Process Improvement Is Job No. 1 At Firefighters First

Removing friction from the member experience is an ongoing focus for credit unions as leaders and front-line workers alike search for ways to make processes faster, more efficient, and more accurate. Although digital or self-service channels more naturally lend themselves to such efforts, credit unions that are resolute about boosting internal productivity and enhancing the member experience look to improve processes in both the online and off-line worlds.

Firefighters First Credit Union ($2.1B, Pasadena, CA) has embedded five technical training and process improvement specialists across various departments [see the job description], including operations, branches, the contact center, consumer lending, real estate and commercial lending, and insurance services. These specialists spot opportunities for process improvement, work with their departments and IT to fully define project requirements and expectations, create staff training, update procedures, and draft job aides to hand off the project to the training team.

“Prior to this structure, there always seemed to be a gap between project requirements and the solutions implemented,” says David Lillie, senior vice president of member experience at Firefighters First. “Something would be lost in translation as we went into an IT-centric project mode. The handoff after launch wasn’t a smooth experience as these gaps surfaced.”

From Big Projects To Daily Workflows

The five specialists help ensure the smooth implementation of major projects, such as a new loan origination system, and also identify smaller hurdles to day-to-day productivity and service.

For example, the cooperative recently discovered it was handling a lot of returned mail — the credit union was sending time, energy, and money out the door, only to have it come right back. A specialist used Vizio to process map the workflow and uncover broken elements. The specialist then tore apart the process and created an entirely new one, leveraging online banking and mobile as well as input from marketing, operations, and the statement vendor to address the primary challenge of members not updating their addresses.

As a result, the credit union significantly reduced its incorrect address count in less than a year. Of note, this wasn’t even an official project, but it still has had a major positive impact on employees and members.

Official projects include the development of 12 self-service workflows for frequently requested items — including change of address, wires, and cash back — along with the development of a paperless process for deceased members.

The team also was integral to Firefighters First’s move to remote work during and after the pandemic.

“We made the determination to stay largely remote after COVID; only 40 people remain in our back-office headquarters,” Lillie says. “This team of specialists had to find ways to change processes that were keeping us from working remotely in their respective areas. Creating new paperless solutions and increasing self-service access helped make remote work happen.”

Turning labor-intensive processes into seamless self-service experiences has taken hundreds of man hours off the table for Firefighters First. To date, the tweaking of the wires process has been the most successful, according to Lillie.

“Managers spent countless hours approving and reviewing such requests, and members didn’t have 24/7 access,” he says. “Now, through our self-service process and enhanced approval authority, managers can focus on higher-dollar transactions.”

Lillie sees even more opportunities for process improvement at Firefighters First, for areas such as asset recovery or accounting — areas in which process mapping and beta testing solutions can have just as big an impact on internal processes and member experience. Regardless of department, however, these skills combined with the right vision will continue to be critical for success.

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MX As A Product

Process Improvement Versus Business Knowledge

Firefighters First started its specialist strategy a half-dozen years ago with one employee who was focused on operations. Today, all five have earned degrees and have multiple certifications on their resumes, such as Scrum and Six Sigma.

Often, line managers recognize redundancies in their day-to-day job duties but are unsure about how to resolve them or simply don’t have the time to think about solutions. The specialists team analyzes these pain points and creates solutions that satisfy departments and members.

As the specialists’ job duties are tied directly to member experience, so is their reporting structure. These self-starters report to Lillie, but they tend to manage up and have even self-organized their own weekly meetings to aid in collaboration.

“Everything is interconnected, so they work together on solutions that are cross-functional,” he says. “I remove friction points for them, approve software packages and training so they can continue to educate themselves. I also hold the line to ensure they don’t become just another set of arms in their business unit as that would immediately push process improvement to a secondary role instead of their primary focus.”

Specialists don’t typically serve as project managers, except in the case of very small projects, but they do understand business unit needs and IT specifications. It’s that very knowledge that has allowed the specialists to develop a rapport with leaders whose departments they sit in but report outside of.

“They’ve built relationships by serving as liaisons that speak both IT and business unit,” Lillie says. “In the past, there wasn’t always clarity between IT and business units. Now, these folks sit in that gap and close it.”

What’s made this unusual structure so successful, according to Lillie, is finding the right people.

“Up until now, our specialists have all had a background in their business unit,” he says. “But after seeing how well cross-functional initiatives have gone, I think being process-oriented is more important. It goes beyond hiring a system admin or project manager to get what you’re looking for in this position.”

To that end, Lillie has some thoughts on how to ensure the right fit for a role like this.

“In the interview process, it’s easy to get comfortable with someone who has business unit experience,” Lillie advises. “Do they speak IT? Do they do process maps? Can they create workflows? Their thirst for tinkering with things to create better member and employee experiences is what matters most.”