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Unity Bank Sponsored Seminar Encourages Small Businesses to Focus on Employee Engagement


CLINTON, N.J. (November 30, 2011) - Unity Bank recently presented two free small business seminars with author Paul L. Marciano, Ph.D. of Flemington, who encouraged attendees to forget about motivating employees and implementing employee recognition programs.

"Reward and recognition programs can be costly and inefficient, and they primarily reward employees who are already highly engaged and productive performers," Dr. Marciano said. "Worse still, these programs actually decrease employee motivation because they can make individual recognition, rather than overall success of the team, the goal."

Rather than trying to motivate staff, Dr. Marciano encouraged attendees to focus on creating "engaged employees" through his RESPECTâ„¢ model, which focuses on seven key drivers of employee engagement that he said are "proven and supported by decades of research and practice - that will empower you to assess, troubleshoot and resolve engagement issues in the workplace."

Unity Bank presented two sessions of the seminar in Iselin and Hampton in early November. Unity Bank President James A. Hughes noted that the bank is committed to partnering with small businesses in the communities it serves and plans on future educational offerings for the business community.

"Being a small business ourselves, celebrating our 20th anniversary, we understand the challenges that small businesses are up against and want to help them thrive," said Hughes. "We are always looking for unique ways to help business owners and enhancing employee management is a challenge we all face everyday. We hope the business community will continue to come to us with ideas on how we can help them in this challenging economy."

Dr. Marciano's RESPECTâ„¢ model, with each letter in the word representing one of his key drivers, includes:

* Recognition and acknowledgement of employees contributions;

* Empowerment via tools, resources and information that set employees up to succeed;

* Supportive feedback through ongoing performance coaching and mentoring;

* Partnering to encourage and foster collaborative relationships

* Expectations that set clear, challenging and attainable performance goals;

* Consideration that let's employees know that they are cared about; and

* Trust in your employees' abilities, skills and judgment.

Dr. Marciano is the author of the internationally acclaimed book, "Carrots and Sticks Don't Work: Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT." With over 20 years of experience in organizational development, he is a leading authority on employee engagement and retention.

About Unity Bank

Unity Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNTY) is a financial services organization headquartered in Clinton, N.J. Unity Bank provides financial services to retail, corporate and small business customers through its 14 bank branches in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren Counties in New Jersey and Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Unity Bank provides traditional and community-oriented commercial banking business, and offers services, including personal and business checking accounts and time deposits, money market accounts and regular savings accounts. For more information, please visit www.unitybank.com or call 800-618-BANK (800-618-2265).

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