This document summarizes several articles from the September 2015 issue of CU Management magazine. The cover story discusses how credit unions are developing mobile apps that improve the member experience from joining to borrowing. Another article describes how Suncoast Credit Union is powering some of its branches entirely with solar energy and using geothermal systems for heating and cooling to reduce energy usage. A third article identifies four pillars of a high performing IT organization: prioritizing the member experience, having a strategy driven by that focus, strong project leadership, and data-driven decision making.
1. CUManagement
SEPTEMBER 2015
Same Day ACH
Headache or opportunity?
EMV Update
Teaching members the value of chips
Credit Union Career Path
What do employees need to excel in this industry?
Options
for Apps
Credit unions are forging ahead
into innovative mobile territory.
2.
3. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 3
SEPTEMBER 2015 vol. 38 issue 9
38OPERATIONS
Getting an
LOS You Love
When should a CU customize
off-the-shelf loan origination
systems?
By Jamie Swedberg
46BOARD
A Strategy
for Risk
Regular dialog about threats helps
incorporate their management
into CUs’ cultures and long-range
planning.
By Keith Loria
24MARKETING
EMV
Communication
Strategies
Whether your credit union has
already made the switch or not,
staying in front of members with
the right message is important.
By Charlene Komar Storey
Web-Only Bonus:
Revamping Card Offerings
(cues.org/0815revamp)
EMV Rewind to 2010
(cues.org/0815emv)
EMV: Communicate Early With Staff
(cues.org/0815emvstaff)
32HUMAN RESOURCES
Credit Union
Career Paths
How HR and managers can guide
employees toward the right job.
By Lin Grensing-Pophal
CUManagement
12GENERAL MANAGEMENT
Options for Apps
Cover Story: CU leaders navigating the
mobile banking highway can forge ahead
with vendor products or take bold turns
into innovative territory.
By Richard H. Gamble
CUES is a Madison, Wis.-based, independent,
not-for-profit, international membership
association for credit union executives. Our
mission is to educate and develop credit union
CEOs, directors and future leaders.
4. SEPTEMBER 2015 vol. 38 issue 9
4 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
18
A Need for ‘Speed’
(and Direction)
Moving the needle on business
velocity can positively impact
profits, efficiency, member
satisfaction and employee
engagement.
By Scott McClymonds
Web-Only Bonus:
Business Velocity Evaluation
(cues.org/081115evaluation)
22
Evolving the Brand
New President/CEO John
Pembroke wants you to think
of CUES as your ‘go to’ source
for talent development.
By Lisa Hochgraf
MARKETING
30
Mazuma CU
Finds its ‘Happy’
CU and its brand manager
win top CUES GMA honors.
By Diane Franklin
HUMAN RESOURCES
36
HR in Brief
My HR Assistant • Happier
Members at Duke CU
By Robert West and
Theresa Witham
OPERATIONS
44
Fast Track
Headache or opportunity?
Sorting out the impact
of Same Day ACH.
By Karen Bankston
BOARD
50
E-Voting in
Saskatchewan
Virtual ballots help these
two CUs get members to vote.
By Charlene Komar Storey
6 CUES.org
Business Velocity Evaluation • Revamping
Card Offerings • EMV: Communicate Early
With Staff • EMV Rewind to 2010 • Loan Zone:
Big Data for All
8 From the Editor
An App for That!
10 Management Network
Powered by Sun, Cooled by Earth • Pillars of
High Performing IT • Letters to the Editor • Life-
Changing Work • Insights
52 P&S
Benefits Funding: Options to Cover Increasing
Costs • Ad Index
54 CUES News
Re-Imagine the Future at Epcot • Payments
Research Available • 15 CUES NTCUE Applicants
Advance
56 Calendar
Idea to Implementation
58 Skybox
Take Off the Lid
Articles
In Every Issue
Subscribe to our free e-newsletters at cues.org/enewsletters.
Get CUES Advantage and CUES Director Advantage with links to our online-only
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Also subscribe to get CUES Business Lending Edge’s informative business lending
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E-NEWSLETTERS
6. cues.org
6 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
Board of Directors
CHAIRMAN
Caroline Willard • Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
VICE CHAIRMAN/CHAIRMAN-ELECT
Joseph F. Hearn, CCE • Dubuque, Iowa
TREASURER
Chris McDonald • Herndon, Va.
SECRETARY
Stephanie Sherrodd, CCE • Lake Jackson, Texas
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN/DIRECTOR
Robert D. Ramirez, CCE • Tucson, Ariz.
PAST CHAIR/DIRECTOR
Teresa Y. Freeborn • El Segundo, Calif.
DIRECTOR
Kim Sponem • Madison, Wis.
DIRECTOR
Stu Ramsey, CCE • Pensacola, Fla.
DIRECTOR
Greg Smith • Harrisburg, Pa.
Magazine Staff
PRESIDENT/CEO
John Pembroke • john@cues.org
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Mary Auestad Arnold • mary@cues.org
SENIOR EDITORS
Lisa Hochgraf • lisa@cues.org
Board/General Management/Operations Sections
Theresa Witham • theresa@cues.org
Human Resources/Marketing Sections
ART DIRECTOR
Ellen Cameron • ellen@cues.org
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Kristen Christianson• kristenc@cues.org
Nicole Morrison • nicole@cues.org
VP/SUPPLIER RELATIONS
Karin Sand • karin@cues.org
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE
Laura Lynch • laura@cues.org
Products & Services Coordinator
Erin Templer • erin@cues.org
Director of Marketing
ADVERTISING/SALES REPS
Catherine Ann Woods •
cathy.woods@mediawestintl.com
Mary Ann May •
maryann.may@mediawestintl.com
Phone: 602.863.2212
Fax: 602.863.6551
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
Sara Shrode • sara@campfirestudio.net
CU Management (ISSN 0273-9267, cues.org/cumanagement)
is published monthly—including an annual buyer’s guide—by
the Credit Union Executives Society (CUES®
), 5510 Research
Park Drive, Madison, WI 53711-5377. Telephone: 800.252.2664
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From This Issue
WEB-ONLY BONUS
Business Velocity Evaluation
(bonus from “A Need for ‘Speed’ (and Direction)” p. 18)
Business velocity is a comprehensive business metric that relies on
all aspects of your organization—leadership, people, and systems.
