Regions united. Stronger together.
Those words define Evergreen 2020 at Regions Bank.
What’s Evergreen? It’s a celebration of 20,000 Regions associates who deliver their best on behalf of customers and communities. This year’s Evergreen Week took on special meaning. It was a time to say ‘thank you’ to the people delivering financial insights and guidance to help people and businesses during the pandemic. It was a chance to pause, to have a little fun, and to come together even closer as a team.
Like this team in Houston:
“We took time this year to create an even more inclusive environment where all associates were able to share their personal or professional accomplishments during such a challenging year,” explained Branch Manager Will Davis. “We used the theme ‘Regions united. Stronger together,’ to discuss how, as a team, we move forward to make a positive impact on the financial lives of our customers and our community.”
Feedback from Davis’ team was extraordinary. Here are just a few of their thoughts:
But what about everyone working from home? Evergreen celebrations still took place. Videoconferences were set up not only to recognize achievements, but also to share more of our personal side. Internal message boards provided another opportunity to connect.
Sailaja Lanka is a BSA/AML project manager for the bank. She loves to cook. During Evergreen, she posted some of her favorite recipes.
That’s Lanka’s famous masala chai on the top and her butter chicken on the right. When the pandemic is over, we all want to head to her house and taste these culinary creations for ourselves!
There was also a virtual show-and-tell.
“Each team member got time to talk about something they own or even something intangible,” Lanka said. “This could be anything, such as art, favorite trophies, pets, hobbies, or even a passion project. It was fun!”
A lot of other groups had virtual parties, too. Like these partners in our Corporate Marketing group:
During Evergreen, associates are recognized for their years of service at Regions. We all have custom Regions lapel pins. Special pins are given for every five years of service. Marilyn Putman (above, right) earned her 15-year lapel pin during Evergreen. And you can see was in the Evergreen spirit!
Oh, and speaking of gifts…
Every Regions associate in more than a dozen states also received a gift box filled with awesome merch. A neck gaiter in our signature LifeGreen color. A book of recipes from Regions colleagues. And more.
The greatest gift was the time spent together.
One of Regions’ newest branches is in Arlington, Tennessee, a fast-growing community near Memphis. Every morning, Branch Manager Joe Kelly recognized a banker of the day.
“I love to be able to celebrate the team, but also love being able to celebrate the individual and what each of them brings to the team that is different,” Kelly said. “It is always great to see how creative the team gets with their individual banker sign. On top of that, it gives us a chance to let our customers know a couple fun facts about us.”
Other teams, like this one in Marietta, Georgia, cooked up a lot of good ways to celebrate.
Their celebration included delivering some sweet treats to Cobb County firefighters.
Down in Bainbridge, they had a great time, too. Including on “Tiara Tuesday.”
“Here is how it all came about,” Branch Manager Janet Dodd told us. “A couple weeks ago, we had a birthday party for an associate, and she wore a tiara while we celebrated her special day. Light bulbs went off in our heads, and we said we can all be a prince or princess during Evergreen. We all were aligned on feeling extra special this day, and this week, in terms of adding some glamour to the new normal, so we decided to wear black and pick out our own style of tiara. We love it!!”
Regions Bank’s mission is to make life better for our customers and communities. That’s what this team in Zachary, Louisiana, does every day. During Evergreen, they joined hands (on canvas!) to celebrate our theme of unity and then paused for a quick picture.
“We are all connected because we work for Regions,” said Financial Relationship Consultant Sandra Yarbrough. “What we have found is that our different strengths, as a whole, make the day run smoother for us and our customers.”
What else could we say about Evergreen? We could go on and on. But these photos from South Florida say it all.
