2013 Choice Employers, 101 to 300 Employees No. 2: Guaranty Bank

Springfield-based Guaranty Bank (Nasdaq: GFED) employs 175 locally across nine branches in Greene and Christian counties. The bank offers more than 20 days off, pays 51 to 75 percent of health care premiums for all employees and picks up 1 to 25 percent of premiums for dependents. The company has a travel club, offers health club membership reimbursement and provides free flu shots for all employees. Guaranty also offers an employee-mentoring program.

Editor’s note: Answers provided by spokeswoman Melissa Lloyd.

What is the average length of employment among staff, and what fosters such loyalty?
“Six years is the average length of employment among our staff, but we actually have a wide range of longevity spanning from two weeks of employment to almost 42 years.”

What innovative ways have you developed to reward employees?
“We have monthly employee anniversary luncheons for the employees that were hired within each given month. These luncheons are hosted by the management team and give employees the opportunity to interact with peers from various areas of the bank and with upper management. Employees that are celebrating milestone anniversaries – five year increments – are recognized in a special way with acknowledgement of their specific contribution to the bank in the form of a thoughtfully prepared statement by their supervisor. Milestone employees also receive a gift catalog from which they can order an item of their choosing.”

What is the most celebrated benefit/perk among your staff?
“Overall, our employees are very happy with our flexible paid time off program that enables employees to manage their time off in a way that works best for them. Another benefit that is greatly valued, by those who participate, is the discounted loan program.”

What methods does the company have in place to solicit employee input?
“We solicit employee input via committee participation for many projects and events. Examples include our annual event planning committee, our annual United Way campaign planning committee, our ongoing product development team and our as-needed software conversion task groups. We also have employee committees that organize and execute our major community outreach events throughout the year. We regularly survey our employees after meetings and events to get specific feedback about those events, and we have an ethics hotline that can be used by employees at any time for concerns and/or suggestions.”

How does your company support employees’ desires to give back to the community?
“Community service is one of the core values of our company; therefore Guaranty Bank provides many opportunities for our employees to give back to the community. We have a volunteer group called the Service Corps that stands ready to meet the needs of organizations on an ongoing basis. In addition to annual events such as the United Way Day of Caring and our Share the Spirit gift collection and distribution outreach at Christmas, Guaranty Bank employees volunteer regularly at Convoy of Hope and Ozarks Food Harvest. We also dress down at least once each month at a cost to the employee to benefit a wide variety of local organizations. Our company supports the American Cancer Society’s Christian County Relay For Life and Springfield Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, and hosts an annual United Way campaign.[[In-content Ad]]