cues.org/081115evaluation
Revamping Card Offerings
(bonus from “EMV Communication Strategies” p. 24)
For $2 billion/220,000-member Langley Federal Credit Union (www.langleyfcu.
org), Newport News, Va., EMV was a good excuse to rebrand its card portfolio.
cues.org/0815revamp
EMV: Communicate Early With Staff
(bonus from “EMV Communication Strategies” p. 24)
Make sure employees are ready for the switch so they can help members
be ready, too.
cues.org/0815emvstaff
EMV Rewind to 2010
(bonus from “EMV Communication Strategies” p. 24)
Long before EMV became a popular discussion around conference room
tables, members at $4.2 billion/113,000-member United Nations Federal
Credit Union (www.unfcu.org), New York, were demanding the chip cards
their European counterparts already had.
cues.org/0815emv
Online-Only Column
Loan Zone: Big Data for All
Individual member metrics can help CUs of any size say ‘yes’
to the right loans.
cues.org/080515loanzone
Read a new article every weekday at cues.org/cumanagement.
To get the articles delivered to your inbox, subscribe to our free
e-newsletters at cues.org/enewsletters.
SUBSCRIBE TO GET MORE NEWS
8. From the Editor
8 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
The ensuing drama caused my husband to
wonder why there isn’t an easy way to control
where your card can be used. As it turns out,
there’s an app for that!
At $1.6 billion ORNL Federal Credit Union
(www.ornlfcu.org), Oak Ridge, Tenn., a card-blocking
feature will soon join other advanced app function-
ality, including “a way members can see all their
balances without logging in and entering their user
ID and password,” explains Tommy Smith, former
SVP/chief marketing officer, in our cover story,
“Options for Apps.”
The article (p. 12) looks at how several innovative
credit unions and a variety of vendors are devel-
oping apps that differentiate the CUs and improve
member experience—from joining to borrowing.
To elevate your experience with CUES, we are
releasing an app too, to deliver personalized content
based on your CU role and professional interests. We
partnered with Solstice Mobile(www.solstice-mobile.com),
which just happens to be behind Discover’s Freeze
It app (http://tinyurl.com/discoverfreezeit). Leveraging
Solstice’s extensive user interview process, we
worked to make our myCUES app both useful and
user-friendly.
MyCUES will help you filter, by topic category,
the articles, blog posts and other CUES content
you’d like delivered to your iPad or iPhone. Just want
board member content? Check! Need articles on
marketing and leadership? Check! Check!
It will be available soon for download in the
Apple Store. I can’t wait to hear what you think at
mary@cues.org.
This summer I took three wonderful trips, about
a month apart and all within the continental U.S.
What wasn’t so great is that days before each of
my first two travels my credit card number toured
without me—once to Paris! Never before and now
two months in a row, my card had been compromised.
An App for That!
d
r
9.
10. 10 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
Powered by Sun,
Cooled by Earth
Solar power may seem like a no-brainer for a credit union named Suncoast, but the Tampa,
Fla., CU is also going underground to achieve its energy-efficiency goals.
Suncoast Credit Union (www.suncoastcreditunion.com) has joined the U.S. Department
of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge with the goal of reducing energy use by at least
20 percent over the next decade.
The $6.3 billion credit union serving 641,000 members opened its first green
branch in East Fort Myers in 2013 and currently operates six environmentally
friendly facilities. They feature solar panels that provide power during business
hours and geothermal heat pumps that circulate through underground systems with
relatively constant temperatures to provide more efficient heating and cooling.
“Geothermal has been around for decades, but has not been used a lot until
recently,” says Earl Brendle, Suncoast CU’s VP/facilities. “It offers large savings over
traditional HVAC systems and is the most efficient type of HVAC that we have been
able to find for use in Florida.”
The green branches also employ automated management systems to regulate
energy usage, high-efficiency LED lighting inside and out, high-efficiency windows,
optimal insulation, recycled carpeting (which has offset more than 172,000 pounds
of greenhouse gas emissions, combined), and drought-resistant landscaping to
enhance water conservation.
The payback on the investment in the solar panels, which save Suncoast CU about
$12,000 per year on its electric bills, will be about 10 years, and the overall return on
the CU’s investment in energy-efficient systems will occur in 15 years, Brendle says.
While the six green branches are new buildings, “we are doing some retrofit solar on
some of our buildings due to receiving rebates from the power company to offset the
costs,” he notes. Adding geothermal to an existing building is more difficult: “Piping
needs to be run and wells need to be drilled to supply the geothermal HVAC system,”
Brendle explains.
Other green initiatives at Suncoast CU include shred bins at its headquarters
and branches, so paper can be sold for reuse by companies that make paper prod-
ucts; higher thermostat settings at all facilities to reduce electrical use; and recycling
programs for glass, aluminum, and outdated electronics.
Suncoast CU’s commitment to energy efficiency is “good for the environment and
good for business” and resonates with members who want to connect with an eco-
friendly financial services provider, Brendle adds. The CU also supports members
who want to go green with auto loan rates as low as 1.5 percent for vehicles with a
combined EPA rating of at least 28 MPG.
