Unemployment is low, minimum wages are getting higher 2018 was a challenging year for credit union HR professionals, so it’s no surprise CreditUnions.com featured a number of articles and blogs on the topic this past year.
As we inch toward 2019, it’s time to revisit nine of our most popular HR-related pieces from 2018. Based on page views, here are your favorites.
9. Would Your Employees Quit For $1,000?
“Whether executives choose to believe it or not, every organization including their own has a culture. It’s a living, breathing thing” says Carson Utecht, senior vice president of people, First Commerce Credit Union ($589.0M, Tallahassee, FL). “It’s also something that must be fostered through the hiring process, a tactic the Florida cooperative takes seriously.” Inspired by Zappos, the credit union offers new hires $1,000 to quit during orientation if they have any misgivings about fit.
8. A Re-Imagining Of HR
When the head of training at Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union ($5.3B, Harrisburg, PA) told her employer she planned to retire in six months, the Keystone State cooperative took the opportunity and the time to closely evaluate the role of training as an HR function. At the time, HR was split into two teams: functional and training, creating a tension within the overall department. To alleviate these pains, PSECU re-imagined and re-organized its HR department. See how.
7. Employee Roundtables At Orange County’s Encourage Learning And Accountability
In January, Orange County’s Credit Union ($1.6B, Santa Ana, CA) brought together 40 employees for a good ol’ gab fest. The roundtable meeting was the first in a new quarterly gathering of member service representatives designed to facilitate peer-to-peer learning, best practice sharing, and network building. The roundtables, which take place at the credit union’s headquarters, each cover a different topic. Branch managers select one rep from each of Orange County’s four MSR levels to attend the three-hour interactive meeting, and MSRs complete pre- and post-event assessments to demonstrate what they’ve learned.
6. New Job Titles Reflect Important Aspirations
Changing job titles the titles themselves, not the people holding them is not really a new thing at credit unions. But there’s a new wave of them that are interesting and promising. These new titles have a distinct focus on the member. They’re aspirational. And they clearly show what the credit union values and is trying to achieve. So, what are they?
5. 6 Ways To Build A Better Benefits Package
By the end of January 2018 approximately one month after the signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% a who’s who of major U.S. employers had promised bonuses, increases to their minimum wages, and enhancements to 401(k) programs, family leave, training, and charitable contributions. Tax cuts help, sure, but another factor driving this newfound largesse is the job market itself. How are credit unions tweaking benefits packages to attract and retain employees?
4. A Boost In Pay For Labor Day
A raise in the minimum wage at American 1 Credit Union ($339.5, Jackson, MI) is the result of a trickle-up strategy at the Michigan cooperative, one of many across the country boosting wages this year. American 1 announced in May that it had raised its minimum wage by $2 to $13 an hour, paying out $954,405 more this year in salaries to its workforce of 183 FTEs, with everyone getting a bump except the CEO. And it’s not the only credit union making this commitment.
3. How To Create A Vibrant Culture
Three years ago, Vibrant Credit Union ($636.0M, Moline, IL) changed its name and its fortune. The Prairie State credit union had been using the acronym from its previous name, Deere Harvesters Credit Union, since its licensing agreement with Deere & Company lapsed in the early 2000s but found its legacy branding to be at the root of stagnant member growth. “Our own members believed you had to work at or be a part of John Deere to bank with us” says Steven Ducey, Vibrant’s chief experience officer. “So, the credit union rolled out a new name and took the opportunity to shift its culture, too, in essence relaunching the organization. We didn’t just put a new name on the place, Ducey says. We shifted the way we operate as a business.”
2. Next-Level Member Experience. Right Here. Right Now.
Members who use the virtual teller machines at any of the 16 branches that Clearview Federal Credit Union ($1.2B, Moon Township, PA) operates in southwestern Pennsylvania are liable to have a close encounter with a leprechaun or an elf, the result of a member experience strategy that works to create excitement among members and shines a light on the role experiences play across all channels in the member journey. The strategy kicked off in mid-2017 and, today, every employee knows they have a voice in shaping the member’s experience no matter their role.
1. Trailhead Uses Swagger And Swag To Onboard New Hires
Trailhead Federal Credit Union ($119.8M, Portland, OR) competes for employees and members in a market known for its commitment to individuality and non-conformity. It isn’t a cookie-cutter financial institution, and neither is its approach to employee orientation. Its package of manuals, individualized letters, and credit union swag is designed to make sure new hires get that message early, often, and effectively.