REALITY CHECK 23 A TAL E O F T WO BR A N D S How Washington Federal and Washington Mutual Shared Only a Common State "There's a lot people don't know about us." Roy Whitehead looks more like an aviator than the CEO of one the nation's strongest banks. While he dresses every bit like a banker, there's something about him that suggests he might own a bomber jacket and you'd certainly trust him to pilot your plane. Canvas the halls of Washington Fed- eral and you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees. But the story of the Washington Federal brand isn't about Roy Whitehead. He's just one of many examples that explain why the brand is one of banking's best, de- spite the fact that it isn't as well known as its national peers. Like many other brands, the team at Washington Federal contemplated a change to its brand identity. But unlike the people behind the No Child Left Behind and Gap changes, the Washington Federal team wanted to make sure that any change in its identity clarified and signaled the foundational values that made their business a success. "We have never had a layoff. Not once. And we've been around for more than ninety years." When Roy says this, he's not engaging in recession- ary grandstanding. His statement is a core tenet of Washington Federal's value-producing behavior. The bank believes it cannot deliver value to its customers if it doesn't treat its employees with fairness and respect. The av- erage turnover at the front line is lower than industry average. It's stagger- ingly low among its more seasoned staff, and that sense of ownership among its staff has translated into personal service delivery and very high levels of customer satisfaction. Discipline makes Washington Federal a strong brand. Its culture is driven by a passion for "commonsense banking." It is a value so critical that it has led it to smart but unusual choices. For example, the bank has not installed ATMs at its branches (though it has inherited a couple dozen in American Management Association · www.amanet.org