Bad behavior is stronger,
longer lasting, more
contagious and more
“
”
Pillars of High
Performing IT
Making delivery systems both serve
members well and be truly efficient
requires credit unions to have a high
performing technology function in place,
according to CUES Supplier member and
strategic provider Cornerstone Advisors
(www.crnrstone.com), Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cornerstone Director of IT Leadership
Butch Leonardson, lead presenter for
CUES School of IT Leadership™ (cues.org/
soitl), Sept. 15-17 in San Antonio, identi-
fies four pillars of a high performing IT
organization:
1. The priority. The high performing
IT group will have members’ experience
as its main focus. The chief information
officer will look in from the outside to
make sure members are delighted by their
interactions with the CU. As a result, IT
becomes a positive player in unifying the
CU around key initiatives.
2. The ‘therefore.’ The strategy of a
high performing IT organization will be
driven by its member focus. For example,
“members need similar experiences with
us regardless of delivery system; therefore,
we will choose vendors and configura-
tions to support this vision.”
3. The project leadership. In a high
performing organization, project manage-
ment is a core competency. Projects, when
possible, have an aspirational customer
experience objective—and are never seen
as “IT projects.”
Read Leonardson’s fourth pillar in the
full blog post at cues.org/081015skybox.
Learn more about Cornerstone’s services
at cues.org/cornerstone.
Huggy Rao, Stanford professor and co-
author of Scaling up Excellence, presenting at
Strategic Innovation Institute II at Stanford
last month. Head there in 2016, after you
attend Strategic Innovation Institute I (cues.
org/sii-i), this Sept. 20-25 at MIT.
11. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 11
Management Network
Insights
www.corp
orateone.coop
Letters to the Editor
Digital Magazine
Love Credit Union Management’s digital flip book.
CUES Director member Brenda White
Director, $322 million Fairmont Federal Credit Union
(www.fairmontfcu.com) Fairmont, W.Va.
Thank you, Brenda! Members and subscribers, access our digital edition monthly
at cues.org/cumanagement.
CFO to CEO?
Bill Goedken, CPA, CMA, CGMA, has made a number of interesting obser-
vations in “Is Your CFO Your Next CEO?” (cues.org/071015cfoceo) for a CFO
to consider, beginning with whether we would want to assume the CEO
position at some point in the future. I agree that our position is unique
due to the monthly, or more often, interaction with the board of directors
and the relationships that are established over time. His advice to work
Life-Changing Work
CUES’ 2014 CEO/Executive
Team Network changed Michael
Hudson’s life. While attending a
session with Do More Great Work
author Michael Bungay Stanier,
Hudson realized he wasn’t doing
much great work at all. In fact,
Hudson, who holds a Ph.D. and
heads his own company, writes
that he was only spending 10
percent of his time on “truly great
work, defined by Stanier as ‘life altering strategic work’—the work you were
born to do that creates a real impact on the world.”
Less than a year later, Hudson has “redefined my approach to allow me to do
the work I do best and enjoy most—the Great Work that had been pushed out
by the Bad Work taken on in trying to grow the business,” he writes in “How the
Great Work Pie Chart Changed my Life” (http://tinyurl.com/greatworkpiechart).
One piece of that Great Work is coaching leaders to be better presenters
and communicators. To that end, he shares Michael Hudson’s 52 Speaking
Tips, downloadable as an e-book at http://michaelhudson.com/vision-speaker/.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
Determine the real objective of your presentation. Is it to persuade?
Teach? Share information? Your objective will dictate the way you deliver
your presentation, and the way you structure your content.
The human mind can handle seven (plus or minus two) pieces of
information at any point in time. Stick to two or three main points,
and develop subpoints around them.
There are visual listeners, auditory listeners, and kinesthetic
(feeling) listeners. Make sure your presentation engages and provides for all
three types by telling vivid stories, varying your voice, and showing emotion.
CEO/Executive Team Network (cues.org/cnet) could change your life too.
Consider attending, Nov. 8-11 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
closely with the COO and CLO is also on point as our
duty is to our members first.
Greg Adams
SVP/Chief Financial Officer
$486 million First Commerce Credit Union
(www.firstcommercecu.org), Tallahassee, Fla.
Big Data
Bill Goedken, CPA, CMA, CGMA, made a compelling
case for using data in a meaningful way to analyze
strategies and find new opportunities in “CFO
Focus: Big Data for CUs” (cues.org/070915cfofocus).
It is important because we form biases in the way we
think about business and can miss opportunities as
a result.
Karen Schwall
VP/Sales, Credit Union Partner Development
McGuire Performance Solutions (www.mpsaz.com),
Scottsdale, Ariz.
12. 12 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
A
smobile adoption continues
and mobile banking becomes
a must-have service for many credit
unions, leaders face a choice: They
can sign up for vendor apps that
can be implemented quickly and
affordably and stop there. Or they
can spend the time and money
to push into innovative territory
and reach for apps that distinctly
differentiate them.
Going beyond available commercial products is a challenge, but a few CUs are doing it.
For example, $1.6 billion ORNL Federal Credit Union (www.ornlfcu.com), Oak Ridge, Tenn.,
is bringing mobile apps to members via a state-of-the-art core mobile banking app from
Orlando, Fla.-based Kony (www.kony.com). “We started with the basics,” notes Tommy
Smith, former SVP/chief marketing officer, “but we added several really valuable features.
There’s a way members can see all their balances without logging in and entering their
user ID and password. All it takes is a tap.”
Game Changers
That’s cool, but two other app features qualify as what Smith calls “game changers.”
