Best Places to Work 2007: Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank keeps its employees dedicated by supporting employee ownership, according to Regional President Bob Hammerschmidt.

“I think you’ll find that even though we’re a publicly traded company, we have a high degree of employee engagement,” he said. “We really feel like owner-operators of our company because we all have a sliver.”

John Himmel, chairman of the Springfield region, added, “Many of our employees have a strong ownership in the company, and therefore have a stake in the game as they say, which provides motivation to work harder and to serve better and to see that our customers have the best possible experience.”

Himmel says stability also is a positive factor for Commerce Bank, which has been in the community for 105 years under the Commerce name for 40 years. Many employees have been employed at the bank for 30 to 40 years, and promotional opportunities abound with 17 locations just in the immediate Springfield area. Job openings are posted internally to encourage employees to advance.

Commerce picks up more than 50 percent of employees’ health insurance premiums and offers a 401(k) retirement savings plan with a company match of 50 percent to 100 percent.

The company pays 65 percent of dependent insurance premiums and, after one year of employment, employees are offered paid medical leave that can be used for surgery, pregnancy or any health-related issues. The amount of leave granted depends on the employee’s salary grade and length of service to the company. Commerce also helps employees set up college savings plans and utilize payroll deductions to fund them, gives up to $2,000 in adoption assistance, and extends long-term care insurance eligibility to employees’ immediate family members.

One of Commerce’s most popular benefits, used by nearly 25 percent of its work force, is its tuition reimbursement program. Part-time and full-time employees may receive $1,500 for undergraduate studies and $3,000 for graduate studies.

“We invest a lot in our people for training and education, not just on bank products and bank services,” Himmel said. “We do a lot of employee engagement training where we get employees on the same page regarding our corporate culture, our mission statement and our core values.”

Commerce Bank management keeps in touch with employees through Monday morning conference calls, departmental meetings, an intranet, newsletter, employee suggestion program and quarterly visits to every branch by executives.

“Our executive management will go out to every branch and talk to employees about how we’re doing financially, what’s going on, what we need to do, answer employee questions and so forth. So they’re going out and getting in front of the employees,” said Nikki Hampton, regional human resources manager.

Commerce Bank

Founded: 1902

Address: 1345 E. Battlefield Road, Springfield, MO 65804

Phone: (417) 869-5411

Web: www.commercebank.com

Employees: 354

Services: Banking institution[[In-content Ad]]