When Andy Harmening joined Associated Bank in 2021 as the president and CEO, he immediately undertook an ambitious 100 Days of Listening Tour, meeting with and gathering perspectives from hundreds of colleagues, community members and some of the company’s largest customers and investors. “It all starts with listening,” he said. “It was to determine what was working well, where there were opportunities for growth and what must be done to win more customers and deepen community engagement.”
What Harmening quickly learned was that he had a team of colleagues who were ready to be bold and do more to help customers, their communities and ultimately the company grow. Using these insights, he led the organization through several larger scale initiative that within two years helped Associated Bank grow from a $35 billion to a $41 billion bank while driving meaningful change to the company’s corporate culture.
Associated Banc-Corp is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities.
For Harmening, mastering the connection between strategy and culture was a key factor in driving success, said his staff. “At the heart of all these efforts continues to be his drive to listen to and incorporate the perspectives, mindsets and skill sets of others into everything the company does,” they said.
This success has led to accolades for the financial institution, such as recognition from Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Under Harmening’s leadership, Associated Bank has been named one of the Top Workplaces, too.
Since taking over the role of president and CEO, Harmening led Associated Bank to deliver its most profitable year in the company’s 162-year history while implementing multiple people-led digitally enabled strategies to better serve companies.
There is no finish line when looking forward, said Harmening. “We are always looking for ways to do better and raise our game,” he said. “As it does, we will continue listening to our customers, colleagues and communities for ideas on how to make the future even better than the past.”
To deliver what people want, you must understand what they value, said Harmening. “Listen first to your colleagues, then to your customers and community stakeholders and check in with each group as you develop your strategic plan,” he said. “If you take these steps prior to executing your strategy, you know it will work because the people who know your business the best will have weighed in at every step of the process.”
For his unwavering pursuit to listen to all he serves, Harmening has been named a titan.