One is called “Focus Money Manager.” It’s the personal financial management software
from MX Technologies Inc. (www.mx.com), Lehi, Utah. That product and others from
CU industry vendors are familiar to many CU marketers, but ORNL FCU has made it
mobile and integrated it with its mobile banking app, Smith explains.
“They were available separately, but we thought it had more value if we brought it
all together. MX had the PFM piece and Kony had the mobile banking piece. We got
them to build communication links and share data so a member could see all of his or
her financial relationships, not just the ORNL FCU accounts. Now they can plan and
manage their financial lives on the mobile devices they prefer, courtesy of ORNL FCU.”
The other game-changer that reaches beyond mobile banking is a community events
function that makes ORNL FCU’s app a prime source of knowledge about what’s
happening in certain community activities.
This feature was brought to life when Dogwood Arts (www.dogwoodarts.com), a
community partner that promotes the region’s arts, culture and natural beauty, held
its annual three-day “Rhythm N’ Blooms” music festival in Knoxville, Tenn., in April.
ORNL FCU had gathered all the information about times and venues from Dogwood
Arts and made it available on an app that became the semi-official guide to the festival.
“We set up a data feed between Dogwood Arts and Kony,” Smith explains.
Festival promoters advised attendees to download the app to see what they could
do. Printed material at the registration site had a QR (quick response) code that, when
scanned, would bring up the ORNL FCU app. Thousands of music-lovers, CU members
or not, were relying on an ORNL FCU-branded app to get the most out of their festival
experience, Smith reports. “We had the only mobile guide there,” he says. “We showed
what we could do with mobile technology and our sponsorship of community organi-
zations. We’ll be doing this with other organizations.”
That was creative use of the right technology. “Kony has a flexible platform that lets
us customize and bring in data from third parties,” Smith explains. “Once we make the
connections, Kony can inject all this data into our mobile offering so it’s all there for
members. We expect to do this with six or seven partners.” Over 30,000 of ORNL FCU’s
Options for Apps
CU leaders navigating the mobile banking highway can forge ahead
with vendor products or take bold turns into innovative territory.
By Richard H. Gamble
14. 14 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
members use the
mobile app, and about
10 percent of those also
use the PFM app, he reports.
Such innovation is expensive, Smith
concedes, but insists it’s a strategic invest-
ment. “This isn’t a fringe activity for us.
It’s a core part of our three-year strategic
plan.” That investment has put ORNL
FCU well ahead of the pack. “Nobody
else is doing this yet,” Smith claims. “In
many respects, we’re the first. We hope
to deepen relationships with existing
members and encourage relationships
with new members.”
Next up? “We’re finding ways to auto-
populate processes to make the member
experience more efficient,” Smith says, and
“pursuing a feature that will allow members
to block or replace lost debit cards.”
Mainstream Strategy
$2.7 billion Virginia Credit Union (www.
vacu.org), Richmond, is aggressively
working to bring the mobile banking
experience to its members by expanding
the mobile menu to equal the desktop
menu, primarily using commercially
available apps and differentiating itself
by strategy more than technology.
For example, the CU cites its early embrace
of Apple Pay as an example of its mobile
strategy, even though the app belongs to
Apple, not the CU, and the experience of
an Apple Pay mobile user is pretty stan-
dard, regardless of financial institution. The
strategy lies in empowering the member
and hoping to get the Virginia CU card at
the top of the wallet, according to Frank
Macrina, VP/e-services, cards and payments.
But Virginia CU also touts its success
with a mobile loan application with a front
end that was built internally.
“We’ve made it very friendly,” says
Todd Feldman, VP/
marketing. “We’re
seeing 57 percent of
those who start to
apply on a smart-
phone or tablet
complete the
process,compared
to 53 percent
who start to apply
using a desktop,”
he reports. “We think
that’s phenomenal.”
It’s especially easy for
members who subscribe to Virginia
CU’s online banking, because they
can apply and watch the system popu-
late many fields in the application
automatically. But not-yet-members are
completing their applications as well. To
join the CU, the desktop channel works
best for now, but Virginia CU is getting
ready to launch a mobile gateway to
membership, he says.
The CU’s technical strategy favors inte-
gration of commercial apps over building
stand-alone solutions, but “we would go
with a stand-alone app if an integrated
solution is not available,” Macrina says.
“We don’t want to introduce technology
that slows down the process.”
One Virginia CU innovation that
won’t come from Apple or a mobile
banking vendor is financial education
content over a mobile device. “We want
informed members, and we’re looking at
ways to make educational content avail-
able through members’ smartphones,”
Feldman reports.
Commercial Products
Mobile app choices pose a familiar
dilemma. Generic solutions are efficient,
but limit differentiation. Vendors target
big markets, not individual CUs.
“Software vendors like to build a solution
and then collect revenue,” observes David
Eads, CEO and founder of Mobile Strategy
Partners (www.mobilestrategypartners.com),
based in suburban Atlanta. “They innovate
when forced to.” But even the bold innova-
tors build out from commercial products,
and the case for vendor-developed software
can be compelling.
Malauzai Software (www.malauzai.
com), Austin, Texas, an aggressive vendor
of mobile and Internet banking solu-
tions, makes that case. Success, according
to Malauzai execs, is a partnership
between good software (its role) and good
marketing and support (the CU’s role).
“We do the technical stuff,” says Robb
Gaynor, chief product officer, “and they
do the marketing and training. It takes a
real commitment on the part of the CU.
They need a strategy, a product manager, a
training program, a sophisticated roll-out
and strong member communication.”
But they don’t need in-house software
programmers or freelancers, he insists.
“The security requirements and regulatory
compliance around banking activity is so
rigorous and sensitive that you don’t want
to trust that activity to any old developer.”
