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Depends on how you define "wisely." You say you had an unsatisfactory relationship with Citizens -- you stated you were "not impressed." So, you assert they hired "wisely," yet your experience was negative. Did they hire wisely? Did they hire the right mix of people, with the right skills, both industrial and social?
They did not meet my needs, doesn't mean they didn't for everybody else. They wouldn't be where they are today if they didn't. I also wasn't happy with their overall customer service. Certain other companies like Walmart are notorious for customer service as well, yet are still very successful (mostly due to value). Some outfits have outstanding service, and build on that with their customer base. There are different segments of the market that need to be served, it's all about a company finding one's niche.
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Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
My my my! When compared to its industry, Citizens really flunks the diversity test, huh? Only 20% of the national average for non-Whites in C-levels. That's pretty shocking.
On a macro level, most companies have long known that diversity in the workplace is good for business, and have actively tried to bring balance to their organizations by recruiting from as large a pool of skills and abilities as they can. I could Google it but off the top, I can see (apart from being the right thing to do) a lot of benefits:
1. Non-Whites (as in Latinos and international people) bring language skills beyond English. As this nation rapidly becomes less White, knowing Spanish, or Urdu or French or Mandarin or Vietnamese not only helps build language bridges with existing customers, it also encourages even more non-English speakers to do business with a company that has a multilingual and multicultural workforce.
2. Widening and focusing on a broader pool of talent means a better hire because there's greater choice in more candidates.
3. Companies that actively promote a multicultural workforce typically are more employee/family friendly, and they have to be because of the variety of social customs and work ethic of an inclusive, representative pool of employees.
3a. Fact is, America in aggregate, is far less White and mono-cultural:
o 87.7% of Americans identified as being White in 1970
o Today it is about 63.7%.
o By 2050, the US Census Bureau projects Whites will constitute less than 50% of the American population.
4. The rise of minorities into C-level offices means, or likely means, that corporate culture will also evolve. And that's great news as, in my experience and in my studies, the business culture promoted by the likes of Jack Welch @ GE, Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase, Thomas Moynihan at BoA and Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman worked well, very well: for them and their fellow Old White Men society. That culture cannot survive collision with demographic changes that are underway and cannot be stopped, nor does it comport with changing expectations and aspirations of both non-Whites and younger Whites.
So we better start building business leaders who aren't old White males if we hope to keep the country progressing.
5. A diverse workforce is more agile than a non-diverse one in a global economy.
6. Whites are also an aging race in America, aging faster than Blacks, Asians and Latinos. And with a die-of rate accelerating as the Boomers go to brie and cheese parties in the sky, the Old White Men will need replacements.
Again, irrelevant when trying to guide a business that ALREADY has a successful formula. And once again, the suburbs are becoming more and more diverse.
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Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
Citizens cut the cord with RBS just months ago, and RBS was a micro-managing, bloodsucking outfit which starved Citizens of profits and took those profits back to Scotland. Indeed, as example, Citizens has the oldest base of ATMs of any comparable bank by far. Why? RBS didn't want to invest. But it's a new day for Citizens and maybe they will improve their diversity (and their bottom line for so doing).
It was under RBS that they underwent their biggest expansion. But yes, their divorce can only be good for them. I'm not sure diversity is at the top of their agenda though.
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Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
Fewer Americans drive today than ten years ago, '
Can't find anything to back that up. Based on personal experience, that certainly isn't the case. I'll be amazed to find one driver in agreement that the roads are less congested today than in 2006.
Cities, including this old PVD from 1636, are resurging and will continue to draw more educated people with great skills. Smarter companies are moving back, as GE did in moving from Westchester to Boston. And yes, I've been the burbs and they are dying, they are gray, unwalkable, unspeakably barren and in a freefall, population-wise. Suburbs were a mistake; cites are what makes the world turn and advance.
Perhaps a few inner-ring suburbs like North Providence have seen better days, but that is mostly due the "city" taking over and the middle class favoring "greener" suburbs like Lincoln.
Last edited by massnative71; 05-02-2016 at 03:51 PM..
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
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Quote:
Originally Posted by massnative71
They did not meet my needs, doesn't mean they didn't for everybody else. They wouldn't be where they are today if they didn't. I also wasn't happy with their overall customer service. Certain other companies like Walmart are notorious for customer service as well, yet are still very successful (mostly due to value). Some outfits have outstanding service, and build on that with their customer base. There are different segments of the market that need to be served, it's all about a company finding one's niche.
My take on Citizens is largely like this. I find them unfriendly to the consumer. If they make money from such a strategy, then bully for them and shame on the consumer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by massnative71
Again, irrelevant when trying to guide a business that ALREADY has a successful formula. And once again, the suburbs are becoming more and more diverse.
In spite of the desires of many suburbanites...
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Originally Posted by massnative71
The suburbs are NOT dying at ALL.
I don't think that's true. Most pieces of evidence I've seen suggest that suburbs are in fact dying. Not all of them, sure, but a great many of them.
My take on Citizens is largely like this. I find them unfriendly to the consumer. If they make money from such a strategy, then bully for them and shame on the consumer.
Consumers are often their own worst enemy...
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Originally Posted by ormari
In spite of the desires of many suburbanites...
and cityites and countryites...
