Financial software builder COCC provides the technology that gives customers of 200 community banks and credit unions in the Northeast immediate access to their accounts through an app on their mobile phone.
But meeting the expectations of a digital world that values speed can create a demanding work environment.
Company leaders at Southington-based COCC say they recognize those pressures, recently adding four mental health days off a year in addition to vacation and personal time off. And that comes on top of $1,500 deposited annually to lifestyle accounts for each of the company’s 750 employees. The money can be spent as employees wish, maybe for a gym membership, perhaps a vacation.
“We realize how important mental health is,” Rich Leone, COCC’s president and chief executive, said. “We work in a high-stress environment. We have to solve problems quickly. The digital world doesn’t have a lot of patience. So we realize our employees could be subject to burnout.”
COCC’s attention to their employees’ well-being is among the reasons the company is top ranked in the Courant’s 2024 Top Workplaces competition for large employers.
COCC has made the Top Workplace rankings for 14 consecutive years, ever since the inception of the awards in the Hartford area. The company secured the top ranking for the second consecutive year in 2024. Prior to 2018, COCC competed in the mid-size category.
Leone also has been recognized as a Top Leader in the Top Workplaces competition.
COCC has grown significantly in the past decade. The company’s annual revenues have increased between 9% and 10% each year, reaching $250 million. In addition to its Southington corporate headquarters, COCC has a data center in Avon and a technology center in Rocky Hill.
The ranks of COCC’s employees also continues to increase. With workplace changes in the aftermath of the pandemic, 10% are now working out of the office full-time, some from outside of Connecticut. The majority of COCC employees generally work a hybrid schedule, with three days in the office.
But despite the post-COVID workplace, employees say there are ample opportunities for collaboration — a hallmark of the 57-year-old company — either in the office or through online interaction. Fostering a close working relationship among employees — and integrating newcomers to COCC — is key to the company’s success, employees say.
“It’s a place where you feel like you can really count on other people, and people make lasting friendships here, for sure,” Siobahn Kinney, director of digital communications, said. “Our leaders, too, are such an important part of that. They’re really committed to building and maintaining strong connections with the people within their teams. That says a lot, and people really appreciate that.”
Kinney, who has worked at COCC since 2013, said COCC is certainly a larger employer, but its culture more resembles a smaller company.
COCC was founded in 1967 when the Information Age was still in its infancy. Community banks and credit unions were, for the most part, still entering transactions by hand in thick ledger books, computerized teller lines and the ATM still years away from widespread use.
Two community banks — Windsor Federal Savings and Enfield Federal Savings — teamed up to buy a computer — an expensive purchase at the time, affordable only for the largest banks. A staff was hired to operate and maintain the computer system, a decision that led to the birth of Connecticut Online Computer Center, later renamed COCC.
In the half century since its founding, COCC developed into a cooperative, with the majority of its bank and credit union customers shareholders in the privately-held company.
“The customers are in the driver’s seat because they are owners of the company,” Leone said. “So they get to influence and dictate the strategic direction of the company. They have a voice. It’s a very unique ownership model, and I think it’s been one of reasons we’ve survived in a very competitive business.”
In the early days, the emphasis was on the teller line. With the seismic shift toward digital banking, COCC’s services and product development are now largely focused in that arena and helping people manage their money. Leone said.
COCC’s market now includes 13 states, encompassing New England and the Northeast and extending into Ohio.
COCC pursues a personalized, high service approach to its customers, and accomplishments by COCC’s employees meeting those objectives get a similar treatment.
A peer-to-peer program allows employees — through internal electronic software — to give each other praise and high-fives when a worker goes above and beyond. Each quarter, the high-fives are tallied up, and the top ten employees are recognized at a celebration. Top employees are given gift cards and other compensation.
“So that’s a recognition program that comes directly from their peers,” Leone said. “Management doesn’t take part. It’s all based on employee engagement and recognition.”
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.