(Read a different view on this in the “Deep
Linking” section of this article, p. 16.)
Keeping up with new developments is rela-
tively simple. “Development is continuous,
but updates are posted regularly at the app
store,” Gaynor says. Members keep installing
the updated versions. They can even sign up
for auto-updates, he points out.
What about apps that don’t focus
specifically on banking and related issues?
“Everybody talks about that, and they’ve
been talking about it for years, but nobody
has found a way to make it work profitably
in the banking space,” Gaynor says. “We
focus on banking activity and make sure
it’s compliant and secure.”
Having defined roles, Malauzai pushes
to be first and best in its space. “The day
the Apple Watch was released, three CUs
went live with an app for it. Only one
national bank did,” he notes. The three
CUs were Malauzai clients.
$556 million Greater TEXAS Federal
Credit Union (www.gtfcu.org), Austin, was
one of the four financial institutions that
offered members a mobile banking app
for the Apple Watch the day the watch
was released, reports Brandy Conway, VP/
marketing. “We’re just down the street from
Malauzai Software, and they approached
us with financial incentives to test an Apple
Watch app,” she says. The functionality is
basic. You can check balances, see a transac-
tion history and contact the CU, but you
can’t transact on your accounts.
That’s partly because the screen on the
watch is tiny and because the app is first
generation, but it’s also because of security.
“You can’t enter a user name and pass-
word in the watch,” Conway points out. To
transact, “you’d need to tether the watch to
an iPhone 5 or newer.”
CUs shine not through custom apps,
but through robust functionality, Gaynor
argues. “You can turn debit cards on and
15. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 15
General Management
Breaking Your App Away
From the Pack
One of this CU’s mobile apps goes beyond banking.
By Richard H. Gamble
M
embers of $200 million Cy-Fair Credit Union (www.
cyfairfcu.org), Houston, can download two CU apps.
One is a fairly robust version of the CU’s mobile
banking. “It supports electronic bill-pay, funds transfers,
remote deposit capture and lets members see their balances,
transactions and ATM locations”—common features for other
bank and CU apps, explains Brett Wooden, SVP/marketing at
the time of this interview.
But Cy-Fair CU members can also get another app that almost
nobody else can get: an academic calendar for the Cypress
Fairbanks Independent School District, one of the largest in
Texas with 22,000 teachers. The district is also the CU’s legacy
and still dominant select employee group.
Big deal? Maybe not. It’s hardly setting records at the Apple app
store, where 1,000 copies have been downloaded in its first year,
says Wooden, now working full time with Wooden Consulting
(www.woodenconsulting.net), which he co-founded. Teachers get
the app free without joining. In fact, it’s a digital alternative to a
paper calendar Cy-Fair CU has been printing for years at a cost of
about $22,000 a year.
In a way, it’s just another attempt to migrate members from
paper to digital service to reduce costs, and to allow quick,
easy updates during the academic year. But in another way, it’s
revolutionary because it’s a mobile app that a CU has produced
on its own, a step toward radical differentiation.
People use CUs and banks for a finite list of products and services.
Once you make those products and services available through
mobile devices, subject to security and screen-size limitations,
where do you go from there? Once the wave of mobile adoption
has crested, mobile banking could become a commodity, a new
delivery channel to support, but not a differentiator.
Cy-Fair CU’s calendar is a mobile app, but not a mobile banking
app, which raises the question of whether CUs can benefit from
providing apps that go beyond banking. Whether financial
institutions can shoot through old boundaries like Uber (www.
uber.com) and Air BNB (www.airbnb.com) have done is not clear,
but Cy-Fair CU has a toe in the water.
The calendar app was coded by two independent programmers
from Monetary Labs (www.monetarylabs.com) in Portland, Ore.,
for $15,000. Wooden almost has the background and skills to
code an app, but using outside coders made more sense.
“There are lots of smart people who do it for a reasonable
price,” he says. “The trick is finding the right ones.”
The Cy-Fair CU calendar app duplicates the paper calendar, but
goes beyond it in that it’s always up to date and includes features
like links to phone numbers, directions to events, a news feed,
and special promotions for teachers. For example, Cy-Fair CU
works with Chick-fil-A, which sometimes puts discount coupons
for teachers in the calendar. At this point, Cy-Fair CU doesn’t sell
advertising on the calendar and earns no revenue from its coop-
eration with Chick-fil-A, but it’s looking into those possibilities.
“We have relationships with Liberty Mutual and Century
21,” Wooden notes. “We might see if they’d pay to advertise.
“If you buy the product of one of the big mobile banking
vendors, your program looks the same as everyone else’s except
for the logo,” he points out. “We’re not just looking at what other
financial institutions are doing. We’re watching Target and Best
Buy and Wendy’s and Home Depot.”
Apple has homogenized its customer experience so that it’s
almost identical whether the customer uses the website, the
mobile app or comes into a store, he points out. “Banks and CUs
are trying to catch up.”
Apps are a complementary channel at this point for FIs,
Wooden notes, but could become mainstream quickly. “Now 70
percent of Facebook users use apps exclusively and bypass URLs.
What if CU members did that? We’re not ready yet,” he warns.
Meanwhile, when an academic event was cancelled due to rain,
users of the mobile calendar app were alerted, while users of the
paper calendar had to make a call or take their chances, he notes.
More conventionally, Cy-Fair CU is looking for ways to pre-stage
banking transactions, just like you can pre-stage a fast-food meal,
ordering and paying before you just drive by and pick up the food.
With some banking services, you may not even have to drive by.
“Whatever saves our members wait time and driving time
and saves us interaction time in our lobbies is what we want,”
Wooden concludes.
