When the world turned to a remote-working model in 2020, Five Star Bank found itself scrambling to support internal communication challenges.
The New York-based bank—with 40 branches, 670 employees and $5 billion in asset—wanted to maintain its company culture in a hybrid workforce. Bank leaders needed to eliminate silos and increase collaboration across the firm, and they knew their existing solution could not support their goal.
Five Star Bank’s website home page says, “Your banking needs change—and so do we.” To make good on this promise, Five Star Bank started using Salesforce and Slack as its productivity platform to bridge the human and digital divide.
“Through the adoption of Slack, we see greater collaboration and engagement.”
Streamlining collaboration and communication with Slack
Sean Willett, the chief administrative officer at Five Star Bank, says using Slack as its productivity platform has been essential in helping teams stay efficient and collaborative. Slack’s searchable channels allow bank employees to easily search for policies and procedures, saving time and increasing productivity across the company.
“The ability to set up dedicated channels helps us institutionalize knowledge. It helps for onboarding purposes. People who are new to the organization can be added to the channel and quickly get up to speed on what they need to know,” Willett says.
Compared to email, Slack channels empower employees to share data and information in a more streamlined way across departments. Willett says Slack allows employees to sound more “human” with the use of emoji and real-time communication.
“Through the adoption of Slack, we see less of a reliance on email. We see greater collaboration and engagement. Whether our team members are right next to each other or across the country, they can use Slack to feel plugged in with the organization,” Willett says.
Reducing risk with secure, global collaboration
Fintech partners need a safe and secure way to engage with Five Star Bank. Slack Connect offers secure, dedicated channels for collaboration and business growth. These channels enable employees to access the same tools, resources and integrations with their global partners without risking their data.
Willett likes that Slack provides a source of truth for Five Star Bank by being transparent, auditable and compliant. And he says his fintech partners appreciate using Slack as a form of communication.
“We work a lot with fintechs and part of the onboarding process is asking them how they like to work and engage,” he says. “They often ask us, “Do you have Slack? We love working on Slack.’ Being able to say ‘yes’ really helps in terms of us being able to be just as agile and responsive as they are.”
Curious how Slack can serve your organization? Visit our Slack for Financial Services page.
