Origin Bank

Strategic planning is not one size fits all

Origin Bank, a regional bank with branches in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana, is not afraid to adapt. Its improvements include expanding its presence, updating its brand to differentiate itself, and implementing paid volunteer hours to make a difference in the communities it serves.

About Origin Bank

Origin Bank was founded in 1912 in Choudrant, Louisiana. Its parent, Origin Bancorp, is a financial holding company headquartered in Ruston, Louisiana, and completed an initial public offering in May 2018. The bank provides personalized, relationship banking to businesses, municipalities, and personal clients. It operates locations in Dallas/Fort Worth, East Texas, Houston, North Louisiana, Mississippi, South Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. At December 31, 2024, Origin Bancorp reported total assets of $9.68 billion (2024 Form 10-K).

For a long time, Origin Bank's strategic plan did not keep pace with this drive for innovation. They had a plan, but as Regina McNeill, Senior Vice President of Market Analytics and Strategic Planning, puts it, "we were not being strategic with our plan." Consistent accountability and expectations were lacking, and the plan looked backward and did not include the organization's future direction. Origin Bank realized it was time to apply its culture of re-imagining and evolving to its organizational strategy.

Origin Bank scrapped its plan entirely to develop one that would align its vision and strategy. The new plan needed a concise, logical structure that could grow with the organization and emphasize metrics tied directly to desired strategic outcomes, since financial institutions are very data-driven. The old plan had only analyzed past performance, so the new one also needed forward-looking elements, which mattered because financial regulators want to see where an institution is headed in the next 2-3 years.

Leadership buy-in was paramount too. McNeill knew the plan's momentum would not be sustainable without the executive team's backing. A supportive CEO and vocal executives were driving the push for a better plan, and they knew they would need a partner to help deliver results. The software they had wasn't working, so they spoke with numerous providers about their needs. ClearPoint Strategy's customization capabilities, report generation, and support team fit the bill. Origin Bank switched platforms with two years left on its previous contract and hasn't looked back.

Developing the New Plan

With the end goals in mind and leadership in support, the team got started. The bank needed an answer to the question, "where do we start in creating a living, idea-mapped document that drives high-level strategy?" So they started where any good brainstorming session does - at a whiteboard. They mapped out common themes and what they needed to accomplish to be successful. The high-level goals became the pillars of their plan.

These pillars were broken down into objectives and initiatives to determine the business activities that would lead to their goals, and they developed measures to track progress. McNeill admits Origin Bank came very close to incorporating too many metrics - when so much is measurable, it's easy to do! They backtracked and kept only the measures that made a difference and played into the strategic plan.

A Robust Review Process

Next they decided how these strategic elements would be managed. They entered the plan into ClearPoint, using premium support to chat in real time with ClearPoint's experts about how to configure the account. Then they created four reports in ClearPoint to drive the right conversations and encourage accountability. A Strategic Plan Overview would go to the board quarterly, summarizing the plan pillars that align with the organizational goals. It would be high-level for the most part but allow further detail when something went off track. Another report showed the plan objectives alongside quarterly analysis. A "heat map" measure report gave an easy look at the status of Corporate and Market measures. Lastly, a Red Arrow Report, built with report filters in ClearPoint, automatically identified any measures that were off track.

The next piece was the level of communication and accountability Origin Bank knew it needed. How would the plan be reviewed? What would determine whether elements were on track? Who would ensure follow-through on action items from meetings? Using ClearPoint's Management Reporting Guide as a template, McNeill worked with the Executive Management team to answer these process questions and more.

The team knew a robust process and clear expectations were key, so Origin Bank implemented detailed agendas for three monthly meetings held each quarter. In the first month of the quarter, the Strategic Plan Overview report is the basis for a high-level review. What is going right, and what is going wrong? Where are the risks, and where are the opportunities? The meeting is a chance to discuss possible solutions and plan ahead.

The second monthly meeting focuses on accountability using the Red Arrow Report from the previous quarter's data (there are too many fluctuations in the financial sector to evaluate monthly). Each measure is assigned an owner, who is held accountable for entering analysis and recommendations into ClearPoint, before the Red Arrow Report is sent out as pre-reading.  In the third month of the quarter, there is an overall focus on the plan itself and its continued ability to carry the organization forward. Are there any updates or changes that need to be made? One week after this third meeting, proposed changes are taken to the board for approval to continue Origin Bank's evolution.

Facilitating a Culture of Evolution

As fintech and technology companies become more involved in banking, Origin Bank recognizes the importance of differentiating itself from competitors and creating a culture that facilitates growth.

The first step was to recognize the bank's core competencies, critical resources, and key success factors, all key elements for developing a unique customer experience and an internal sense of ingenuity. The process also included re-evaluating communication with the Board of Directors and employees and having meaningful conversations about challenges.

In addition to maintaining 3-year strategic plans, Origin Bank rolled out the 'Corporate Big 5.' Ironically, the Corporate Big 5 is made up of 7 goals - Origin Bank assures us they know how to count; the apparent discrepancy is simply due to movement and shifting of goal priorities throughout the year. Any good plan should be dynamic!

From the Corporate Big 5, the goals break down into 'Strategic Plan Blueprints,' which define the nuts and bolts of what it takes to be successful. The blueprints let the Board and Executive Management view the strategic plan in terms of strategic positioning. Sometimes the most challenging part of strategy in a competitive industry is deciding what not to do and making trade-offs so the selected projects can be done well.

ClearPoint lets Origin Bank look at the Corporate Big 5 at multiple levels, with a high-level summary report linking the Big 5 goals to the individual strategic blueprints. From there, ClearPoint's child scorecard feature lets Origin Bank set up 'Executive Big 5s' so each executive knows which strategic blueprint projects they are responsible for. The approach has built accountability and visual alignment up to the corporate level strategy.

Outcomes and Insights

After revamping the plan and process, accountability and collaboration at Origin Bank have improved. The progress continues. Any major project or strategy change now goes through a "Decision Tree" form to consider the impact on customers, culture, the business, and finances. This vetting creates space for focused discussion and approval of strategies. Corporate project management is also centralized, so someone is responsible for seeing each project through. McNeill meets with these project managers monthly to make sure necessary changes to the strategic plan are made and communicated.

Origin Bank carries several insights from the strategic planning process forward. When tackling a substantial change, they've learned that leadership buy-in is crucial, along with dedicated staff to administer implementation. It's also important to prevent your plan from "sprouting weeds" - that is, becoming more of a to-do list than a high-level look at your strategy. Measures should be examined for their direct contribution to strategy and not tracked simply because the data is available. Lastly, in the spirit of continuous improvement, McNeill recommends, "don't be afraid to break up with your current plan if it's not working for you." In other words, "strategic planning is not one size fits all!" It is worth the effort to have a strategic plan that drives the organization toward success and highlights its unique strengths.