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Relationships Form the Basis of Our Culture

Relationships Form the Basis of Our Culture

Last updated on: May 6, 2025 at 11:57 am by Gleb Tsipursky

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Relationships Form the Basis of Our Culture 2025-05-06T11:57:53-04:00 Gleb Tsipursky

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Basis of Our Culture

In the heart of Oklahoma, First United Bank stands as a beacon of community and connection, extending its reach across Oklahoma and Texas with about a hundred locations and nearly 2,000 employees. With assets amounting to approximately $16 billion, this financial institution is not just about numbers but about nurturing relationships. Melissa Perrin, who has been with First United Bank for two decades, passionately speaks about the importance of workplace culture and the bank’s dedication to its people in her interview with me..

A Commitment to Relationships

Melissa Perrin, who oversees HR, learning and development, marketing, facilities, and communications at First United Bank, emphasizes that relationships form the bedrock of the bank’s culture. “We are a purpose-driven organization centered on the values of faith, family, integrity, high performance, learning, and service. Relationships are a big piece of our business,” Perrin explains. This commitment to relationships is evident in the bank’s approach to community banking, where personal connections with customers are prioritized. The significance of in-person interactions is a recurring theme in Perrin’s narrative. “We feel like we can build healthy relationships best when we’re in person,” she asserts. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, posed a unique challenge to this philosophy, pushing the bank to adopt remote work temporarily. As the situation evolved, First United Bank gradually transitioned back to in-person work while retaining some flexibility. “We have some teams following a three-to-two schedule—three days in the office and two days remote,” Perrin says. Despite the option for remote work, the bank encourages in-person attendance to foster fellowship and build connections.

Navigating Remote Work with Reluctance

Perrin admits to a certain reluctance about remote work due to the potential impact on relationship-building. “We prefer everyone to be in the office because we love that opportunity to be together and fellowship,” she notes. However, the bank recognizes the necessity of flexibility for specific roles, especially in recruitment and retention. Positions in accounting and finance, for instance, often operate remotely due to industry trends and staffing challenges. The bank’s approach is pragmatic, balancing the need for in-person interaction with the realities of a geographically dispersed workforce. “We try to help support each team and their needs as well,” Perrin explains. This tailored flexibility allows First United Bank to remain competitive in the job market while maintaining its cultural integrity.

Building a Strong Culture in a Hybrid Environment

Maintaining a strong corporate culture in a hybrid work environment requires deliberate efforts. First United Bank has implemented several strategies to ensure that remote work does not erode the sense of community and connection among employees. “We have a commitment to our culture as well as to what that looks like working together,” Perrin emphasizes. One key aspect is the expectation for remote workers to keep their cameras and microphones on during virtual meetings, adhering to the bank’s dress code and actively participating. Additionally, certain meetings are designated as in-person only, ensuring critical face-to-face interactions. “There are specific meetings that are critical to our culture and strategy. We have identified these meetings and communicated that they are intended for in-person only and no virtual option is offered,” Perrin says. Furthermore, the bank encourages teams to coordinate their remote workdays to ensure they are all in the office together at least once or twice a week. This approach fosters team cohesion and facilitates those invaluable hallway conversations that often lead to significant learning and development.

Fostering Growth and Mentorship

For early-career employees, in-person interactions are particularly crucial. Perrin is a strong advocate for being physically present in the workplace to build relationships and gain exposure to different aspects of the organization. “I always encourage our young leaders to be here and to be out and about, seeing and learning from others,” she says. First United Bank has also established formal mentoring programs to support employee development. During the onboarding process, new hires are paired with mentors who continue to check in on them beyond the initial 90 days. Additionally, the bank’s “Elevate U” program targets recent college graduates and high-potential employees, providing them with a structured development path through various rotations and mentorship opportunities. This program aims to cultivate future leaders within the organization by giving participants a comprehensive understanding of the bank’s operations and culture. In my experience helping clients overcome the frustrations and challenges associated with hybrid work policies, an effective mentoring program is essential.

A Vision for the Future

As First United Bank navigates the intersection of flexible work and culture building, it remains committed to aligning individual purposes with organizational goals. The bank has been dedicated to helping employees craft their personal purpose statements and values, integrating them into their professional lives. “We’ve been dedicated to helping each of our employees craft their purpose statement and identify their core values,” Perrin shares. In addition to personal development, the bank conducts surveys to measure its success in delivering on its purpose and values, gathering feedback from employees, customers, and the community. This holistic approach ensures that the bank remains true to its mission while continuously improving its impact. Ultimately, the culture at First United Bank is not shaped by a single initiative but by a myriad of efforts that collectively create a supportive and engaging environment. From structured mentoring programs to fostering in-person interactions, every aspect of the bank’s operations is designed to strengthen relationships. “It’s all of these little things that come together and just make it a great place to work,” Perrin concludes. First United Bank’s story is a testament to the power of relationships in building a thriving organizational culture. As the bank looks to the future, it will undoubtedly continue to prioritize connections, both in person and through flexible work arrangements, ensuring that its employees remain engaged and passionate about their work.

