BUILDING
TOWARD THE FUTURE
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2019
Citizens Helping Citizens
Strengthening Our Communities
12M
MEALS12 million meals
donated through Feeding America and other local hunger partners
$16M
TO SUPPORT$16 million
to support community programs and events across our footprint from Citizens Bank and the Citizens Charitable Foundation
$1M
IN MATCHING GIFTS$1 million
in matching gifts amplified the generosity of our colleagues in their charitable giving
$620.8M
IN COMMUNITY DEVELPMENT$620.8 million
in Community Development lending and investments
The world in which our business operates is changing rapidly in nearly every dimension including the marketplace, technology, and innovation. The skills required of our colleagues are evolving at an accelerated pace. We must continually reshape our workforce and re-skill our colleagues so that our entire organization can keep pace with an ever-changing environment.
TalentUp is a set of initiatives designed to support the employability of talent at Citizens and in the communities in which we operate, and allow all stakeholders to thrive in the future. For our colleagues, we are accelerating development opportunities to ensure they have the right set of critical skills. In our communities, we are building partnerships with educational institutions and local organizations to ensure that individuals can obtain the skills that will make them highly employable for the most in-demand jobs.
Colleagues Give Back
144,000
HOURS144,000 hours
volunteered by our colleagues to benefit our local communities
1,200
COMMUNITY BOARDS& COMMITTEES
1,200 community
boards & committees
across our communities benefited from the expertise of Citizen colleagues
12%
YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE12% year-over-year increase
in the number of colleagues who volunteered
The Giving Portal on our company intranet allows our colleagues to find volunteer opportunities in their communities and submit new ones so other colleagues can participate, and propose opportunities in their communities. The portal also includes resources and guides to help support colleagues in their efforts.
Colleague Volunteerism Hours
144% INCREASE OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS
Diversity & Inclusion
A diverse workforce and inclusive culture are fundamental to Citizens’ growth and success. To fuel innovation and meet the needs of customers, we need a workforce that reflects dimensions of diversity beyond those of gender and race, and we must continue to build a culture of inclusion where every colleague shows up as their authentic self and is valued, respected and heard.
TALENT DIVERSITY
Citizens is committed to building a diverse workforce and inclusive culture to foster innovation, deep customer relationships, and meaningful community partnerships. We are proud of the progress we have shown since becoming a fully-independent bank in 2015; however, opportunity remains to increase the number of females and people of color in leadership roles.
We have several initiatives in place to improve our talent diversity, including:
Diversity Recruitment Program
builds key internal and external partnerships to help identify diverse talent for opportunities at Citizens
Diversity Slate Commitment
ensures we have diverse representation in candidate pools for senior openings
Business Resource Groups (BRGs)
Six colleague-driven groups — women, LGBTQ and allies, multicultural, disabilities, veterans, and rising professionals — partner with internal stakeholders and community partners on proactive recruiting strategies
Hi-touch Referral Program
prioritizes qualified diverse candidate referrals from our BRG network
2019 Year-End Demographics
The charts below reflect our 2019 year-end employee demographics overall, as well as for officers and managers. A diverse workforce and inclusive culture are fundamental to Citizens’ success and we are committed to continuing our progress on the representation of women and people of color (P.O.C.) as well as other underrepresented groups.
- Employees
- Officers & Managers *
Gender
Ethnicity
Gender
Ethnicity
* Officers & Managers are calculated using the EEO-1 job categories: Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers and First/Mid-Level Officials and Managers
INAUGURAL WOMEN’S SUMMIT
The Women’s Impact Network (WIN) engages, inspires and empowers women at Citizens to thrive at work and in their personal lives. WIN encourages the advancement and engagement of women with opportunities to help them develop strong networks, by building a thriving talent pipeline and promoting professional development.
In collaboration with our D&I office and business lines, WIN hosted an inaugural Women’s Summit. Under the theme “Climb, Lift, Thrive,” 250 colleagues came together for a day of personal and professional development and networking opportunities. The agenda included prominent external speakers and internal thought leaders to engage, inspire and equip participants to maximize their potential and that of others. Sessions focused on progress and challenges in the workforce and explored relevant topics such as unconscious bias and how to embrace a growth mindset in an increasingly changing world.
CITIZENS RECOGNIZED FOR D&I PROGRESS
2nd Highest-Rated Financial Institution “Best Employer for New Grads” by Forbes
Included in DiversityInc’s Noteworthy Companies
Named Military Friendly® Employer status that is “Better for Veterans”
COMMITMENT TO PAY EQUITY
Part of our commitment to building a diverse, inclusive and high-performing culture includes ensuring our compensation and benefits are fair and competitive for all colleagues. We continuously evaluate our practices and are committed to identifying opportunities to help ensure all colleagues have equal opportunity to maximize their potential.
