Southern Michigan Bank & Trust’s Post

Check out 1 of our 30 Wilshire Way values that we strive for with our teammates and customers. Here is an example: 🌟 **Walking in Your Clients' Shoes: The Key to Exceptional Service** 🌟 One of the most valuable lessons I've learned in my career is the importance of truly understanding our clients' needs. It goes beyond just listening—it's about immersing ourselves in their world, experiencing their challenges, and celebrating their successes. By walking in our clients' shoes, we gain valuable insights that enable us to offer tailored solutions and build stronger, more empathetic relationships. It’s not just about providing a service; it’s about creating meaningful partnerships that drive mutual growth and success. Here are a few ways we strive to walk in our clients' shoes: 🔍 **Active Listening:** prioritize understanding their goals, pain points, and expectations. Every conversation is an opportunity to learn and adapt. 🤝 **Empathy:** put ourself in their position, considering how it would feel and what we would need if we were facing their challenges. 🎯 **Tailored Solutions:** ensure that the solutions offered are not only effective but also aligned with their unique circumstances and aspirations. 👣 **Continuous Engagement:** maintain ongoing communication to stay updated on their evolving needs and adjust accordingly. We commit to walking in our clients' shoes, fostering trust, and driving impactful results together.

“Never Let Anyone Discount You” In the intricate dance of the professional world, there's a tendency to let others determine our value. We accept the prices assigned to our skills, knowledge, and contributions by the industry or societal norms. This price tag dilemma is what keeping us from moving farther! I've come to realize this week that it's not just acceptable but crucial to negotiate and assert our true worth. It's essential to break free from conventional valuation and recognize the individuality of our contributions. If you believe you are worth more than what's being offered, take the chance to raise the bar. Don't hesitate to communicate your value, and remember that self-advocacy is not only about personal gain but also about contributing to a workplace culture that values and respects its members. It's time to take control of our professional narrative and ensure that our value is accurately reflected in every aspect of our careers.

Encourage ideas and creativity at all levels. "You'll also be creating a company in which people can actually relax and enjoy their work. They can have a good time because they know they're part of it and that they'll always be fairly treated." - Pat Kelly, Faster Company The PSS Top Twenty was essential to each employee. At any time you could be asked to show your Top Twenty card. Beyond just words listed on a card, the values they represented truly defined the quality and character of our company. It is what made PSS different. Over the next 17 weeks leading up to the Reunion, we will highlight each one. Do you still have your card? Can you remember all 20? Take notes you never know what might be on a trivia question. #PSSReunion #toptwenty #PSSValues #GetYourTicketsNow

Get to know our Executive Team at Number 8 Freight! Meet Ben T, Position: President When did you start with Tenold/Number 8: May 2011 How long have you been in the industry for: 30 years in warehousing, distribution, logistics, and transportation.  What’s your go to coffee or tea drink order: Starbucks Dark Roast What piece of advice would you give to someone getting into the industry: Conduct your business activities with fairness, respect, and integrity. This is a large industry but a very tight knit community. What’s your favorite thing about your job? The sharing of ideas, the team wins, ensuring everyone gets home safely. What do you enjoy doing outside of your professional life: Spending time with family, boating, home projects, and travel.

Our professional family grew this week. Danielle Bucki and I are extremely excited to welcome Alysa Stinson to our FIt Butters team. For the past several years we were a two person team (in the office) but it was time to expand. Many of you have read our core values; we print them on every jar. When we listed the position for Events and Sales Representative we knew that the hire had to align with our core values, our vision, mission and culture. Family. Alysa has been part of our influencer fam for over the past year. She’s already been part of our DNA. She’s been to every major event with us over the past year and understands what makes us special. Authenticity. We’ve gotten the pleasure to get to know Alysa more on a personal level since we’ve spent so much time together on the road. We’ve heard her story. Her ups and her downs. Her achievements and her failures. She didn’t hide from them, but embraced it all to better herself both personally and professionally. Quality. This one can mean so much as it pertains to Alysa. She’s a quality human being. She’s so good to us as people, to our children and obviously to the business. Then there’s quality of work. Whether she’s creating content for us, shipping or working an event, she gives it her all each and every time. We quickly realized during our first event that she’s a leader and a go getter. Transparency. This is one of Alysa’s strongest attributes. Alysa is 22 years old, did not complete college, and admittedly had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. During our formal interview she admitted that on paper we’ll find better candidates and she may not be the strongest in every aspect but what she’s really good at is going all in on something she loves. She’s willing to learn, wants to continually be challenged and wants to kick ass at everything she does. Transparently no college degree gives you this kind of confidence and ability to get sh*t done. At the end of the day it wasn’t about a college degree, it wasn’t about experience, it was about family, fit and fueling a purpose. Some things just can’t be taught, and Alysa has the “it” factor. She embodies the H3 mindset. Hard Work. Hustle. Humility.

