Fifth Third Bank Analysis (1)

Running Head: FIFTH THIRD BANK: AN ANALYSIS OF NORTH CHICAGO LEADERSHIP DURING A SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF CHANGE

Fifth Third Bank: An Analysis of North Chicago Leadership during a

Significant Period of Change

Emily Bialas

Western Governors University

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FIFTH THIRD BANK: AN ANALYSIS OF NORTH CHICAGO LEADERSHIP

Fifth Third Bank: An Analysis of Leadership during a Significant Period of Change

The vision of Fifth Third is to be the “One Bank people most value and trust,” which is

shared with every employee during their first day orientation. It is further explained the One is

capitalized in “One bank” to emphasize the company works as a whole; from the customer

perspective, they can come to Fifth Third and have a single point of contact; Fifth Third will not

be bound by traditional banking divisions. Within Fifth Third, the term “One Bank” refers to the

company’s core values: Integrity, Teamwork and Collaboration, Respect and Inclusion, and

Accountability. To emphasize the vision, each new employee is given a small gold pin of the

Fifth Third logo, and instructed to wear them anytime while at work; every employee who works

for Fifth Third, no matter the department, whether they are customer-facing, or an internal

employee, should wear the pin as a symbol of unity.

The North Chicago Market is led by Louise Borosak, and encompasses five districts, with

a total of sixty-three branches. The objectives of the market is to uphold the company vision and

values, to maintain unison with the One Bank philosophy, and to achieve corporate-assigned

customer service, sales, and operational goals and targets. As Chicago is four hours from

Cincinnati, Fifth Third’s headquarters, executive leadership rarely visits, making local

leadership, in particular Louise, take on the responsibility of being the face of Fifth Third’s

executive leadership team, as nearly all communications from the CEO come through the

leadership chain and are passed down by Louise.

Borosak’s Leadership Practices

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Louise is recognized by her employees as being a positive leader. Three leadership

practices she is known for are her team spirit and involvement, her high energy and positivity,

and her communication style, particularly the way she speaks to, and treats, all of her employees

as equals, not as subordinates. When Louise visits a branch, she stops to chat with each

employee, remembers their names and family members, and makes an effort to learn about them

as a person. Despite her tiny stature, Louise displays a huge smile when addressing team

members, and her bright personality draws control of a room.

Louise is actively involved with her branches. She holds weekly conference calls with

the entire market, meets with her direct reports weekly, and makes frequent branch visits. She

holds contests and challenges for her market on a regular basis, including a quarterly award

luncheon with top-performing employees, during which she will get to know the employees

better, and will surprise them with a fun activity for the day- golfing, touring a museum, taking a

tour, etc. She is an active participant in this events, letting her “hair down” for the day, laughing,

and enjoying the time to get to know employees from different levels of her organization.

The positivity displayed at the quarterly luncheons is a standard for Louise. She starts

each weekly conference call with a bright, “Good morning, North Chicago!” and maintains the

same bright tone throughout the call. She will pre-arrange for multiple employees to join her on

the call, to share success stories and best practices with the rest of the market; when introducing

them she gives a brief, but highly complementary introduction. Even when relaying news which

may not be perceived positively by her team, such as the announcement that six of her branches

would be closing, she maintains a confident and reassuring demeanor.

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Unlike other managers at her level, when Louise makes branch visits, she makes the visit

about all of the employees, not just the manager. Traditionally, when a market manager visits a

branch, it creates a sense of nervousness and tension, as the market manager will often stand to

the side while observing the team, watching everyone do their job for a prolonged period, and

then deliver feedback to the manager to relay to the team. Louise is not that type of leader. She

actively observes, chatting with employees in between customers, providing feedback directly to

them as she makes her observations, and has been known to step in and help when needed with a

difficult customer situation. When talking to employees, no matter their level in the

organization, she is actively involved in the conversation: maintaining eye contact, using

physical cues to signify understanding, and listening intently to what the other person is saying.

When Louise joined the market, a shift occurred within her branches. Prior to her

leadership, the market had a fairly standard level of disengaged employees compared to the rest

of the company. When she came to Fifth Third two years ago from PNC Bank, she brought with

her all of the positive attributes and leadership skills she had already developed from many years

as manager in the banking industry. Her positive spirit and high energy boosted the market, and

for two years, Gallup’s employee-engagement survey reflected significant growth in employee

satisfaction within the North Chicago market.