16. 16 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
General Management
off with our software,” he notes. “You
can use our revolutionary new version
of Picture Pay (read more at cues.
org/0814enlargingthepicture).
There are all sorts of ways you
can differentiate yourself
with commercial prod-
ucts beyond balance
reporting and bill-pay.”
Mobile
Enhancers
Between mobile app
vendors and one-off innova-
tions lies a new layer of mobile
app enhancers like CU Mobile
Apps. “We can work with
any mobile banking vendor,
explains Rick Hargis, managing
general partner for Member
Service Solutions (www.
memberservicesolutions.com),
a one-third owner—with the
Illinois CU League (www.
iculeague.org) and tech-
nical developer Metova
(www.metova.com)—of CU
Mobile Apps (www.cumobile
apps.com), Naperville, Ill. “We just take the
banking data and repackage it for a robust
mobile banking experience for the member.”
To make it affordable, CU Mobile Apps
charges a flat $250 a month for CUs with
fewer than 5,000 members for a standard
package, $370 for a premium package,
reports Tom Gray, another managing
general partner. Mobile deposits are an
add-on, and there’s an interchange fee
for person-to-person payments, he notes.
Contracts are for a standard three years.
Some CUs don’t have the resources to
build mobile apps on their own, and tradi-
tional mobile vendors are not helping them
differentiate, Eads argues. That situation
has opened the door for new tech boutiques
like Mobile Strategy Partners to innovate
around the mobile banking inertia. “It’s our
job to help CUs innovate around the edges,
to rely on vendors but to get more than their
vendors are selling them,” he says.
You can differentiate by functionality, but
also by friendliness, Eads says. Of the people
who try to open an account through the
mobile channel, about 80 percent give up
before completing the process. The experi-
ence needs to be streamlined and intuitive,
not a technological obstacle course, he
insists. In July, Mobile Strategy Partners
launched a subsidiary, Gro Solutions, Inc.,
dedicated to helping banks and CUs grow
through more effective customer
acquisition.
A good way to innovate
around the edges
is to create
a mobile
launch
site for
what-
ever
promo-
tional
campaigns
the CU
is plan-
ning, Eads
points out.
“Offer them
a QR code that
goes right to the
campaign page from a
campaign call to action.”
Looking to the future, indirect
lending should be fertile territory,
Eads predicts, as CUs find ways to
link their mobile apps with those of
car dealers and Realtors.
Don’t limit your mobile banking
app to members, Hargis emphasizes.
He knows from experience. To refinance
a high-interest auto loan, he found a CU
that didn’t lock him out of downloading
its app had the best refinancing rate. So
he used the app to join the CU and refi-
nanced his loan, all in a few minutes.
Deep Linking
The choices are more complex than
vendor-supplied vs. build-your-own apps.
Architecture also matters, insists Matt
Dean, CEO of Trabian Technology (www.
trabian.com), Indianapolis. “We can provide
mobile banking and integrate with the core
providers, but we encourage CUs to build
their own application programming inter-
face as a middle layer,” he says. “It’s more
work, but it puts the credit union in control
of their mobile banking instead of us. They
can make changes in the API—change their
bill-pay vendor, for example—and it flows
through to the app.
“We build mobile banking apps to go on
top of the API” a CU builds, he explains.
“We’ll provide API specs and even a starter
version, but encourage them to take over
future development to support their
growth. We think this is better than having
them rely on us.” Modules could be built
by individual CUs and shared. “You could
have a mobile banking app that’s unique to
each CU, but built from pieces that could be
shared,” he suggests.
Having an API layer requires CUs to build
internal IT expertise. “Years ago, CUs hired
ad agencies at first and then built internal
marketing expertise,” Dean observes.
“Now they need to do the same thing in IT
to break away from vendor dependence.”
There are two general approaches to aggre-
gating services in apps, Dean explains. One
is to put it all together in one large, complex
app, ideally built on top of an API. The other
way is to embed “deep linking” so a process
can trigger another app at a deep level, so
you don’t have to go through a start-up
screen and take tedious steps to get what you
want, he explains.
Dean uses Open Table (www.opentable.com)
and Uber (www.uber.com) as an example.
You make your restaurant reservation on
Open Table and then click on an icon that
orders an Uber pick-up. You don’t have to log
on to Uber separately and initiate a pick-up
order there. This hasn’t really fully hit yet
in financial services, but the idea might be
that you can pay a bill when you’re in an
app primarily designed to check balances
by having the balance-checking app talk
directly to the bill-pay app.
Also on the tech frontier are native apps
that use JavaScript to grow themselves.
Traditionally, an app is a finished product
available at an app store. As the app grows
and improves, new versions are sent to the
app store for downloading. But it’s possible
to build apps that grow themselves as the
member interacts.
“That’s a step beyond deep linking,”
Dean notes. “You could call it ‘deep inclu-
sion’ or ‘deep integration.’ It’s technically
feasible already, and it should show up in
the market soon.”
Richard H. Gamble is a freelance writer
based in Colorado.
Resources
CUES members, read how CUs are
collectively exploring new ideas too
risky and expensive to go it alone at
cues.org/0415innovationlabs.
It’s not too late to register for CUES
School of IT Leadership™ (www.cues.
org/soitl), Sept. 15-17 in San Antonio.
18. 18 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
B
usiness velocity is a critical busi-
ness metric that differs from
most business metrics in that it is
comprehensive. The three major
components of your credit union—lead-
ership, people, and systems—have to be
working in harmony for you to have a high
velocity enterprise that takes you rapidly
toward your goals. Boosting this metric is
artwork and requires skilled leadership, as
we’ll discuss.
