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March 5, 2024
TWO RIVERS — Ask any employee at Shoreline Hometown Credit Union and they will tell you that Brandon Behm is an asset to the company.
Taking that appreciation one step further, Behm — who has worked at Shoreline for more than five years — was recently voted by his fellow employees as Employee of the Year.
Lisa Sment, COO of Shoreline said the process to becoming named Employee of the Year starts with being nominated for Employee of the Month — a recognition measured by how the employee did during the month, highlighting how they went above and beyond the typical job duties.
Those employees who get the most votes over 12 months, Sment said, are then eligible for the Employee of the Year designation.
Behm routinely goes above and beyond
Sment said he is the type of person who is there to help anyone — regardless of what department it is.
“Whether it’s a super involved task that takes a lot of thought and effort, or if it’s a two-second ‘change a lightbulb’ kind of job, he doesn’t care — he’s always willing to help,” she said.
Moreover, Sment said even if he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll dig into it until he finds the solution.
Behm’s dedication to helping the business succeed, Sment said, shows, regardless of being employee of the day, month or year.
“I always joke that if there’s any issue or big project I have a guy, and it’s Brandon,” she said. “We rely on him for a lot. We trust and know he will follow through.”
Sment said Behm can work independently while keeping people in the loop as he handles things.
A sense of doing what’s right
Though Behm worked his way through the ranks over the last nearly six years eventually becoming branch manager of the Two Rivers location, Sment said his sense of self isn’t above anyone and never has been.
Appreciative of Behm’s work ethic, Sment said he always looks out for what is best for the community, the employees and, of course, Shoreline.
“You can say, ‘Brandon, here’s an issue, can you please take care of it?'” she said. “You don’t need to go back and look — you trust he will do it.”
Sment said the fact that everyone can also trust Behm’s knowledge and wherewithal to make the right decision is refreshing.
Not one keen on being the center of attention, Behm said he considers his actions “just being a decent human being.”
Sment, however, said nowadays, that mentality speaks volumes.
“There’s not a lot of people in the world who do that anymore,” she said. “There’s a lot of people who think ‘What’s in it for me?’ and that’s not Brandon at all.”
This, Smet said, is also why he works well at Shoreline — which is all about helping the community.
A new role
In his new role as digital experience manager, Behm said he will help curate the digital strategies moving forward, including the newly added Video Teller Machines (VTMs).
Sment said as the financial world becomes more digital, Behm’s role will become more and more crucial.
VTMs, Behm said, are essentially the same idea as an ATM, with the added benefit of being able to access a video teller who can help walk the customer through finishing their transaction.
He said the concept has been around for about 10 years — though he knows of only one other credit union in the Manitowoc and Two Rivers area, and a couple of banks in the Green Bay area that have implemented the tech.
For the most part, Behm said, it’s not widespread yet.
Behm said he is naturally a technology-minded person, and finds it to come easy — so the transition from branch manager to digital experience manager wasn’t too difficult for him.
Sment said what Behm does is essential to helping bring the super technical details down to an understandable lingo for the rest of the team, which means they can relay this information to all of their members, regardless of their tech ability.
“We want (our staff) to understand where our initiatives are, how to use our machines and most importantly, how to answer questions from members,” she said. “Brandon’s ability to translate all of that for us and make it work is helpful.”
A leap of faith
Behm said when he came to Shoreline for about six years ago — the career move was a leap of faith.
At the time, he was at a job he didn’t enjoy, but said he felt stuck because “it paid the bills.”
Then he met Sment, and he decided to make the move to Shoreline.
“When I came here, it was honestly a little bit of a pay cut, but it seemed like it would be worth it,” he said. “I have to say, it was one of the best decisions of my life.”
Behm said he now has a job he wants to wake up and go to every day — where he gets the freedom to venture outside the box and figure out different solutions to issues that come up, rather than being stuck in a one-track mindset.
Behm said he is a solutions-minded person, and being able to do that at Shoreline is exciting.
