From Teller to Executive: Peg McCarthy’s Career Journey at Rockland Trust

The days of being bestowed a golden watch at your retirement party after decades of service are over. Younger generations have a different workplace mentality – Gen Z is more likely to make lateral moves to different companies as opposed to sticking with one organization for a prolonged period of time.

While this trend may be suitable for some, tenure with a company that aligns with your values can lead to immense growth and career development. 

Margaret “Peg” McCarthy, EVP and Chief Retail Banking Officer at Rockland Trust has been part of the team for 35 years. She began her career at Rockland Trust as a bank teller while in college, and quickly fell in love with helping people in the branch. Today, she oversees the bank’s extensive branch network, business banking team, retail training team, and local call centers.

To celebrate her recent appointment to the bank’s Executive Leadership Team, Peg walked us through her career at Rockland, her favorite things about the company’s culture, and the top traits the team looks for in job applicants.

 

A Unique Start

Peg initially had her heart set on being a nurse, a profession that would allow her to help people when they need it most. But on a fateful day at a local sports club, Peg crossed paths with a Rockland Trust HR Representative who commented on Peg's engaging personality and suggested she apply for a teller position.

To Peg’s surprise, banking was more similar to nursing than she originally thought. She found that in banking, she could not only help people but also develop strong relationships with bank clientele.

“You wouldn't typically think of nursing and banking as similar,” Peg said. “But they both help people and I definitely see the tie-in.”

 

Our Hiring Process

 

“Where Each Relationship Matters” Applies to Colleagues and Customers

Peg took advantage of every opportunity to learn and grow within Rockland Trust and steadily worked her way from teller to EVP. The growth she’s seen at the organization is something that inspires pride in many Rockland Trust employees. When Peg joined the organization, the bank had under 20 branches. Today, it is her responsibility to oversee more than 120 branches!

“Human beings feel more fulfilled if they have contributed to something being successful,” she explained. “Giving people that opportunity is important, and I feel it’s more valuable to employees to stay with a company where they can continually grow vertically, as opposed to jumping around.”

There’s a reason our slogan is “Where Each Relationship Matters” – all Rockland employees set out to cultivate lasting connections with customers and each other. Just like the name suggests, in relationship banking, relationship building comes first.

After all, strong relationships are often associated with respect, appreciation, and collaboration. From a customer perspective, this means that Rockland employees make it their mission to really understand who their customers are. From understanding their goals, needs, and aspirations, both in the long and short term, employees can better service the customers with the appropriate products and services.

“These relationships happen over time,” Peg said. “It’s just like building a friendship.”

And this approach to relationships happens within Rockland, as well. Regardless of title or tenure, when team members need support, others are always ready to jump in and offer to help, whether it’s an internal need or to support a customer. This is particularly impressive considering employees will go out of their way to make customers feel comfortable and cared for, even if that employee may not be able to help the customer directly.

Although Peg no longer serves in a customer-facing role, these relationship values inform Peg's managerial style. She takes the time to get to know her team as individuals, allowing her to give her employees the right tools for growth and challenge them appropriately.

Her approach to management is also aligned to Rockland’s belief that employee voices are respected and valued at all levels.

“At Rockland, you're a voice at the table, and that's so valuable,” she said. “A lot of companies preach that, but it's not always true.”

Benefits Our Colleagues Love

 

“We can teach you banking, but we can’t teach you to have a good heart.”

A successful banker doesn’t necessarily need to graduate cum laude from a finance program. Instead, the crux of a good banker comes from within. Peg explained it best when she said “We can teach you banking, but we can’t teach you to have a good heart.”

When hiring, Rockland Trust looks for applicants who are primarily people-focused.

“We’re not looking for somebody that necessarily has cash handling experience,” Peg said. “I admit I might favor the applicant who has bartending experience or who previously served as a hotel concierge because they have to build relationships in those roles. Those types of jobs require people to be conversationalists, something you may not see in the other applicants.”

As a member of the Rockland team, your mentors and coworkers will ensure you have the tools in your toolbox to be successful, regardless of your background or your role. With relationships at the core of everything Rockland does, the team ensures everyone is set up to succeed.

 

Join our team

If you’re passionate about building relationships with customers and want to be part of something bigger, Rockland could be the place for you! We’re hiring for a number of open roles across a variety of departments.