A disconnect between culture and reality
Pros
As a community bank, employees get the opportunity to work for a bank that is focused on serving our local communities. And, because WSFS is a community bank with a very lean workforce, many employees can get the chance to wear several hats and learn new skills. Because the bank has a lean workforce, this is both an opportunity and a great detriment to its employees and morale. It’s good because employees can expand their skills and it helps the bank produce consistent good profits (for its shareholders). See the Cons section for why this is terrible for employees. Departments I recommend due to quality leadership and/or career growth opportunities: Wealth (lots of hiring with career potential given the bank’s investments to build this business unit), Technology (significant investments with smart, effective and empathetic leadership), Small Business (lots of growth and opportunities to advance), and Commercial Banking (revenue generator at WSFS), and Cash Connect (far enough from the bank to have its own culture). Also, out of all their benefits, their 401(k) is pretty good.
Cons
This company will work and has worked its employees into the ground. They are incredibly understaffed. As the bank grows, they’ll likely continue to make acquisitions of other companies and WSFS relies on its employees to do two full-time jobs: day-to-day responsibilities and the full-time requirements that come up from mergers and acquisitions. Employees are stressed. Employees are anxious. Employees don’t benefit monetarily from the double work they do while management and the board get fat paychecks (see the 2018 proxy). Employees are discouraged to even take time off, not overtly, but through comments made by managers and leaders in group discussions or one-on-one. During my time there, I was also forced to work on laying off hundreds of employees from an acquired bank while management were paid $500,000+ in annual salary plus millions more in shares. The bank talks a lot about “serving” all its constituents, yet management primarily consists of white people, the bank chooses not to bank majority-minority communities, it underpays its employees (especially in Retail, the division that has the most employees of color), does not give enough to nonprofit community organizations, charges high fees on its products for little advancements in its technology, and much more. Just look at the executive management team: all white people while the CEO is primarily advised by SVPs and above who are also majority white. For people that want the opportunity to build their skills and don’t yet have family responsibilities, this is a good place for you. For people who truly want to be treated well in a culture that values you through fair pay of your double jobs and flexibility to do your job and dedicate time to family, I strongly recommend you look elsewhere. Other families are growing in the Delaware Valley, too. The departments I recommend avoiding most are Retail (underpaid significantly), Marketing (understaffed, lack of communication that impact the team’s morale and lives outside of work - lacks effective, empathetic leadership hence recent high turnover), Call Center (an afterthought group that needs significant more resources dedicated to it), Finance (leadership requires its employees to live to work with insufficient work-life balance), and HR (Glassdoor does not allow to reference specific individuals, so I can’t specifically add why I don’t recommend HR).