Unfortunately, recent structure changes in leadership have made it more difficult for

Louise to have the same impact on the market and her employees as she once had. In addition to

thirteen branches closing throughout Chicago, the Chicago area was restructured from three to

two markets, increasing the number of branches Louise was responsible for by 50%, from around

forty-five, to her current sixty-three. Although she still holds the weekly calls, there has been a

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noticeable change in her positive energy, and when she speaks there is a sense of exhaustion.

Her branch visits have dropped off dramatically; entire districts have gone a full quarter without

a visit. Although she does still hold her quarterly outings, with the pool of potential employees

having increased dramatically, the opportunity of attending and experiencing a day with Louise

has become much more difficult to achieve.

Because of the changes in the market, and the corresponding decline in Louise’s active

participation with the branches, there has been a noticeable change in team spirit within the

branches. Turnover is at an all-time high, as many employees, who were loyal to Louise, but not

to Fifth Third, have seen this as a sign to look elsewhere for employment. Of the five districts,

three lost their district manager in the months immediately following the structural changes, and

the number of branch managers who left the company in her market topped 30% in 2015. This

creates a trickle-down event; the market has also lost a significant number of bankers and tellers.

More employees are heard discussing dissatisfaction with their managers, and sales and customer

service results have declined.

SWOT Assessment of Fifth Third North Chicago

Fifth Third demonstrates certain strengths which separate them from the competition. In

particular, the customer service is simply fantastic in the North Market. At nearly every branch a

consistent pattern of employees knowing and genuinely caring about their customers is

witnessed. Although Fifth Third is one of the 20 largest banks in the US, walking into a branch

is reminiscent of a small community bank, as customers are greeted by name, and conversations

frequently stray to topics beyond the customers’ financial business, creating relationships that

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enhance customer loyalty and set Fifth Third apart from their much larger competitors. One

possibility for this is

Fifth Third branches are quite numerous, and each staff is small- generally no more than

5 total employees. This allows for customers to visit with the same employees repeatedly, and

develop relationships over time. With many people using ATMS, debit cards, cell phones, and

the internet to do their banking, branch banking has become increasingly rare. This equates to

less walk-in traffic, which allows for employees to take the time to truly get to know their

customers, as there is not a long line waiting to be seen. In addition, as fewer customers visit the

branch, the ones who do frequently come on a regular basis, making it easier to remember them

and develop a relationship.

Another strength is Fifth Third’s reputation and public perception. They have managed

to stay small enough to not get sucked into the banking crises in 2008, but large enough to appeal

to a larger demographic than a small town bank with only a few branches. Because of their size,

they have been able to keep up with advancing technology of the bigger banks, yet still maintain

their small town feel within their branches. This past summer, it was announced in the media

Fifth Third would be closing over one hundred branches, including thirteen in the Chicagoland

area. Compared to other companies’ downsizing, which is often seen as a sign of failure or

collapse, the opinions expressed in the media seemed to view the decision to close the branches

as a strategic move in a time of drastically changing methods of banking, and applauded Fifth

Third’s initiative to create a leaner branch network. Without Fifth Third’s already upstanding

reputation, the change would not have been viewed in such a positive light, and would not have

been as smooth a process as it was.

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One of Fifth Third North Chicago’s weaknesses is failure to uphold the vision of Fifth

Third to be One Bank. The idea of all employees wearing a gold pin with the logo on it is

commendable, yet in reality many front-line employees don’t wear them unless a district

manager is in the branch. Required “One Bank” meetings, in which employees from branch

banking, business banking, investments, and mortgage are expected to meet bi-weekly to share

ideas and collaborate, are viewed as an unnecessary burden passed down from Cincinnati or as

an easy way to get out of work for half of a day. These meetings are designed to be small and

intimate, generally comprising of five or so branch managers and their business partners.

Despite the expected nine to ten participants, these meetings generally run with only four or five

employees, and rarely are more than two departments represented. From the initiatives sent

down from the executive leadership team to the employees implementing them, the message is

becoming jumbled. In the North Chicago market, the purpose and value is missing from the

directives, which creates a disconnect from corporate, and generates dissatisfied employees, who

don’t understand the reason behind being given additional work or responsibilities.

