Our Culture
The GPB Way of Doing Business
“I’m the kind of person who goes to a restaurant, sits at the table and patiently waits whilst the waiter does everything but taking my order.
I’m the kind of person who goes to a shop and waits in silence while the employee behind the counter finishes the private conversation with the colleague before taking my payment.
I’m the kind of person who goes to a gas station and never buzzes but waits patiently while the employee finishes his newspaper read.
I’m really the kind of person who enters any commercial establishment and seems to be begging for attention, for a smile, for the employee to do me a favor. And now you must be thinking that I’m just a nice, calm, relaxed, quiet, patient kind of person. But you are wrong!
You know who I am? I’m the customer who will never come back.
And then I have fun watching these companies spend millions of dollars in marketing and advertising in order to make me come back to them when actually I was there already, and all they had to do was a simple, cheap and easy thing: treat me with a little courtesy.
There is only one boss: THE CLIENT, and he or she can fire everyone in the company simply by taking their money somewhere else.”
– Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart
Letter from the CEO
Exceeding your expectations.
Our roots go back over 100 years. In that time, we have grown to become more than just a first-class financial institution. We are an organization that strives to be a good neighbor and trusted partner in the communities we serve.
The mission that permeates our entire organization is to exceed our customers’ expectations by delivering superior customer service, and at Great Plains Bank, customer service looks a lot like community service. When you go to a Great Plains Bank community, you will find employees singing at the local retirement home during their lunch break, teaching a financial literacy class to teenagers in foster care or reading to children at the nearby elementary school. This is what makes us different—our people. We have hundreds of these outstanding individuals working at Great Plains Bank, ready to serve all of your banking needs.
We know that our bank is only as strong as the customers we serve, the employees within our walls and the communities we call home. That is why we strive to be the best financial partner we can be, because we know that together, we are all greater.
– Mark Russell
History
Our beginnings are quite humble. When our great state turned the corner from territory to statehood in 1907, we too began our existence as The Groves National Bank of Hollis, Oklahoma. As the years passed, the name of our bank evolved and the area we served began to grow. We’ve also grown our product offerings to better serve our customers, but we haven’t forgotten what’s made us great. It’s the relationships we create with people, the partnerships we build with communities, and our belief in moving forward—together.
Values
Empathetic Service
We understand that when our customers choose to do business with us, they are entrusting us with their lives, their homes, and their futures. We honor that trust they place in us by treating each and every customer the way we would like to be treated.
Professionalism
When dealing with people’s finances, it’s important for our customers to see that we are professionals that understand the gravity of our responsibility to them and their banking business. Displaying good manners like standing to greet visitors, shaking hands, and saying “please” and “thank you” show that we treat everyone with respect and courtesy at GPB.
Competence
A major aspect of making our customers feel comfortable is their confidence in our ability to handle their banking business. We want our employees to feel they have competence, confidence, and clarity about how to handle customer needs, requests, and issues.
Teamwork
We recognize that we are all human beings doing life together, and no one is their best self 100% of the time. Because of that, we expect every employee to make an intentional effort to bring a positive and uplifting attitude into the workplace. We want to create a work environment that is warm, fun, and enjoyable to walk into every morning. It is every employee’s job every day to do their part to lift one another up, especially those that may be struggling and need an extra dose of compassion.
Expectations
Greet Warmly
At GPB, we don’t wait for folks coming through our doors to be the first to say hello. We proactively greet them with warmth and enthusiasm as soon as they step inside.
Smile
We understand that coming into a bank can be an intimidating experience for a lot of customers, so we make sure we are there to put them at ease by welcoming them with a friendly smile.
Stand
We stand to greet our customers as a sign of respect.
Connect
We don’t let our customers wait in awkward silence while we conduct their transaction. We make an effort to ask questions and engage with them in an effort to get to know them better.
Name
Every person’s favorite word is their own name, so we want to use their name at least once in every interaction.
Thank
We realize that without our customers, there is no GPB. So, at the end of every interaction, we express our genuine gratitude that, of all the banks they could choose to do business with, they have chosen us. We let our customers know how much we value their business!
Cool Stuff
Volunteerism Program
We would not be the bank we are if it were not for our neighbors. It is a focus of everyone at Great Plains Bank to go above and beyond the call of duty by devoting our talents and resources to building up our communities. To support this, every employee is encouraged to engage in volunteerism by being offered 4 hours of comp time to serve their community in whatever way the employee chooses.
Art Harris Scholarship
Great Plains Bank offers an academic collegiate scholarship for graduating high school seniors in honor of former CEO Art Harris. Art embodied community, with his innate ability to connect with everyone he met. He took time to get to know the person on the other end of a handshake or, more likely, a big hug. He invested what he could back into his community through sporting events, school activities, business deals and friendships. Great Plains Bank hopes to honor Art’s memory and his generous spirit through this scholarship.
Employee Awards
Not only do we take seriously our commitment to support local schools, clubs and community efforts, but we also strongly believe that we can’t serve our customers to the best of our abilities unless we are supporting each other and showing one another kindness every day we show up to work. We have multiple employee-funded financial awards given to employee-nominated coworkers who are facing personal challenges in their lives. The generosity and compassion our employees show one another through these awards demonstrates how we believe in treating one another like family, not just in word but in action.