Pros
- The work environment is one which fosters a feeling of family and fun - The bank has consistently grown at a steady pace and is a well-recognized community bank in the OKC Market - Ownership/Board of Directors are generous and bonuses are the norm for most employees. The company does a great job of rewarding employees for strong performance - The bank is big on promotional and community events: The Liberty Bash, Shred Event, Christmas Parties, etc. are all usually a blast - The executive management team is generally accessible and comprised of personable individuals who like to have a great time outside of work hours and one can connect with on a genuine, human level - On the lending side, loans can be structured/priced comparatively aggressively in order to help the loan officer book the deal, especially on competitive deals other banks are trying to obtain as well - Joey Root is a very likable CEO and visionary with a lot of exceptional connections throughout Oklahoma and Texas. Joey seems to genuinely care about people, including his employees - There are a handful of strong loan officers with excellent leadership and management skills, who've grown with the bank and are likely in line to be in more leadership positions in the years to come
Cons
- The work days can often be very hectic due to a lot of inefficiencies in the organization - These inefficiencies often cause chaos, silos, and division, which then seem to contribute to reduced employee satisfaction for many, and high employee turnover - The high employee turnover reinforces a lot of the chaos as many employees are in new roles with learning curves. Despite the existing inefficiencies in a lot of daily operations due to poor systems and staffing issues, ownership has targeted aggressive growth for the bank with the intent to be appealing to larger banks looking to acquire once FLB is closer to, or reaches $1-Billion in total assets. This aggressive growth strategy would be a lot better if the systemic organizational inefficiencies were mostly resolved first. Instead, the conflicting growth strategy often adds to the chaos - A few of the most empowered individuals in the organization are toxic and manipulative. These individuals are not on the executive management team, however, they tend to be in middle management positions and are more skilled at playing office politics and manipulating the social hierarchy of the organization than they are at doing their jobs well, producing at a high level, and leading the employees they manage. They're very status-focused and will brown-nose the executive management team, while treating other middle and entry levels employees in a degrading manner. They'll backstab and are quick to point out others shortcomings, while boosting their own public perception at any chance they get. In short, they are talented bureaucrats who've learned to game the hierarchical structure in place, but are not true value adds (as measured by output and economic metrics) to the bank