Fifth Third North Chicago’s greatest weakness is the high turnover they are currently

experiencing. Happy employees are loyal employees, and loyal employees rarely leave a

company, rather they stay and positively impact the bank’s customers, culture, and branch

environment. With all of the changes going on with Fifth Third, and the North Chicago Market,

turnover rates are steadily increasing. Traditionally, the market has seen steady turnover with

tellers and bankers, as those are volatile positions to begin with, but the percentage of managers

who are leaving the company is exceptionally great.

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Two opportunities for Fifth Third North Chicago, and Fifth Third Bancorp as a whole,

are the changing industry and customer demographics. Banking has changed dramatically in the

past eight years. The bank bailout created a lot of anger toward the banking industry, and made

people more aware of fees, bonuses, profits, and sadly, the greed of some banks and individual

employees. Society is quickly changing their expectations and standards for banks. Paper

checks and cash are on the way out; plastic and mobile phones are the new method of banking.

Fees are seen as unacceptable, and customers want free, instant and continuous access to their

money, customer support, and transaction records. Fifth Third has already taken advantage of

the changing environment, by being one of the first to offer mobile banking, mobile check

deposits, smart ATMS, and now the Express Banking program, but this is a continual

opportunity, one in which Fifth Third must ensure they are constantly staying abreast of, taking

calculated risks, while still maintaining security for their customers and shareholders. At the

market level, this translates to an opportunity for employees to stay abreast of changing

technologies and customer expectations, and keep themselves educated as to be better prepared

for customer’s concerns and objections.

The other major opportunity has been in the customer demographics of Fifth Third. Fifth

Third currently focuses primarily on two segments of the population: businesses and working

middle class. Up until the release of Express Banking, Fifth Third did not have a product

available for safekeeping money for someone who didn’t want to maintain a minimum balance

or direct deposit. This discouraged many younger consumers from opening accounts, as well as

people who are currently unemployed or whose employers don’t offer direct deposit. Thankfully,

Express Banking has addressed this area of opportunity, although it is not being marketed to its

maximum potential, and even many employees do not fully understand and grasp the uniqueness

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of the product and the benefits it brings to traditionally non-banking customers. On the other end

of the spectrum, Fifth Third North Chicago is lacking in private bank services. Although Fifth

Third does have a private bank, not enough capital is being spent in the Chicago area on

marketing to and acquiring that segment of the population. Statistically, the customers who

generate the highest profits are the customers with the most money, yet Fifth Third seems to

have settled into a niche among the middle class, missing a huge opportunity with the wealthy.

Additionally, Fifth Third has consistently been a strong bank for businesses, but their minimum

requirements are too high for brand new small business owners. Because of this, marketing and

acquisition is focused on bringing in established businesses, through Chamber of Commerce, and

other established business events, rather than attending new business start-up seminars or expos.

Given the difficulty in switching banks, bringing in a business at the beginning of its life cycle

seems a much easier way to acquire them then once they are already established with another

financial institution.

Interestingly, the two greatest threats to Fifth Third are opposites- big banks and small

banks. Fifth Third has one hundred and twenty-eight branches in the Chicagoland region. This is

significantly less than some of their larger competitors, but also makes them large enough to

have an established presence and recognizable name: something many small banks are not able

to enjoy. The Chicagoland area is particularly challenged because of the great numbers of banks

with a presence in the market, both large and small. This creates a great amount of competition

among the banks for acquisition of market share.

The two greatest disadvantages to being small are capital and footprint. Fifth Third does

not have the money the larger banks have, so needs to be more selective on what they use their

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capital for. Whereas the big banks can put tons of money into market research, state of the art

systems, national marketing campaigns, etc., Fifth Third’s budget is much more limited. This is

most evident in the antiquated systems the branches use- as Fifth Third has put the bulk of their

money in product development and marketing, rather than systems and human resource

development. In addition, Fifth Third does not cover the same size footprint the larger banks do.

