The FISH! Philosophy - Put it in the bank

Robert Hussey, a trainer at Republic Bank and Trust, has been a follower of The FISH! Philosophy since 1998, when the original FISH! film was released. When he was hired last year at the bank, one thing he negotiated was bringing The FISH! Philosophy to the bank’s culture.

“I instantly connected with FISH! when I saw the film. I saw the benefits it could have in motivating employees, allowing them to enjoy their work, and how it could help with retention and productivity,” Hussey says. “When I introduced it to my former employer in 1998, it took off like gangbusters.”

So when Hussey was assured by his direct supervisor that she supported bringing The FISH! Philosophy to the bank, he put together a PowerPoint presentation for the CEO. “I knew that FISH! would not work unless you got buy-in from leadership, and could then tell the employees ‘you’ve been invited to embrace this and run with it.’”
With a large, spread-out organization – 800 employees in 45 branches in four states - some departments had already implemented their own variations of The FISH! Philosophy before Hussey arrived. By bringing it to the entire organization, Hussey says it “made the environment consistent across the board,” and “gave us a common language.”

Some of the activities that have been implemented with the bank include having sales referrals goals attached to a contest. The winner got a freshly-cooked breakfast by their manager as a reward, or got to have their car washed by their manager. One manager even offered shoe shines to the contest winners. They also have been doing things like a Hawaiian day and a Barbecue day to help get the energy up and get employees excited. One department even did a Chili-Cook Off, raising money for Breast Cancer Awareness.

The results have been immediate, so much so that one department in fact doubled their sales goals soon after they implemented FISH! “We have been very pleased with how successful The FISH! Philosophy has been for us. The organization was looking to keep energy going in a time when banks everywhere are struggling. This has been an excellent means to that end.”