The Rise Of The Chief Growth Officer

A new member of the C-suite has emerged across credit union land: the chief growth officer.

Joining other new senior management roles such as chief experience officer and chief data officer, CGOs spearhead initiatives that drive membership acquisition, deepen existing relationships, and foster long-term sustainability. Each cooperative has its own take on what it’s looking for from that role but keeping up with technology and deepening relationships — not growth for growth’s sake — are common themes.

“Growth has always been a challenge in our industry; it has become even more difficult after the pandemic,” says Ron Smith, CGO at Texas Trust Credit Union ($2.0B, Arlington, TX). “Many credit unions have become aware that not all growth is necessarily good. Acquiring members is expensive so ensuring you are attracting the right potential members is key.”

Texas Trust, for example, has become more purposeful in bringing in members who use a wider range of services, according to Smith. That’s why the credit union promoted him to CGO in February 2020 after 13 years at Texas Trust, most recently as senior vice president for sales and marketing. Additionally, the credit union also now considers the lifetime value of a member as opposed to simple acquisition numbers or active checking accounts.

“We want engaged and active members,” says Jim Minge, president and CEO at Texas Trust.

“A $5 savings account doesn’t do us or our membership any good,” the CEO continues. “Our CGO helps us focus on driving engagement and loyalty. The more engaged and profitable members we have the better we can support them and our communities.”

Membership at Texas Trust has grown more than 450% in the past 10 years, roughly 60% organic and 40% from mergers. Looking ahead, it would like to create more of the former.

“Having a senior leader with ‘growth’ in their title demonstrates our commitment to developing strategies and an approach to drive consistent organic growth,” says Minge, who has helmed the Metroplex credit union since 2011. “Of course, we’re still open to mergers if and when they make sense for us.”

Finding That CGO Who’s In The Know

Commonwealth Credit Union ($2.2B, Frankfort, KY) focused on a blend of strategic vision, industry knowledge, and strong leadership capabilities in its search for an ideal CGO.

“The chief growth officer position is a resolute executive focused solely on driving growth initiatives within the credit union,” says Commonwealth president and CEO Karen Harbin.

According to Harbin, skill sets should include strategic planning and execution, financial acumen, data analytics, membership retention management, leadership and team-building, innovation and change management, industry experience, a strong history of growth, collaborative spirit, and familiarity with compliance and regulatory knowledge.

That’s a tall order, but Commonwealth found an ideal candidate in Jaynel Christensen.

Christensen took on the CGO role in October 2022 after working for approximately 20 years in lending at Commonwealth, most recently as CLO.

“In our organization, growth encompasses lending, operations and our contact center, and branches and ITMs,” Christensen says. “Each of these areas has member contact, which is an important piece.”

Christensen’s background in lending allows her to integrate and optimize various business units with an eye toward fostering a consistent member experience and driving growth across multiple channels.

It Begins In The Back Office

The CGO’s spot on the org chart can vary by credit union, but they typically work at the higher echelons of leadership. At Texas Trust, Smith is a direct report to CEO Minge and has as his direct reports the senior vice presidents of marketing and data analytics, operations, and risk management and compliance.

“On first glance it might seem the SVP of risk management and compliance does not belong in this reporting chain, but we made that move about two years ago and it has worked very well,” Smith says. “Having risk and compliance on my team helps with our retention efforts.”

For example, the credit union discovered it was making it too hard to join the credit union and it did not work with members as much as it should have when they had issues. Smith’s member advocacy from the back office has helped the credit union’s growth.

“We’ve discovered our growth and member retention is more about the back office, not retail,” Smith says. “For years we focused so much on retail only to realize true member service is tied to the policies, procedures, and services we provide from the back office.”

Christensen at Commonwealth also emphasizes the importance of collaboration across the back office.

“The growth area leaders work closely with marketing and product to align their goals and strategies for branch operations and lending,” she says. “They meet regularly to review their progress and plan their next steps.”

Check out the chief growth officer job description for Commonwealth Credit Union, then head over to the Callahan Policy Exchange to discover more job descriptions and other valuable documents. Don’t reinvent the wheel — let Callahan help.

Digital Strategies And Measuring Success

CGOs develop and implement innovative strategies to drive growth across various fronts. At Commonwealth, Christensen focuses on creating a seamless, personalized experience for members across all channels. Her role requires her to guide tailored services and new digital solutions as well as work across the institution to ensure it is offering competitive rates and products while remaining committed to efficiency and productivity.

Evaluating the success of CGO-led growth initiatives is crucial for credit unions to gauge their effectiveness and make data-driven decisions. Some even employ proprietary metrics to measure the value of growth.

“We have a measure for loyalty and engagement that we developed after a thorough evaluation and analysis of our membership data,” says Minge at Texas Trust. “We call it ‘True Blue.’ It is how we gauge our success in the markets we serve. As long as our True Blue numbers are heading up, our CGO is doing a great job.”

Harbin at Commonwealth says her shop’s comprehensive set of metrics include membership growth and retention, financial performance, profitability, loan and deposit growth, product and service adoption, member satisfaction and engagement, operational efficiency, digital transformation, strategic partnerships, and market expansion.

Accountability also reaches into the board room.

“We recently changed our board meeting structure so one meeting each quarter focuses on our growth results and performance relative to specific goals,” Minge says. “The CGO leads these discussions.”