Leading Bank Streamlines Payroll and Builds a Fair, Inclusive Culture

State Bank of Texas is a classic American success story. Founder and CEO Chan Patel came to the United States in 1965, opened his first hotel in 1976, and built a hospitality empire. When he saw other hoteliers struggling to fund their projects, Chan launched the bank in 1987.

Today, State Bank of Texas is the leading lender to the American hospitality sector, the largest Indian-American-owned bank, and one of the top-performing community banks in the country. Operating nine branches in Texas and Illinois, the bank offers tailored lending products along with retail and business banking services, and manages $2.8 billion in assets.

The bank’s success is based on a strong culture of dedication and professionalism, and a relentless drive for improvement. When Lisa Hutcherson arrived as Senior Vice President of Human Resources, she embraced this mindset and soon identified opportunities to enhance key processes.

Lisa explains: “We audited all our HR policies, procedures, and systems, and surveyed employees to find out what was working, what wasn’t, and what needed a rethink. We found many issues with our systems, so we made the call to invest in a new HR platform.”

After mapping requirements and evaluating potential partners, State Bank of Texas decided to move forward with Paylocity. “During the assessment, Paylocity checked all our boxes,” adds Lisa. “The all-in-one platform had the integrations that we wanted, the capabilities to support our cultural objectives, and the pricing was great, too. It has made me look like a rock star!”

 

The Challenge: A Shift in Direction

As Lisa gathered feedback on the current environment, she discovered that HR and employees were held back by complex systems, manual workflows, and unwieldy spreadsheets.

Legacy Platform Frustrates Users

Just before Lisa arrived, State Bank of Texas had switched to a new HCM platform, but there were already issues emerging. For starters, the system proved difficult to navigate for employees, as Lisa explains: “In banking, everything is about customer service, and for HR our employees are our customers. We want to offer them a seamless experience, but the previous platform simply wasn’t user friendly when people were trying to access their paychecks or request time off, and we spent a lot of time troubleshooting and calling support.”

Inefficient Payroll Soaks Up HR Time

Managing core HR functions was also challenging with the system. Running payroll required multiple manual steps, and the bank ran into frequent tax errors. “Payroll was very clunky and fragmented in the previous system,” continues Lisa. “There was a lot of back-and-forth clicking between six or seven different interfaces, and the whole process could take half a day to complete.”

Meanwhile, State Bank of Texas was handling performance and employee compensation reviews using cumbersome spreadsheets, and a separate system for recruitment. “Our hiring and onboarding processes were very manual beforehand,” notes Lisa. “It was a case of enter these details here, add this data there, and then remember to send this email.” 

Planning to Sharpen Engagement and Culture

As State Bank of Texas looked to the future, Lisa prepared a wish-list for the new platform, including streamlined core processes and integrations with key benefits providers. Plus, Lisa was keen to find a solution that would support cultural and engagement initiatives. “Often you see one department or group of employees get all the kudos in an organization,” she adds. “We wanted to create a fair, inclusive environment where everyone is recognized for their efforts.”

 

The Solution: A New Partnership

State Bank of Texas worked closely with Paylocity to roll out the new platform. Now several months into the journey, Lisa has reshaped and optimized key HR and payroll processes.

Automating Payroll, Hiring, and Onboarding

Using Paylocity’s Payroll module, State Bank of Texas has simplified monthly pay processes. “We just double-check timecards in Time & Labor, then import the data into Payroll,” explains Lisa. “The dashboard makes it clear if we need to correct anything.” Similarly, the Recruiting and Onboarding modules have streamlined hiring and orientation. “We love how the system automatically posts open positions to LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job boards,” adds Lisa. “That’s a big labor-saver.”

Creating More Robust Feedback Processes

To manage employee benefits, the bank harnesses an integration with Employee Navigator, plus the Flexible Benefits module to enable employees to monitor their contributions. And in Performance, Lisa has created employee review templates and structured feedback processes, while managers are already keen to use the Journals tool to monitor their own development. 

In addition, the bank is using the Employee Voice module to run exit interviews, and to gather feedback on quarterly leadership training and benefits plans. “We’ll run our first big engagement survey in the summer,” says Lisa. “We used to run polls in Outlook, but it was fairly basic. Paylocity gives us something much more professional, with a better user experience.”

Celebrating and Rewarding Great Work

The Community hub and Recognition & Rewards module are enabling Lisa to foster engagement across the organization. “We are giving managers budget to award folks with gift cards for their work,” she notes. “It’s great to be able to offer shoutouts, add achievement badges, and celebrate people in the main HR platform rather than using a separate third-party system.” 

Next, State Bank of Texas will add the Compensation module to manage pay grades, and increase its use of Data Insights. “The reporting is wonderful,” notes Lisa. “It’s easy to find what you need. We plan to create dashboards tracking quarterly turnover and headcount.”

 

The Results: Seeing Healthy Returns

The future is looking brighter for State Bank of Texas with Paylocity. The platform has received positive feedback from employees, and is helping to support quicker, more agile HR and payroll workflows.

Optimizing the User Experience

With Paylocity, State Bank of Texas has replaced multiple systems and unwieldy spreadsheets with a comprehensive, best-in-class HR and payroll platform. “I didn’t realize Paylocity offered so much until our rep presented a diagram with all the modules—they really have thought of everything,” explains Lisa. The user experience has been a real upgrade, too. “We have people who are very difficult to please, but even they have been impressed with Paylocity,” adds Lisa.

Accelerating Workflows, Cutting Risk

The payroll process is now more efficient and robust, with minimal risk of costly tax errors. Lisa explains: “Where payroll would take me half a day in the past, it now takes one hour at most in Paylocity. The platform walks you through the process step by step, so it’s actually difficult to make mistakes. And I can quickly pull a report for our Accounts Payable team from the General Ledger.”

Likewise, automated workflows have helped to accelerate recruitment, onboarding, and new-hire orientation. “Everything integrates so well and flows seamlessly in Paylocity,” says Lisa. “We don’t have to do half the work that we used to during recruitment. Once we have onboarding completed, the system sets everything up so the new hire can clock in on day one.”

Developing a Culture of Recognition

Furthermore, Paylocity will help to create an environment where all employees feel valued. “I can pull reports to check we aren’t recognizing one gender, ethnicity or department more than any other, and that we are distributing rewards equitably,” concludes Lisa. “The impact on culture will be very positive. When our leaders visit branches, we can tell them who has been recognized for great service, and they can ask them what their secret is. That kind of appreciation gives people a lift.”