Top-Level Takeaways
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A new chief employee experience officer at American 1 is leading a strategy heavy on internal inclusivity and community recruiting.
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Surveys set the stage for action steps, which include listening to staff and ensuring job descriptions say what they mean.
American 1 Credit Union($493.2M, Jackson, MI) is building diversity among its 200-person workforce by focusing on how prospective new employees think and feel,not on how they look.
Guiding this new effort is chief employee experience officer Tonia White, a lifelong resident of Jackson who joined the cooperative last year after 20 years in management with Bath & Body Works.
Tonia White, Chief Employee Experience Officer, American 1 Credit Union
‘All I knew coming into my new position in the middle of a pandemic was that we hire people based on a set of core values,’ White says. ‘If we hire to those values, we’ll meet our primary goal.’
These core values steer American 1 into hiring employees who are engaged, focused, trustworthy, humbly confident, and achieving. The credit union’s ultimate goal is that such employees will help build a workplace where people feel included and heard.
Diversity Begins And Ends With Inclusivity
Recruiting and hiring people who reflect its core values will help American 1 meet what White says is the credit union’s primary goal of creating an environment of inclusivity in which people and ideas can freely mix to help the mid-Michigan cooperativeexcel in member service and employee experience.
CU QUICK FACTS
American 1 Credit Union
Data as of 09.30.20
HQ: Jackson, MI
ASSETS: $493.2M
MEMBERS: 58,621
BRANCHES:16
12-MO SHARE GROWTH: 28.9%
12-MO LOAN GROWTH: 5.8%
ROA: 0.53%
Reaching that goal requires cultural work from the top down and back up again rather than easier-to-achieve hiring goals. That’s why American 1 is leading with core values over quotas.
‘We don’t have quotas,’ White says. ‘We’re building a culture, not checking off a to-do list. My job is to build a culture around our current DEI initiatives and work closely with HR to ensure benefits and hiring policiesare inclusive.’
And according to White, changing culture starts with core values.
‘You find people who believe in what your organization believes in, you look for people with those traits, you talk to people with common interests,’ White says. ‘Keep doing all of that, and after a while, you have an environment where people are comfortable expressing themselves and their ideas in ways that benefit everyone.’
Diversity of thought and expression is just as important as diversity of color and gender. ‘Inclusion’ is the word we use to refer to our ultimate goal.
Gender or skin color, then, isn’t the end goal. Rather, American 1 is looking for a meaningful mix of employees whose talents and perspectives blend to complement one another and strengthen the organization.
‘Diversity of thought and expression is just as important as diversity of color and gender,’ White says.Inclusion’ is the word we use to refer to our ultimate goal.’
Take A Survey. Then Take Action.
To kick off this journey, the executive team at American 1 crafted a DEI strategy to guide opportunities and build a more inclusive, empowered workforce. The three goals of the DEI strategy are: workforce diversity, workplace inclusion, and sustainabilityand accountability.
One of the first steps the credit union took was to survey its 200-person workforce.
‘We asked about equity and inclusion,’ White says. ‘We asked,When I speak, do I feel heard? Is my opinion valued? Do I feel I belong?’ It was all anonymous. You need to know where your employees’ minds are, you can’tjust assume you know.’
The credit union next focused on recruiting and training. Under the direction of ‘the world’s greatest marketing team,’ White says, American 1 produced a video for internal viewing that includes a quiz about appropriate and inappropriate phrases as well as answers and explanations.
Of course, inclusivity encompasses recruiting, too, and White advises credit unions to take a critical look at who comes through the hiring process.
‘If all your candidates look like your recruiters, you might want to look at some re-training,’ she says.
5 Tips To Develop DEI
Tonia White, chief employee experience officer at American 1 Credit Union, shares five ways to advance DEI at any credit union.
- Use the NCUA’s self-assessment tool to identify opportunities within the credit union.
- Create a DEI survey with the credit unions distinct goals in mind.
- Tell employees about the credit union’s DEI intentions. Then, begin building relationships, for example, through an employee resource group.
- Encourage employee involvement. Diverse ideas are critical to buy-in and sustainability.
- Remember, any progress is a win.
The Right People Are Out There, Even In A Pandemic
Although the pandemic has made it more difficult to mix and mingle, White says recruitment opportunities are still out there. American 1 knows what candidates it desires and meets them where they are. It posts job openings with the local Martin LutherKing Jr. Community Center, and, well, it poaches.
White draws on her many years of retail management experience to identify good candidates in any environment, and she stays on the lookout when she interacts with people in their work environment, such as Starbucks.
‘They have great employees,’ she says.
In fact, one of White’s first recruits was from a street fair showcasing Black-owned businesses in Jackson County and surrounding areas.
‘We recruited one of the co-founders of the event,’ White says. ‘She was at a bank. Now she’s a branch manager.’
Job descriptions also are part of White’s efforts. The credit union doesn’t use gender-specific pronouns in its job descriptions. But even beyond that, certain terms one example White gives is ‘good with numbers’can mean different things to different demographics. So American 1 asks a variety of people to read its job descriptions to spot potential biases and ensure inclusivity of interpretation.
‘As your intentions become known, the right people will find you. Intentional inclusion will attract diverse employees.’
They Will Come
Any progress is a win, White says, and success begets success.
‘As your intentions become known, the right people will find you,’ White says. ‘Intentional inclusion will attract diverse employees. The hiring process will become easier.’
According to White, an inclusive mindset leads to conversations with prospects who appreciate that mindset. And employees who appreciate that mindset attract others who also would like to work in that environment.
‘People who share your values will associate you with that kind of workplace,’ White says. ‘And as you build relationships in the community, the community will start recruiting for you. I’m looking forward to getting out and involved again when it’s safe.’
Ultimately, White’s role as chief employee experience officer is to elevate the HR experience inside the credit union and advocate for that experience outside it via job fairs and other venues.
‘DEI is just a part of it,’ White says. ‘We’re all about creating a culture that allows our teams to mesh.’
