Most community banks don’t have a talent problem.
They have a profit connection problem.
CEOs tell me the same thing: “We’ve got good people. Great service. Strong work ethic.” But when you ask those same employees how they drive profitability—how they bring in the full relationship at premium pricing—you get blank stares.
And it’s not because they’re lazy. It’s because most employees don’t know what “top performance” actually means.
In our national research, we analyzed 1,000+ workplace professionals and asked a simple question: Do you perform in the top 10%?
Seventy-five percent said yes. Statistically impossible. Culturally normal.
That gap creates a dangerous illusion: people believe effort equals value. Coming in early and being nice to customers becomes the definition of performance—while profitability drivers stay invisible.
Here’s the trap: when organizations introduce accountability before people understand what they’re accountable to, they trigger fear, resentment, and turnover.
In this video you’ll discover:
Why “good service” is not a profitability strategy
How to connect every role to measurable profit drivers
The hidden risk of letting low performers ride on your best people
Because when lower performers aren’t paying for themselves, your top talent subsidizes the entire system—and that’s a risk you can’t live with.
Watch now.
In talking to hundreds of bank CEOs, I’ve heard the same repeated message. We’ve got good people. They have good customer service skills, but they don’t really know how to bring in the entire relationship at premium pricing, and they don’t really know how they tie to profit. Well, if you have this problem, you’re not alone because this is a common issue.
People mean well. It’s not their fault. Did you know that when we did our national research, where we analyzed over a thousand different people in the workplace, and we asked them, “Do you perform in the top ten percent?” what we found out is that seventy-five percent believe that they perform in the top ten percent?
Yeah. I know. I know. That’s statistically impossible.
And yet, they truly believe that they’re a top performer because they come in early and they’re good to the customer. But they don’t know that there’s another whole piece in terms of the critical drivers that tie them to profit. And here’s the problem that most organizations have when they start bringing in accountability cultures: they get ahead of their skis. They ask them to be accountable for things they’re not ready for yet, and then they have a mass exodus for the door.
In today’s day and age, we have to figure this problem out because we do need people who know how they tie to profit, because they do have to pay for themselves. And here’s why it’s important.
When your lower performers are not paying for themselves, that means they are on the shoulders of your very best performers—and that’s a risk you can’t live with.
After over 20 years of working with many of the top-performing financial institutions in the country to take them to a higher level, it is clear that quality of leadership is the key performance indicator—regardless of what the economy dishes up.
People have “to-do” lists. That’s great. But try this tip that successful people do—especially as they start a new year. They have “get-rid-of lists.” Decide to get rid...
A new year has come and gone, and what do you have to show for it? A renewed passion for your job? A workplace free of every dysfunction you can think of? How about a...
Do you mind if I ask what on Earth you think you're doing? I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm not trying to be nosy. But I couldn't help noticing that you're doing the old...
Any company that thinks you have to pour money on employees to get them engaged will write off employee engagement efforts during tough economic times. In fact, you...
If I had a nickel for every call I've received over the years that went like, "Well, we spent about $250,000 on sales training. It helped for a month or two, but to be...
We've all played the game of Telephone. The leader shares a comment with one person, and the idea is whispered around the room. By the time the last person shares what...
Unpaid consulting. What else can you call it? If your people are creating a plan for a prospect, running it past the credit committee and then not getting the deal, the...
Something's gotta give. New research shows that employees are exhausted to the core. The stresses of the workplace are so far beyond the good ol' days. Remember when we...
Those who are waiting for the things to go back to “normal” may not realize that staying stuck in the bottom sixth of the pyramid puts their future in question. By-the-book “management” is old school. It doesn’t work.