When Employees Own Culture, Service Follows

Advancial Federal Credit Union ($2.4B, Dallas, TX) believes success starts from the inside.

“There’s no way you can deliver amazing service to members if you’re delivering crappy service internally,” says president and CEO Brent Sheffield. “We’ve got to have the same standards for both.”

The Texas cooperative wants members and employees leaving credit union interactions wanting to tell someone about it. Extraordinary gestures aren’t required. Listening, empathy, and responsiveness are enough.

Over the years, Advancial has turned this philosophy into something it can measure and celebrate, fueling innovation, employee engagement, and a memorable member experience.

An Owner Mindset

Sheffield says a key part of Advancial’s company culture comes down to an owner mindset, where employees feel invested in the credit union and contribute accordingly.

“By having owners, we make sure everyone lives the culture,” Sheffield says. “But part of being an owner is you get a say in what’s happening.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, senior leadership took a page from the Shark Tank playbook and put together an initiative inviting ideas from all levels of the organization.

“We called it ‘Think Tank,'” Sheffield says. “We broke everyone into random teams, so employees got to know people they don’t normally work with. We gave them one of four categories to think about how we can wow our employees or how we can wow our members.”

One of the most notable suggestions was a timeshare-style vacation home employees can use on their own or with their families. Today, the credit union has two — one on the beaches of Florida and another in the mountains of Colorado.

Advancial also introduced a suggestion box program called Bright Ideas. The credit union shares submissions with subject matter experts who review the ideas, provide feedback, and determine what’s feasible. The credit union’s President’s Circle, composed of the year’s top-performing team members, also weigh in on employee feedback.

“I share the ideas we approved during our all-employees meetings,” Sheffield says. “From there, we move them into our project list for implementation. It’s a great way to give visibility to people’s ideas, give them credit for coming up with things.”

Rate The Experience

Perhaps the most significant tool Advancial uses to encourage and recognize employee excellence is a simple survey program in which respondents can rate service interactions by providing a happy face or sad face regarding three basic statements:

1. They showed me respect with their professional, friendly, and positive attitude while assisting me.
2. They showed sincere interest and cooperation in understanding my request and helping me.
3. They resolved/completed my request and made it easy for me.

For example, if marketing requests a report from finance or if operations helps a branch solve a problem, the person receiving the service can evaluate that experience. Members can do the same based on their own external interactions with credit union personnel.

If the experience rises above satisfactory to truly exceptional, participants can flag the interaction as such and provide a written explanation detailing how the employee went above and beyond and why the experience exceeded expectations. These responses remain anonymous to everyone except senior leadership.

The surveys feed into a broader peer recognition program that allows employees to recognize coworkers by awarding points that can be redeemed for gift cards, cash, or items like Bluetooth speakers and TVs.

Momentum Requires Effort

Today, Sheffield hosts monthly all-staff meetings to encourage transparency and communication. Sometimes, that means being frank about what isn’t working or going well, the CEO says, although he remains intentional about praising exceptional stories as often as he can. For example, a couple of H-1B visa members recently sent edible arrangements to the staff that assisted them.

“When you have a certain culture and hold people accountable, when people own it, it makes a difference,” Sheffield says.

What works today might not work tomorrow. Expectations change just as strategic priorities do. That’s why Advancial treats its approach to culture as an evolving, ongoing initiative rather than a static playbook.

“The effort is constant, it’s ongoing,” Sheffield says. “That allows us to improve incrementally. That’s our way forward.”