Embracing the concept and reality of
velocity can have a profound effect upon
your CU’s return on assets, efficiency ratio,
member satisfaction, and employee engage-
ment. I have spoken with several CU CEOs
who are utilizing business velocity to grow
rapidly and profitably, delight members,
and become the employer of choice in their
communities. As a CU executive, you need
to be aware of your CU’s velocity because it
determines whether you hit your objectives
and how long it takes to do so.
The primary, bloodthirsty enemy of a
CU’s velocity is hidden profitability. It is
your job to find hidden profitability in lead-
ership, people and systems and convert it to
realized earnings.
Velocity = Direction + Speed
Velocity is built on two elements: direction
and speed.
The direction of your CU depends on the
clarity of your long- and short-term objec-
tives. Long-term objectives can include
purpose, identity, strategy, brand promise,
targeted member groups, growth, and
long-term goals. Short-term direction may
include such objectives as annual market
share or profitability gains, split between
interest and non-interest income, and
monthly loan and deposit goals. Your
shorter-term direction should support your
long-term objectives, values, and principles.
The more you are able to clarify these
ideas and identify the results necessary to
achieve them, the better direction your
institution will have. You wouldn’t want to
be aiming for Indianapolis and end up in
Miami, but that can happen if a CU’s direc-
tion isn’t clear and focused.
Your CU also needs speed to reach its
destination as rapidly as possible. Why
would you want to delay if you are really
passionate about your direction? Without
speed, direction becomes a wish. When
speed is added, goals can be very achievable.
If you have good direction but still need to
improve your velocity, you know you need to
find some way or ways to increase your CU’s
speed. From my experience in large banks I
know speed is almost impossible to achieve,
and CUs have a decided advantage here.
Of course if you’re a fast organization
but don’t have much direction, your
velocity still won’t be optimal. You can
get to Miami quickly, but not really know
if that’s where you should be. So you need
both components, direction and speed, to
create the velocity that will take your CU
toward your goals.
Within your company these two elements
are accessed through leadership, people,
and systems.
Like a high performance car, all these
components must work together with
precision to produce velocity. Each compo-
nent needs its own care and maintenance,
but a truly skillful CEO/leadership team
focuses on making all of them propel the
car forward to its destination.
When I took over a division of a large bank,
I knew the direction I wanted to follow but
didn’t have the people or systems necessary
to get there. I brought in some new systems
and did away with many low value activities,
but we still didn’t have the talent we needed
to make the systems execute our strategy. It
wasn’t until all three elements came together
that we really started making progress.
Weak Components
At any given time, a credit union can
be stronger or weaker on any of these
three elements.
For example, strong direction, good
people, but sub-optimal systems can yield
A Need for
‘Speed’(and Direction)
By Scott McClymonds
19. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 19
General Management
discouragement among a workforce as
employees become frustrated by not having
the tools needed to accomplish their jobs.
This was the case in a large bank client
of mine. The IT division had the entire
company handcuffed. Good people could
not embark on management’s direction
because IT did not have the processes in
place to quickly deploy needed tech-
nology innovations.
On the other hand, strong leadership
and excellent systems without the right
people in place can bring about signifi-
cant underachievement.
I experienced this when I brought a
sophisticated data-mining system into
a large bank. The bank’s internal team
lacked the creativity and technical exper-
tise to fully utilize the system, so we ended
up using expertise from the system’s
vendor to get a large return on investment
from the technology.
Finally, strong people can be in place with
exceptional systems, but without clear
direction, they might move fast but not
arrive at any particular destination. This
can lead to a sense of purposelessness as
employees see little meaning in their work.
I saw this in a bank whose primary
directive from the chairman was, “Get
more!” In that environment, employees
did their best for a while, but had no
particular goals or direction to aim for.
Finally, we come to the enemy of velocity:
hidden profitability. This means there is
untapped profitability within your CU that
is hindering your velocity, and it occurs even
within the strongest, healthiest businesses.
Three examples of hidden profitability
within the leadership component of
business velocity are the need to change
direction, the need for improved commu-
nication and the need to overcome
personal biases.
The long-term direction of your CU might
be very clear, but we all know that short-term
changes in direction are necessary to account
for new regulations, fluctuating rate envi-
ronments, and balance sheet issues.
Examples of short-term course correc-
tions are myriad, but some dramatic ones
I have experienced are around acquisi-
tions. As you know, those are “all hands
on deck” situations where even the most
important objectives sometimes have to
be put on hold.
Failing to make, communicate, or adapt to
these course corrections can have signifi-
cant consequences for your CU and greatly
reduce its velocity.
Communication can be another aspect of
hidden profitability. If employees are not
moving in the same direction as manage-
ment, communication of your direction
needs to be delivered more clearly and
reinforced more frequently. Consider
how you communicate your direction
throughout your organization and get
feedback on its effectiveness.
A financial services CEO I know has
in-person “town council” meetings at all
of his locations.
On the other hand, I have worked with
CU CEOs who were poor communicators,
and it was reflected in their institution’s
poor velocity.
Personally, I remember my team’s blank
stares after telling them about a new idea
that seemed perfectly clear and logical to
me. After working to discern what they
didn’t understand, I tried a few different
approaches that eventually led to a profit-
able discussion.
Leadership biases are sometimes a source
of hidden profitability, so we need to have
people around us who will challenge our
thinking. We need to be open to input
from all directions, and that’s why it is
helpful to have a diverse team of people
giving you their opinions.
Many times have I seen CEOs’ retail
delivery backgrounds be biased toward
branch systems instead of lending. We all
have our personal biases, but regardless of
your background, it is important to main-
tain a wide field of view, and that comes
from surrounding yourself with excellent
and diverse people.
There are five ways hidden profitability
can exist in the people component of
your organization.
