What Culture Means to Us at Origin Bank
Our Senior Vice President and Director of Culture Strategies, Ryan Kilpatrick, recently spoke about the importance of Origin’s company culture at the Financial Brand Forum in Las Vegas. Here’s what he had to say about the subject.
At Origin, we believe that the most successful companies are those whose brand and corporate culture are woven tightly together. Origin has been in business for over 100 years, and for the past 30 years, culture has been the centerpiece for our President and CEO, Drake Mills. His passion for a strong corporate culture has filtered throughout our organization.
Our culture defines all that we do. It consists of our:
- Mission
- Vision
- Values
- Purpose
- Promise
For Origin, culture is more than words on page or a poster; it requires reinforcement and action by every employee who represents our brand. We are all keepers of the culture at Origin Bank and we have been and remain committed to living out our mission on a daily basis.
Our culture is what drove the strategy behind our name change and new brand. The definition of Origin is the point or place where something begins or is created; the source or cause of something. This name pays tribute to our past and all that we have represented for over a century. The name Origin also signifies new opportunities throughout our markets. Our mission is comprised of four key segments; customers, employees, shareholders, and communities. These four segments are symbolized in our logo. All four are equally important to our process and how we deliver.
To reinforce the Origin message, every employee receives a culture book that outlines our values, purpose, mission, vision, and brand promise. Each employee experiences Culture Day where they hear from existing employees across the company speak to the importance of culture. As the saying goes, you can tell what’s important to someone by the amount of time they spend on it, and we make sure to invest the time because we believe that to be true. After training is completed we continue to reinforce our culture, and even encourage existing employees to go back to Culture Day at any time for a refresher course.
Culture drives our brand strategy. Our Culture Strategies and Marketing teams meet at least twice a month to ensure that our internal culture and our external brand are aligned. We’ve also instituted a Culture Council consisting of employees from different departments and markets who help us maintain a consistent culture and strong employee engagement throughout the company.
As Origin has grown, our culture has helped us attract some of the best bankers in our markets and retain the great employees we do have, because great culture means a great place to work. It also differentiates us as an organization and, in turn, empowers us to create the best banking experience for our customers.