Webster Bank Names New Chief Human Resources Officer

WATERBURY, Conn., April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Webster Bank, a leading regional bank serving businesses and consumers from metro New York City to Boston, Mass., today announced Bernard Garrigues as its new executive vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO).  Garrigues reports directly to Joe Savage, president, and is based in Webster's corporate headquarters in Waterbury.  At Webster, Garrigues will be responsible for all aspects of Human Resources including talent management, staffing, learning and development, and compensation and benefits.

"Bernard's strong background and global expertise in building diverse talent and organizational capabilities will prove valuable as Webster grows and deepens its relationship with consumers and businesses across our markets," Savage said.  "His leadership will nurture our culture as a values-driven, community-focused bank, and he will guide our differentiation of living up to delivering exceptional customer service."

Most recently, Garrigues was with TIMEX Group in Middlebury, Conn., where he was the CHRO and had comprehensive global HR responsibility for several thousand employees in 22 countries.  While there, he created new talent management, leadership development, and HR business partnership programs that drove operational excellence and strong employee engagement.  Prior to that, he worked 21 years for General Electric where he served in senior HR leadership roles with a number of GE businesses, including Commercial Finance, Capital Real Estate, Healthcare, and Capital IT Solutions in both the United States and Europe.  While at GE, Garrigues developed deep HR domain expertise in building culture, talent, and organization capabilities.

Garrigues is a graduate of the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France with degrees in employee relations and law.  He is Six Sigma, Green Belt certified, a published author, and a seasoned guest lecturer.  Garrigues lives in Stamford, Conn.

About Webster
Webster Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS) is the holding company for Webster Bank, N.A. With $21 billion in assets, Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgages, private banking, trust and investment services through 168 banking offices; 310 ATMs; telephone banking; mobile banking; and the Internet. Webster Bank owns the asset based lending firm Webster Business Credit Corporation; the equipment finance firm Webster Capital Finance Corporation; and provides health savings account trustee and administrative services through HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank. Member FDIC and equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit the Webster website at www.websterbank.com or follow us on LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/company/webster-bank and Twitter https://twitter.com/WebsterBank.

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SOURCE Webster Financial Corporation