throughout the company,” said Amy Jakobeit, Senior VP and Director of the Customer Care Center for Webster Bank.
Webster Bank also launched a diversity and inclusion program to make sure its employee base reflects its customer base. It’s just another way Webster Bank hopes the bank will better serve its customers.