stay or leave. It also found that employees often want greater employer contributions, more flexibility and more resources to support financial well-being. Different employees value different things. A younger employee may care about affordability and flexibility. An employee with a family may focus on health coverage and dependent care. A long-term employee may be thinking about retirement and health care stability. You do not have to be everything to everyone, but you do need to understand your workforce. This Is Also a Risk Management Issue Bankers understand risk. You think about credit risk, compliance risk, interest rate risk, cybersecurity risk and operational risk. Workforce risk should be part of that conversation. If your bank cannot attract and retain good people, it can affect customer service, internal controls, compliance, lending and succession planning. Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged in 2025. While that is not a Kansas banking number, it reinforces a simple point: People perform better and stay longer when they feel connected to their work and employer. A Few Questions Worth Asking This does not need to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional. Are our benefits competitive in our Kansas market? Do employees understand the value of what we offer? Are we using benefits in recruiting? Are we doing enough to retain experienced employees? Are we looking at benefits strategically, or just renewing what we already have? Those are not just HR questions. Those are leadership questions. Final Thought At the end of the day, Kansas community banking is still a people business. Technology, efficiency, products and growth all matter. But the bank still depends on good people taking care of customers, making sound decisions and doing things the right way. Benefits are one of the ways you take care of those people. They help you hire. They help you retain. They help employees feel secure. And they send a message about the kind of employer you want to be in your community. This is not meant to be a sales pitch. It is a reminder that benefits matter and deserve attention from bank leadership. At Bankers Insurance Solutions, we work with Kansas community banks on employee benefits, plan design, communication and long-term strategy. If your bank wants to understand how your current package compares, we are here to help. Sources referenced: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, December 2025; SHRM, 2025 Employee Benefits Survey; Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2025 Workplace Wellness Survey; Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026. 34
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