Key Take-Away

First United Bank emphasizes community and relationships, balancing in-person interactions with flexible work to foster a strong organizational culture and support employee development…>Click to tweet

Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio/pexels

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky was named “Office Whisperer” by The New York Times for helping leaders overcome frustrations with hybrid work and Generative AI. He serves as the CEO of the future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote seven best-selling books, and his two most recent ones are Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams and ChatGPT for Thought Leaders and Content Creators: Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI for Innovative and Effective Content Creation. His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, The New York Times, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Korean, French, Vietnamese, German, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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About Dr. Gleb Tsipursky

Known as the Disaster Avoidance Expert, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is on a mission to protect leaders from dangerous judgment errors known as cognitive biases, which devastate bottom lines and bring down high-flying careers. His expertise and passion is developing the most effective and profitable decision-making strategies, based on pragmatic business experience and cutting-edge behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience, to empower leaders to avoid business disasters and maximize their bottom lines. You can learn more here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/glebtsipursky/ The bestselling author of several books, Dr. Tsipursky is best known for his national bestseller on avoiding disasters and achieving success in business and other life areas, The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide. His next book, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters, is forthcoming with Career Press in November 2019. It’s the first book to focus on cognitive biases in business leadership and reveal how leaders can overcome these dangerous judgment errors effectively. After that he’s publishing The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships with New Harbinger in April 2020, the first book to focus on cognitive biases in professional and personal relationships and illustrate how we can defeat these dangerous judgment errors in our relationships. See more information here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/author-page/ Dr. Tsipursky’s cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 400 articles he published and over 350 interviews he gave to popular venues that include Fast Company, CBS News, Time, Scientific American, Psychology Today, The Conversation, Business Insider, Government Executive, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inc. Magazine, and many others, as you can see here https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/media/ Dr. Tsipursky's expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, speaking, and training for businesses and nonprofits. He serves as the CEO of the boutique consulting, coaching, and training firm Disaster Avoidance Experts, which uses a proprietary methodology based on groundbreaking research to help leaders and organizations maximize their bottom lines by addressing potential threats, seizing unexpected opportunities, and resolving persistent personnel problems. His clients include Aflac, Balance Employment Assistance Provider, Edison Welding Institute, Fifth Third Bank, Honda, IBM, International Coaches Federation, Ohio Hospitals Association, National Association of Women Business Owners, Sentinel Real Estate, The Society for Human Resource Management, RealManage, The Columbus Foundation, Vistage, Wells Fargo, the World Wildlife Fund, and over a hundred others who achieve outstanding client results. You can learn more about that here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/about Dr. Tsipursky also has a strong research and teaching background in behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience with over 15 years in academia, including 7 years as a professor at the Ohio State University and before that a Fellow at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His dozens of peer-reviewed academic publications include journals such as Behavior and Social Issues, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, and International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy. His civic service includes over 4 years as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Intentional Insights, an educational nonprofit advocating for research-based decision-making in all life areas. He also co-founded the Pro-Truth Pledge, a civic project to promote truthfulness and integrity for individual professionals and leaders in the same way that the Better Business Bureau serves as a commitment for businesses. He serves on the Advisory Board of Canonical Debate Lab and Planet Purpose, and is on the Editorial Board of the peer-reviewed journal Behavior and Social Issues. A highly in-demand international speaker, Dr. Tsipursky has over two decades of professional speaking experience across North America, Europe, and Australia. He gets top marks from audiences for his highly facilitative, interactive, and humor-filled speaking style and the way he thoroughly customizes speeches for diverse audiences. Meeting planners describe Dr. Tsipursky as "very relatable," as "a snap to work with," and as someone who "does everything that you would want a speaker to do." Drawing on best practices in adult learning, his programs address the wide spectrum of diverse learning styles, as attested by enthusiastic client testimonials and references. He regularly shares the stage with prominent leaders, for example recently speaking on a roundtable panel with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Elhadj As Sy, Chancellor of Austria Brigitte Bierlein, CEO of Penguin Random House Markus Dohle, and billionaire philanthropist and Chair of the Bertelsmann Management Company Liz Mohn. You can learn more about his speaking and see videos here: https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/speaking/ Dr. Tsipursky earned his PhD in the History of Behavioral Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, his M.A. at Harvard University in 2004, and his B.A. at New York University in 2002. He lives in and travels from Columbus, OH. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, hiking, and playing with his two cats, and most importantly, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid disasters in his personal life. Learn more about him at https://DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/GlebTsipursky, contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky and Twitter @gleb_tsipursky. Most importantly, help yourself avoid disasters and maximize success, and get a free copy of the “Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace,” by signing up for his free Wise Decision Maker Course at https:// DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com/Subscribe You can read more about the author here.

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Herod Haddam Hezekiah Saul