Hooah Valentine's Day! In celebration of my love for federal IT work, here's a quirky story about my first Low-Code/No-Code solution presented by then, PFC Enrique "Gizmo" Gomez to his first federal "client"... the US Army 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood (now Cavasos), circa 1997. As a member of the finance team quartered within the 1st Cav Division HQ building, we supported all of the fine men and women dedicated to providing our nation's security. On a daily basis, we processed promotions, allotments, changes in pay, pay advances, hazardous duty pay, "death gratuities" (sadly), and an assortment of other services related to payroll. Processing was one step better than punchcards (but not much better), where snippets of code were entered and then uploaded as a batch each night, with error reports indicating which transactions had errors and had to be corrected. QA was completely manual and prone to high errors which impacted soldier pay. Using a simple MS Access database and simple front end (as it was all we had), a small team of front counter staff, including myself, designed and refined a process to automate the front-end and customer facing workflows where the transaction codes were written up front and validated by the acting NCO (non commission officer in charge of customer service) before it even got to the coders. This reduced error rates from 30-35% to under 1% overnight, and even lower as the process was refined. My reward for a job well done you ask? Being tasked out as system security officer to oversee Y2K compliance for the brigade. And so began my journey in IT and solutions design. This is where it all started. Cheers!

It's his plan to put you in a suitable place at the right time.

Every day I go into work, I look for what worked and what didn’t, and I set daily goals for myself. One of my goals as a lead is to make my team feel valued, so I have adapted this new system. I believe in recognizing and rewarding excellence to motivate them and that's why I implemented a star system at my desk. 🌟 Each team member earns stars for tasks such as zoning, selling credit cards, responding quickly to cash register calls, supporting fulfillment by helping locate items to lower our INF, and by completing as many pallets as they can throughout the day. They also jump on OPU tasks as soon as they notice the need. You can count on my team to be the first responders during cart blitzes or whenever extra support is needed. I’ve made it clear that these are my expectations for them. Once they reach 30 stars, they receive a small prize and are entered into a monthly raffle for a larger gift. As simple as it seems, my team gets genuinely excited about earning their stars, and I've already noticed a positive difference in their performance and morale. This system not only encourages outstanding work but also fosters a positive, collaborative environment where everyone strives to excel. #T1100

We are so grateful for Stacie Brown, who was voted our Impact Employee after exhibiting extreme dedication and adherence to company values when she undertook a challenging project in October! She ensured comprehensive care and timely information by effectively communicating with multiple departments, vendors, and customers. Stacie's consistent commitment to teamwork, excellence, and customer satisfaction, along with her proactive approach, makes her a highly valued member of our team in the Northeast and across the company! Learn more about Stacie 👇 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗫? Almost 2 years! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯? The Oil and Gas industry, assisting our customers, the daily multitasking, and my coworkers' that I get the pleasure of working with everyday! 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝗼𝗳. When my dream came true of opening my own coffee shop. ☕️ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? Spending time on the lake with my family, traveling with my grandchildren, spoiling my dogs, and cooking. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂? I have identical twin daughters and I used to play in pool tournaments. 🎱 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲. I wake up between 4am and 5am, let my dogs out, get a cup of coffee, and get ready for work. Sometimes, I will make my husband breakfast, then we’re both out the door by 6am to work! #ImpactEmployee #automationx #employeeappreciation #oilandgas #industrialautomation #employeeofthemonth

Promoting yourself isn't about bragging. It's about owning your contributions! You've moved to Canada, you're settling in, and you're looking to make your mark. But you're holding back, aren't you? Worried about appearing arrogant or overly self-assured. Here's the thing, you're doing it wrong. Self-promotion isn't about compromising humility. It's not about bragging or puffing out your chest. It's about acknowledging your accomplishments, your contributions, your worth. It's about sharing your value with others, and it's a crucial part of professional growth and success. In Canada, a land of diversity and opportunities, it's important to stand out in the crowd. How do you do that without compromising your humility? It's simple. Own your contributions. When you take credit for your work, you're not being boastful. You're being honest. You're being transparent. You're being accountable. And these are the qualities that Canadian employers and colleagues appreciate. When you share your accomplishments, you're educating others about what you bring to the table. You're offering them a chance to understand your value, your skill set, your capabilities. So, don't underestimate the power of self-promotion. It's not about arrogance, it's about owning your contributions and letting the world know what you're capable of. Change your perspective. Start acknowledging your worth. Share your accomplishments without fear. Start today. Share your proudest accomplishment you had this year in the comments below.