For 125 years, Bank of Hawaii’s greatest advantage has been our employees, who go above and beyond every day to bring care to our customers. There is nothing more powerful than the way they work together to build meaningful relationships and deliver exceptional service. In 2022, we continued to take steps to more deeply understand the needs of our employees.

At the beginning of 2022, Bank of Hawaii announced an annual 2.5% salary increase plus an unprecedented, one-time 2.5% inflation adjustment, that went into effect on April 1. The increases were implemented to reward the outstanding efforts of employees in providing service to customers and colleagues during the uncertainty and challenges of the pandemic, and to help offset the effects of the rapid rise in inflation.

In addition to the special merit increase, an announcement was made at the end of 2022 about new employee benefits scheduled to go into effect January 2023. All of these benefits were designed to give employees greater flexibility and choice. These include:

• A consolidation of all paid time off (PTO) into one category. Formerly, paid time off was separated into vacation, floating holidays, birthdays and dependent care. An added benefit is that the amount of paid time off now accrues faster.
• New hires will be given access to a week of their paid time off as soon as they’re hired.

In 2022, seven employees received their bachelor’s degrees from Chaminade University of Honolulu thanks to the Bank of Hawaii College Assistance Program (CAP). The program supports employees’ long-term educational goals by paying 100% of their tuition (plus fees for textbooks and materials) to get either an associate or bachelor’s degree from Chaminade or the University of Hawaii’s Community Colleges (UHCC).

The program started in 2016 with three participants and, to date, 16 employees have earned degrees in the major of their choice. Thirty employees were enrolled in the Fall 2022 semester, with $324,406 reimbursed. The program has paid more than $1.7 million for employees’ educational costs since its inception.

One of the ways that Bank of Hawaii helps promote inclusivity in our workplace culture is through our Employee Resource Groups (ERG). These groups offer great ways for employees to connect as well as to educate the company as a whole. With many of our employees spending more time working from home, the ERGs and their community outreach efforts provide ways for employees to engage with one another while making a positive impact in the community.

These are some of the community activities of the groups in 2022:

LGBTQ+: Our RainBOH volunteers turned out to participate in the 2022 Honolulu Pride Parade & Festival for the first time after a two-year hiatus. Employees wearing “Live Your Pride” T-shirts, butterfly wings and rainbow accessories marched in the Waikiki parade, helped hand out butterfly fans, and applied custom temporary tattoos at the bank’s booth at the festival.

Military: During Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Blue Brigade hosted a special discussion about managing stress to help promote the importance of emotional and psychological well-being. Open to all bank employees, this pau hana featured a speaker from Samaritan Counseling Center Hawaii.

Late in 2021, our Blue Brigade picked up hammers to help build a Honolulu Habitat for Humanity home for a U.S. Navy veteran and his family. In August 2022, our Blue Brigade was there to help celebrate when the completed Waimanalo home was blessed and the Young family moved in.

Women Inspired: After hearing about the great work of the nonprofit Mai Movement to address the fact that one in four people experience period poverty in Hawaii, this ERG signed up to help. Bank of Hawai‘i purchased an assortment of menstrual products, and the Women Inspired volunteers broke down the pallets of supplies, sorted the products and packed supply boxes. Volunteers assembled 1,960 period care kits for Mai Movement.

Native Hawaiian: The bank’s newest ERG welcomes Native Hawaiians and allies to advocate for Native Hawaiians, and helps expand understanding of Hawaiian history, culture and language. During Hawaiian History Month in September, a group of more than 40 employees, friends and family enjoyed a day of volunteering and fellowship at Paepae o Heeia, the nonprofit that cares for Heeia Fishpond on the windward side of Oahu. They removed invasive plants and helped to restore part of the fishpond wall.

Our special culture of ohana and collaboration is so important that Bank of Hawaii invested in technology and tools, and created online forums to help teams stay connected during the pandemic, especially when many were working remotely. Now that the workplace has changed and we are embracing a new hybrid environment for some employees, we can no longer rely on just one method to stay connected and engaged.

We began rolling out new software to help managers better connect, engage and understand their employees while strengthening team dynamics. The new tool is designed to bring teams closer together through workshops facilitated by managers, and includes opportunities for discussion and interactive activities.

Employees also embraced a new engagement app that encourages positive connections with each other through appreciation posts, birthday wishes and anniversary celebrations.