Berkshire Bank received a North American Employee Engagement Award during the second quarter. The award honors organizations that put workforce engagement at the heart of their business strategy. Berkshire was one of 13 winners in the national competition along with companies like Cisco, Etsy, Events DC and T-Mobile, and won in the social responsibility category.

“Berkshire beat out global companies across many industries in winning this honor,” Berkshire President and CEO Richard Marotta said on a recent earnings call. “It is a true testament of the strong work environment dedicated to service and culture.”

The bank seemed to be in a very different place at the end of last year when its former President and CEO Michael Daly resigned abruptly due to what one analyst described as a “toxic” workplace culture, citing an anonymous letter from bank employees.

But once Marotta, who has been with Berkshire for years, was named CEO he immediately made company culture at the bank a top priority.

From an external perspective, he launched an initiative that will place “storefronts” in lower-income communities to serve more of the lesser-banked populations in the bank’s footprint. Internally, the bank has made several key hires and brought on new board members to improve diversity and culture at the bank.

The bank hired Malia Lazu as its new chief experience and culture officer. Lazu is the founder of the consulting firm Urban Labs, which helps companies improve their cultural competency to attract customers, influence product offering and attract and retain talent. 

Additionally, the bank recently added two African-American business leaders, William Hughes III and Baye Adofo-Wilson, to its board of directors and promoted Jacqueline Courtwright, a woman of color, to head of human resources.