By Mary Beth Roach
Lori Teifke has been involved in banking for 23 years — the last 16 at NBT Bank — and within the last decade, she said she has seen significant positive changes for women in the banking industry that causes her to be optimistic for the future.
“It’s pretty exciting to be in the industry at this time as we see women in executive leadership roles increasing, especially in the last 10 years,” she said.
When she first began in the field, she said, a majority of the women in banking were tellers and bank managers, with some as district managers. However, the executive leadership teams were primarily men.
“I have been lucky enough to work for organizations that have women in leadership roles, but the ratio of women to men in those roles were low — today, that has changed significantly. We’re seeing more women being recognized as leaders for their contributions and expertise,” she said.
She is currently a territory manager/ senior vice president at NBT and as such, she oversees the retail branches in Onondaga and Oswego counties and is responsible for recruiting, staff development and supporting teams.
She said that she sees women “really focusing on development opportunities to give employees and customers a better experience.”
She also noted that the needs of the customers are different in the last four to five years. With all the different options for banking available to customers — online banking, ATMs, various apps — people aren’t necessarily coming into the bank lobbies to make simple transactions.
As she explained, “Customers are coming in for more complex issues and comprehensive financial advice. In most of the retail branches you are seeing most of these consultative roles filled by women.”
The role of women in banking, she believes, is “only going to get better. You’re seeing the trend is just so positive and it’s continuing. Women are finding their voices, they’re sharing and people are listening. It’s giving people the confidence to really speak up and share their voice and at NBT Bank, we encourage that. And we listen.”
