Although the Company maintains contingency and disaster recovery plans for pandemic outbreaks, the Board also oversaw the creation of a dedicated response team to closely monitor developments and provide guidance to management to make decisions.
The Board’s Role in Human Capital Oversight
As of December 31, 2020, we and our five subsidiary banks employed approximately 2,254 persons full time and 202 persons part time. As of December 31, 2020, more than half of our approximately 300-person officer management team have been with us for more than 15 years, and approximately two-thirds of those have been with us for more than 20 years.
The Board with management seeks to lead by example in developing a banking culture that builds genuine, personal relationships with our customers and the communities we serve. The most significant component of that mission is to attract, develop and maintain employees and officers of the highest quality, who are committed to their job, conduct themselves with the highest level of professionalism, devote themselves to their community, and relentlessly pursue perfection in their performance.
The Board’s and management’s objective is to instill our mission and cultural values throughout our entire organization. We are as dedicated to each other as “one team” moving in the same direction as we are to the communities we serve. The Board monitors the teaching and training of our employees to ensure that our customers receive superior customer service, and to develop superior skills at the transaction level, using a bottom-up approach to management.
The Board, with assistance from the Compensation Committee, oversees compensation plans coupled with a complete evaluation program to reward and direct the development of our employees. Our compensation systems are reflective of the need to retain and develop a superior workforce, recognizing that unique and innovative programs need to be developed and maintained to retain highly qualified employees. The Board also oversees the Company’s efforts to provide pay, benefits, and services that help meet the varying needs of our employees. Compensation and benefits include market-competitive pay, retirement programs, broad-based bonuses, stock options, health and welfare benefits, financial counseling, paid time off, and family leave.
The Board also oversees management’s efforts in attracting, hiring and retaining a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities in which we live and serve. As of December 31, 2020, over 70% of our workforce self-identified as Latino or Hispanic, and over two-thirds self-identified as women. The Board has helped develop procedures that demonstrate that the Company is committed to providing equal opportunity for applicants and employees in all of our employment practices, including but not limited to, hiring, promoting, transferring, and compensating without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, genetic information, citizenship status, age, religion, veteran, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. These efforts include overseeing the Company’s conducting of training programs on equal employment opportunities, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, as well as training sessions that coach and develop talent in order to retain a diverse workforce. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is further underscored by the Company’s efforts to reach out to minority and women’s organizations and to educational institutions that serve significant minority or women student populations. The Board considers it a significant accomplishment that almost 35% of our employees come from low- or moderate-income geographies and are able to succeed at providing high quality complex financial services to our customers.
The Board also monitors the Company’s efforts to ensure that it is maintaining a safe and healthy work environment, free from work-related injuries and illnesses and where every team member is treated with dignity and respect, without the fear of the threat of discrimination and harassment. As stated in our Board approved Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, we expect these same standards apply to all stakeholders, to our interactions with customers, vendors, shareholders, independent contractors and the communities we serve.
Meetings and Committees of the Board of Directors
At December 31, 2020, the Board of Directors had seven active committees: Audit Committee; Compensation Committee; Nominating Committee; Stock Option Plan Committee; Asset/Liability,