Fact is everywhere is becoming more diverse. And no matter the location, diversity has never been met with positive fanfare.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ormari
I don't think that's true. Most pieces of evidence I've seen suggest that suburbs are in fact dying. Not all of them, sure, but a great many of them.
Like I said, a few inner-ring suburbs (ie. North Providence) are struggling as they are becoming more urban. The vast majority are not, but you are welcome to post any evidence to the contraire.
They did not meet my needs, doesn't mean they didn't for everybody else. They wouldn't be where they are today if they didn't. I also wasn't happy with their overall customer service. Certain other companies like Walmart are notorious for customer service as well, yet are still very successful (mostly due to value). Some outfits have outstanding service, and build on that with their customer base. There are different segments of the market that need to be served, it's all about a company finding one's niche.
In my personal experience, people who hate some bank have lousy credit ratings and a history of checking account overdrafts, late payments, and the other typical problems people with bad credit have.
Citizens has been my brick & mortar bank for my personal banking since 1998. I don't bounce checks. I don't make late payments for anything. I don't pay Citizens any fees.
There are a few things that have changed for the worse since 1998:
1- Citizens didn't used to have a foreign currency ATM transaction fee. I do a lot of international travel and that was a nice perk that I have since lost.
2- Citizens used to have free check printing. They now have a modest charge for printed checks. I typically only write maybe 25 checks per year so this isn't a big deal and I could go online and buy printed checks from someone else if I wanted for a bit less money.
3- They started charging a fee for an overdraft line of credit. I'd occasionally have an overdraft for a couple of days rather than moving money from another bank and pay a few pennies of interest. I ditched that rather than pay the fee and just pay a bit more attention to my checking account balance.
I do occasional foreign and domestic wire transfers but I'm otherwise a pretty typical consumer banking customer. Direct deposit. I have credit cards and utility bills that auto-pay in full out of my checking account. I use their web portal a lot and their smartphone application occasionally. I write checks. I use their ATM machine network. I occasionally use a human at a brick & mortar branch when I need more cash and $100 bills.
I own property in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Citizens Bank is the closest brick & mortar bank in all three places. Their service is fine. Other than the 3 things that have been downgraded over the 18 years I've been with them, I have no gripes at all.
In my personal experience, people who hate some bank have lousy credit ratings and a history of checking account overdrafts, late payments, and the other typical problems people with bad credit have.
Some do, others are just educated consumers who shop around.
I find as value and service deteriorates across many industries, that mediocrity is more often not only accepted by many but embraced.
Not mocking Citizens in particular, but we should be expecting a lot more than just not paying fees. They make a fortune off our deposits and loans.
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
In my personal experience, people who hate some bank have lousy credit ratings and a history of checking account overdrafts, late payments, and the other typical problems people with bad credit have.
You must know a lot of deadbeats then. The people I know who dislike certain banks dislike them because of bad service, bad rates, and excessive fees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by massnative71
Some do, others are just educated consumers who shop around.
I find as value and service deteriorates across many industries, that mediocrity is more often not only accepted by many but embraced.
Not mocking Citizens in particular, but we should be expecting a lot more than just not paying fees. They make a fortune off our deposits and loans.
Agreed 100%
I don't find Citizens to be a terrible bank, like say BofA. But I think there are other, better options.
Quote:
Originally Posted by massnative71
and cityites and countryites...
Fact is everywhere is becoming more diverse. And no matter the location, diversity has never been met with positive fanfare.
Change is not frequently met with positive fanfare maybe, but there are many people who welcome diversity in the city. It really depends upon who you are talking about as to whether urbanites welcome diversity. Because, there's a diversity of thought amongst the urban population.
Change is not frequently met with positive fanfare maybe, but there are many people who welcome diversity in the city. It really depends upon who you are talking about as to whether urbanites welcome diversity. Because, there's a diversity of thought amongst the urban population.
And many in the suburbs welcome diversity, just like there are many in rural Maine who do.
It's human nature to dislike change, whenever a place goes through any kind of transformation there will always be a certain level of angst or resentment. ANYWHERE.
My point is, that the suburbs are growing in diversity along with everywhere else. It is the new face of the country, the majority of America now lives in the suburbs. How can you say a company is limiting its future growth, if it chooses the most mainstream of locations?
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
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Did I say somewhere that a company was limiting its future growth?
I mean, I could have made an argument regarding the business sense of locating in the burbs, particularly in a reputedly corrupt burb like Johnston (I have no evidence of this and it is probably more unfounded word on the street BS), but I am pretty sure I did not address that point. I did say it is a shame Citizens didn't locate in the "superman" building. The return to cities is a trend that is well documented; I don't expect Rhode Island to buck this trend too much. I am not sure it helps Citizens attract talent to locate in Johnston, assuming they have that as a goal. And I think the center of financial and governmental activity in the state is where any serious corporate 'Citizen' in the financial sector ought to be for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to show corporate civic engagement.
I do think the decision to locate headquarters in Johnston was a bit retrograde. But aspects of Rhode Island are in a time warp, for better and worse.
Johnston is a great location for business; all the major highways and the interstate(s) have very convenient exits and roads leading to Johnston. Most people have these things called "cars" / "automobiles" and it is so much easier and convenient to actually drive from home to work from the suburbs.
Citizens Bank knows what they're doing. Unfortunately, the execs and shareholders don't post on here to get help in making executive decisions.
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