The following steps are taken to ensure that equal pay is received for equal work throughout our organization:
Pay for Performance
Compensation decisions are based on a “pay-for-performance” philosophy. This means annual compensation decisions are based on a blend of individual performance, business unit performance and Citizens’ overall performance.
Manager Training
Managers receive annual training that includes tools and resources to help them make appropriate compensation decisions. Colleagues receive information explaining our compensation philosophy and practices.
Annual Review
Managers receive annual training that includes tools and resources to help them make appropriate compensation decisions. Colleagues receive information explaining our compensation philosophy and practices.
Analyze Regularly
We regularly review pay decisions to ensure all colleagues are compensated equitably, regardless of gender or race. This review considers factors such as performance, time in role, education, and more. In the rare case that job-related factors do not explain a disparity, a pay adjustment is made.
Giving Customers Financial Freedom
863
FINANCIAL LITERACY SESSIONS863 financial
literacy sessions
taught by our volunteer community ambassadors reached 19,000 individuals
356,000+
PEOPLE REACHED356,000+ people reached
through financial literacy programming at local nonprofits
Business Resource Groups
2,900 colleagues engaged
in diversity & inclusion dialogue as members of our six Business Resource Groups
Commitment to Veterans
TURNING A HOUSE INTO A HOME
Since 2015, we have partnered with the Military Warriors Support Foundation (MWSF) to award fully furnished and renovated, mortgage-free homes to a combat-wounded veteran hero and their family. Through this partnership, we provide three years of financial literacy and debt management coaching so that the heroes and their families can focus on settling back into their daily lives. The program gives hundreds of our local colleagues the opportunity to make a difference by assisting with renovations and welcoming the veteran’s family home.
Citizens colleagues rolled up their sleeves and turned a house into a home in Cleveland Heights, OH. The home was presented to Sergeant First Class Charlie Pepinrivera, his wife, and their six children. During his 24-year military career, Charlie was deployed multiple times to Kuwait, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. While overseas, Charlie displayed acts of bravery and leadership that earned him several military awards including: The Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, NATO Medal, and Combat Action Badge.
A MILLION THANKS
Citizens colleagues across the footprint wrote 3,000+ notes & letters of appreciation that were included in care packages sent to active, reserve and veteran service members through the “A Million Thanks” campaign.
MILITARY RESOURCE CENTER
Citizens has a long-term commitment to provide support to military veterans through internal and external programs designed to aid those who served our country. Veterans represent a vast source of talent, and the unique strengths and experience military members acquire during their service — leadership, responsibility and teamwork, to name a few — translate well to many of our roles.
We attend recruiting events dedicated to service members and their families and have partnerships with nearly a dozen community organizations and universities in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island that help veterans find new opportunities. These include Hiring Our Heroes and Four Block. Also, our Recruiting leaders regularly host community events for veterans focused on career readiness, résumé building and networking. Once hired, we provide resources that help veterans grow their civilian careers and put their experience into action.
Our website now features a Military Resource Center to provide financial literacy and resources for veterans and deploying service members. The Citizens Veterans BRG was instrumental in the development of this new tool.
Citizens is proud to be recognized as a Military Friendly Employer
Enabling Informed Home Ownership
$1.2
MILLION$1.2 million
in closing cost assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers
14,800+
LOANS14,800+ loans
totaling $2.8 billion for home purchases and home refinances to low- and moderate-income borrowers or for residences in low- to moderate-income census tracts
Transformation and Innovation
We are embedding methods and training across our business to unleash the power of innovation. Through Innovation @ Citizens, we have established an Innovation Forum open to all bank colleagues with 1,100 participants. Monthly Forum meetings showcase bank-wide initiatives including proof-of-concept explorations, fintech partnership updates and prototypes in development.
We created an Innovation Fund to make targeted, venture capital-style investments in early stage ideas developed by colleagues to help us launch products and services for our customers more quickly. We have also made training available to all colleagues on innovation, design thinking and Agile working.
We are developing ways to better harness external innovation to improve customer service. We have created engagements with 19 fintechs and three accelerators, and in 2019 held our second annual CitizensChallenge Hackathon. This event was a platform for fintech startups, students, and tech enthusiasts to participate in a fast-paced, 24-hour challenge aimed at developing data-driven solutions to overcome daily operational challenges that ultimately impact our customers.
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