Bigger banks appeal to many customers who travel for their convenience- you can find them

nearly everywhere you go domestically. Fifth Third is currently in twelve states, but has

announced the sale of their branches in Pennsylvania and Missouri, bringing them down to only

ten. Compared to the bigger banks which have locations in multiple regions- specifically the

northeast, west, and southwest, it is much more difficult for Fifth Third North Chicago to acquire

customers who travel frequently, have family out of state they send money to, or who spend their

winters somewhere warmer.

On the other hand, Fifth Third has long outgrown small community banks. Although in

the early 2000s, small community banks seemed to be going extinct with the bigger banks

gobbling them up in never-ending mergers and acquisitions; with the bank bailouts, many

customers turned their loyalty back to small community banks. With improved technology: debit

cards, internet banking, etc., community banks are making a comeback as customers are able to

access their money wherever they go, just as they would with a big bank. Community banks

don’t have the same stigma as the big banks- they represent the “little guy;” the small town

heroes to the villainous big banks. In order to compete with the smaller banks, and not lose

customers, Fifth Third North Chicago will need to stay cognizant of their hometown roots,

history of exemplary customer service, and maintain the feeling of community within their

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branches, otherwise they have the potential to lose clients who choose to keep their banking

local.

Analysis of Louise’s Leadership Practices Utilizing Trait Leadership Theory

Three successful traits Louise exhibits as a leader are: energy, motivation, and self-

confidence. These traits are all viewed by the Trait Leadership Theory as being requisites for a

top-performing leader. Energy is important “because more companies are expecting all

employees, including executives, to spend more time on the road visiting the organization's other

locations, customers, and suppliers” (Kirkpatrick, 51). With Louise’s busy schedule overseeing

sixty-three branches she spends a great amount of her time doing branch visits, meetings,

conference calls, and other employee-focused activities. Maintaining high energy not only

enables her to attend all of these events, but bring a sense of enthusiasm with her. Louise is also

highly in touch with her employee’s needs, which is shown to be a motivational factor when

engaging a team and “results in empowered, independent followers” (Kirkpatrick, 53). When

Louise visits a branch or engages any of her subordinates in conversation- over the phone or in

person- the employee leaves the conversation feeling more energized and wanting to succeed.

Of course, in order to empower and motivate her employees, it is first required she “has a

positive opinion about herself… [so] she would be more ready to empower subordinates”

(Srivastava, 706). Self-confidence is not something an outsider can truly judge; it is measured

internally. Therefore, it is not self-confidence in itself, but the projection of it, and other’s

perception that is important (Kirkpatrick, 54). Louise is physically not an imposing woman, at

approximately five feet tall, but she projects self-confidence with her posture, eye contact, smile,

and attention to others during interactions. By projecting a high level of self-confidence through

her energy and positivity, Louise is able to successfully influence and inspire her employees.

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“A leader’s underfulfilment of subordinates’ expectations of leadership harms their leader

identification” (Stock, 1651). With her recently added responsibilities, Louise has not been able

to spend nearly as much time influencing her employees as she had previously. This has also

brought to light some traits she lacks, or is not as strong in, which are also listed as requisites for

top-performing leaders by the Trait Leadership Theory. Those traits are: tenacity, integrity, and

leadership motivation. During a time of turmoil, such as Fifth Third is currently experiencing,

with the significant turnover through all levels- from tellers to the CEO- it is especially important

for a leader to demonstrate persistence and tenacity in order to achieve company goals

(Kirkpatrick, 51). This is a time for Louise to demonstrate her strengths as a leader, and to show

the team her continued enthusiasm in order to maintain the level of motivation her employees are

used to receiving. Yet, with her visible withdrawal from interactions with her team, and the

decreasing energy she promotes during her engagements, it appears tenacity would be a trait she

may not possess in full. According to the Trait Theory, integrity is also important, and similar to

self-confidence, this is not easily judged by an observer, but rather a perceived trait. In the wake

of the changes, Louise appears to be over-her-head with responsibilities. Frequently, she will

have a conversation with an employee, in which she makes a promise to follow-up or a

discussion is made regarding future action, and she fails to follow through. Although this may

not actually be from a lack of integrity, as noted by Kirkpatrick (54), “leaders can gain trust by

being predictable, consistent, and persistent and by making competent decisions.” When Louise

makes a promise either she cannot or forgets to keep, it negatively impacts her employees’

perception of her integrity, making her seem unreliable and not trustworthy.

