Five Questions with Jeff Morris, Chief Human Resources Officer

At INTRUST, attracting the right employees is about looking for individuals that are a reflection of our core values in addition to their skill set. Jeff Morris, Chief Human Resources Officer at INTRUST Bank shares his insights on the landscape of recruiting and how we approach engagement with our prospective and current employees in a highly competitive environment.

Jeff, tell us about your background and your current role at INTRUST.

Outside of a post-college concert roadie tour and a 6-year stint in Ohio with Koch Industries, I’m a lifelong Kansan. I’ve worked at INTRUST going on seven years, in addition to nearly twenty-three with Koch. The roles I’ve had range from individual sales and sales management to consulting, training and development, recruitment, and broad HR leadership. I presently serve as Chief Human Resources Officer for INTRUST’s HR group, a fantastic team of knowledgeable and talented professionals.

How has the landscape of recruiting changed over the course of your career?

Not surprising, but technology has prompted the most recent and drastic changes to recruitment. The ability for candidates to access information about opportunities, companies, and individual employees instantaneously has increased the competiveness for talent. Additionally, engaging candidates through a variety of recruitment efforts is more important than ever. It’s no longer sufficient to have only a job for consideration. Today’s candidates also want to know what it’s like to work for you, as a company. They want to connect with organizations more personally and understand its values, purpose and mission.

How important is it to connect a prospective employee or current employee to a company’s culture and values before, during or after they are hired?

The connection is absolutely critical. I am convinced more than ever that today’s candidates and employees want to work for a company whose culture – the manner in which people think, act, and interact — closely aligns with their own. I also believe that people want to invest their time and energy on things of significance. And I believe they want to spend their time with others who genuinely care about them and their success. Culture. Cause. Care. These things matter!

To me, one hallmark of INTRUST’s culture is the value we place on Compassion, to be understanding, forgiving, kind, and helpful. This may not be typical within today’s marketplace, but it’s an expectation of everyone at INTRUST, and I think it actually creates a deeper connection and community with one another. We all spend so much time at work, so why not spend it with others who share this sense of our common humanity.

We host a quarterly "Jump on Board Day" at INTRUST to better connect newer employees to our vision, values, and history for this very purpose. It's been a great event to deepen personal connections to our culture.

What are some of the biggest challenges when it comes to recruiting employees?

Practically, there is a growing gap in the fields of science and technology. This is true in engineering and skilled trades, but we are also feeling it in the areas of digital and information technology. I read a somewhat frightening comment recently from the book Imagine It Forward that suggests, “The pace of change in our world will never be slower than it is right now.” Whether the statement is accurate or not, we would all be wise to consider its possibility.

The exciting thing for INTRUST is that we’re uniquely appealing to individuals in this space. Banking, just like all industry, is evolving to incorporate more and more of a digital touch. Although we are not a technology specific company, our employees working in this space have unique opportunities to innovate. We’re always looking for ways to enhance our relationships and we can capitalize on opportunities that technology affords by engaging with our customers and communities in new ways. In all businesses, and ours particularly, relationships matter. Thankfully, I believe this is an area of great strength for INTRUST and technology will only enhance this.

In recruiting, we’ve begun to engage more intentionally with external partners who provide unique expertise that we may not have internally. For example, we’re piloting a technology tied to our application process that assesses a candidate’s behavioral preferences and maps them to job-related competencies for various openings. Although we’re still early in process, we’re encouraged by our initials results. I think the key is to have an awareness of what tools are available and a willingness to experiment in new ways.

What do you believe the future of recruiting will entail?

Companies must continue to evolve in order to attract, engage and connect with individuals on a personal level. I love the quote “Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master,” and we would be wise to recognize this in our recruiting and outreach efforts. Ultimately, our ability to utilize technology wisely so that we connect with others personally is the key.

Every role at INTRUST is critically important in helping us serve our customers, our communities and our employees. It’s why we’re selective in our hiring, but also why we’re proud to claim the best and brightest among our ranks. To learn about the many career opportunities that exist at INTRUST,  visit our careers page.