In an era of rampant employee disengagement and corporate purpose statements that often ring hollow, Gulf Winds Credit Union is doing something different—and it’s working.
For the past three decades, the Pensacola-based financial institution has transformed a bank holiday into something extraordinary: the Unite Conference, an all-hands gathering that brings together 250 employees from Northwest Florida, South Alabama and Tallahassee for a day of professional development, team building, and community service.
- “We take the bank holiday, and we give all of our employees a floating holiday,” explains CEO Daniel Souers in a recent interview on “We Don’t Color On the Dog.” “So not only do we pay them to come, we give them a floating holiday for everybody that shows up, so they can take a holiday on a different day.”
Flipping the Organizational Chart
This year’s theme—“Connect for Impact and Unite for Purpose”—emphasized what Souers calls a “we culture, not a me culture.” The message is reinforced through an inverted organizational chart that puts the CEO at the bottom, supporting employees who support members.
- “My job as CEO is to support you and you’re to support the members, and we’re here to serve,” Souers told his team, backing up the philosophy with compelling data: individuals who focus on serving others have a 30% better chance of living longer and report higher happiness levels.
The conference itself doesn’t skimp on production value. Smoke machines, stage lighting, and a surprise marching band finale create an experience that new employees describe as “like nothing I’ve ever been part of in a company before.”
Service That Feeds the Soul (and the Community)
The event’s community service component partnered with Manna Food Bank for a creative canned food structure competition. Teams engineered elaborate designs—one built an ATM out of cans—that collectively provided 4,221 meals to community members in need.
- “Sometimes we just get so busy with life, we forget that there’s people who don’t have what we have,” Souers reflects. “It really helps to remind ourselves of that and step out of our own little petty problems.”
Since 1954, Gulf Winds has maintained its mission of helping members and the community succeed financially. With just a $5 deposit, anyone can become a member of this credit union where every dollar stays local—and where service to others isn’t just preached, but practiced.