Leadership motivation is likely Louise’s greatest area of opportunity. Leadership

motivation is an integral part of being a leader according to Trait Theory. Leadership motivation

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refers to ones’ internal motivation for being a leader; they “must be willing to exercise power

over subordinates, tell them what to do, and make appropriate use of positive and negative

sanctions” (Kirkpatrick, 56). Although Louise consistently demonstrates positive traits, her

greatest area of weakness is in the delivering of negative and constructive feedback, news,

announcements, etc. When she is put in position where the topic is not desirable, she will smile,

and try to make the situation sound more positive, or if the employee did something undesirable,

she will place to much emphasis on what they did well: sugar-coating the truth. Delivering

unhappy or negative information is something most people do not find enjoyable, but as a leader,

Louise needs to understand the value of the delivery of this information. When she puts a too-

positive spin on information, the potential for a negative impact is great. The message received

is convoluted: the employee may think she is giving positive feedback, or she thinks the negative

news is good news, or may misunderstand her message entirely. Her inability to adequately

express negative information detracts from her authority and respectability.

Recommendations Moving Forward

Although Trait Theory primarily is based on the concept that leaders are naturally born

with, or possess, innate traits which make them successful, Kirkpatrick points out, “Leaders who

possess the requisite traits must take certain actions to be successful” (Kirkpatrick, 49). Despite

already displaying integral leadership traits, Louise has recently begun to lose some of her

authority, likely due to the change of management structure. Louise needs to focus on developing

the following traits in order to return her organization to the level of success previously

accomplished: honesty, initiative, and motivation. “Honesty is absolutely essential to leadership.

After all, if we are willing to follow someone, whether it be into battle or into the boardroom, we

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first want to assure ourselves that the person is worthy of our trust” (Kirkpatrick, 54)”. As

Louise figures out her new responsibilities with the larger market size, she needs to focus on

being honest with her subordinates, especially in areas difficult for her to manage. If she doesn’t

think she can follow up to a conversation, or if she feels someone needs to hear something which

they may not want to hear, or if she is struggling at something herself, than she needs to be

honest with her employees. By being honest, she will demonstrate her own humanity and

imperfections, and will help earn back some of the trust she has lost.

With her team’s morale down, and turnover up, Louise needs to take initiative to

diagnose what is going on with her team members, and seek out a solution. Currently,

perceptions of Louise are she is in a reactive mode: responding to the changes out of her control.

She needs to become proactive and take action to change the mindset of her team members; in

doing so she will show care for them, recognize the situation, and determine a positive

resolution. “They [great leaders] make choices and take action that leads to change instead of just

reacting to events or waiting for things to happen” (Kirkpatrick, 51).

Finally, Louise just needs to focus on what she does best: motivating others. “It is

understood that empowered employees would contribute more and better to their organizational

outcomes” (Srivastava, 696). By allowing herself to be sidetracked by other responsibilities, and

losing focus on the motivation of her employees, she has lost their focus, their trust, and

ultimately, their loyalty. As one of Louise’s strengths, motivation comes easily and she excels at

exercising the ability. Taking the time to maximize this trait should be a priority going forward,

so as not to lose any more talented employees.

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Through her natural abilities and talents- or traits as laid out by the Trait Theory- Louise

already has the pieces of the puzzle necessary to get her organization back on track. What is left

is for her to focus on using those traits strategically to win back the trust of her team. She needs

to trust herself, and remember she reached her position of market manager because she already

possesses the traits a great leader needs to succeed- so long as she continues to nurture and grow

those traits, she will continue to grow and succeed as a leader in the banking industry.

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References

Kirkpatrick, S. A., & Locke, E. A. (1991). Leadership: do traits matter? Executive

(19389779), 5(2), 48-60.

Srivastava, M., & Vyas, R. (2015). Empowering Leadership: A Study of Team Leaders & Team

Members. Indian Journal Of Industrial Relations, 50(4), 696-712.

Stock, R. M., & Özbek-Potthoff, G. (2014). Implicit leadership in an intercultural context: theory

extension and empirical investigation. International Journal Of Human Resource

Management, 25(12), 1651-1668. doi:10.1080/09585192.2013.852605

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Fifth Third Bank Analysis (1)