This first has to do with talent. Having
the right people in the right jobs doing the
right things is an ongoing process. Your
talent needs are always changing as your
CU and members evolve, from your execu-
tive team to your front-line employees to
your back-office support staff.
Keeping up with the talent requirements
of each job is an onerous task but critical.
I once took over a division in a bank and
radically changed the direction. I coached
the staff and gave them time to adjust, but
one dear lady just couldn’t meet the grade.
We reassigned her to a different area more
suited to her talents.
Buy-in is a second area of potential hidden
profitability with people. Once I installed
a major system at a financial institution.
Some employees bought in and others
didn’t. The resistance of those who didn’t
embrace the new system was a source of
hidden profitability.
One woman who was initially resistant
became one of the system’s best users over
time. She told me the change was due to the
fact that she saw it wasn’t going away, so she
decided to buy in and become good at it.
The same occurs with management buy-in.
At the same financial institution, one of the
retail heads objected to the reporting my
team provided because it showed her in last
place among her peers. The CEO said, “We’re
going to keep using the system and doing
the reporting.” Suddenly she bought in and
her performance changed.
People development is another area where
hidden profitability can occur. When we
make people development part of our CU’s
DNA, we’re upgrading our talent pool,
keeping people trained at high levels,
helping them do what they do best, and
maintaining high levels of motivation.
That keeps innovation flowing—and in
fact, innovation is the next item needed to
increase your velocity.
Peter Drucker said innovation is one of
the two most important functions of a
business, along with marketing. It is the
lifeblood of your CU and, in my experi-
ence, the bulk of it comes from employees.
For example, in one of my banking roles
my team developed an automated series
of questions designed to help the new
accounts person make sure each member
opened the account that was best for
them. On another occasion they created
quarterly opportunity assessment webi-
nars for leaders to help clarify where to
best allocate resources.
Finally lack of unity can be a nasty
source of hidden profitability. If a team or
company has dissension, people become
discouraged and are less inclined to inno-
vate and serve clients well, since they
are more focused on their gripes against
their team members. One “bad apple”
can certainly spoil the whole bunch by
distracting an entire team or company.
Some of the most debilitating sources of
20. 20 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
General Management
hidden profitability on the systems side
are technology, members, and alignment.
Buying new technology and not using it
to its fullest capability is a source of hidden
profitability. Deferring the purchase of
new technology can be another source of
hidden profitability, if your existing tech-
nology is not enabling your CU to deliver
the type of experience members want.
This is tricky because you want to buy
just the right amount of technology at
just the right time, and make sure it does
exactly what you want and gets used fully
to get the intended return on investment.
An example of this is a fiasco one bank
client experienced with a data ware-
house project. The executive committee
said, “Our front-line people need a more
complete view of our members.” IT said
“Fine, let’s build a data warehouse.”
That was five years ago and they’re just
now rolling out the first phase. This was
hidden profitability at its worst moment as
the CIO and executive team left the project
in the hands of technology people with no
executive sponsorship, timelines or updates.
Members can be a source of hidden prof-
itability on the systems side since CUs use
systems to interact with them.
If your systems aren’t helping you under-
stand your members’ behaviors, needs,
and profitability, your CU can end up
under-serving great members and over-
serving unprofitable ones. In either case
you end up with hidden profitability.
Resources
Evaluate your CU’s business velocity and answer questions geared to helping
cues.org/081115evaluation.
Also by Scott McClymonds, read “6 Ways to Uncover Profits” at cues.org/
0429156ways.
Scott McClymonds will present a free CUES Webinar on business velocity
at 1 p.m. Central on Sept. 22. Learn more and register at cues.org/webinars.
Learn about business trends that affect your CU’s profitability and velocity
when you attend CEO/Executive Team Network™ (cues.org/cnet), slated for Nov.
8-11 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Scott McClymonds (scottm@ceovelocity.com) is a veteran leader in the financial services
industry and expert at integrating analytics, leadership, and culture to dramatically accelerate
www.ceovelocity.com), works with suc-
his blog at www.ceo velocity.com/blog; call him at 479.263.0774; and find him at linkedin.
com/in/scottmcclymonds.
exists, and what you need to do about it.
Sometimes recovering hidden profit-
ability can require significant investments,
but often not.
For example, a financial services client
of mine had hundreds of branches and
hundreds of thousands of members. The
client’s hidden profitability came from its
systems. The members weren’t coming
into the branches.
I helped my client install a system that
enabled employees to reach out to members
in a systematic, targeted manner that
created goodwill among employees and
members, while generating an additional
30,000 new accounts per year. The actions
my client took were not expensive, but they
did require significant workflow changes
that neither occurred overnight nor made
everyone happy.
Maintaining and increasing the velocity
of your CU is a critical activity. The
greater your velocity, the more successful
you will be and the more you will enjoy
your professional and personal life.
Greater velocity does not necessarily
mean more pressure, stress, and heart-
burn. In fact, the more focus you bring to
your direction, and the more you bring
your people and systems into alignment
with that direction, the more you will
find yourself achieving results faster while
working the same amount or less.
Part of the velocity equation is fighting
against hidden profitability. Don’t worry
or fret about it. Just know it exists and put
systems in place for sniffing it out and
recapturing those earnings.
21.
22. 22 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
General Management
ohn Pembroke has worked on some
of the most popular U.S. brands—
including Procter & Gamble’s
Downy, Kraft’s Ritz, and PSCU’s
Total Member Care.
So it’s not surprising that one of his
key tasks when he joined CUES as chief oper-
ating officer in 2013 was a brand refresh. He
also played an important role in the develop-
ment of a new strategic plan and culture.
Named president/CEO of CUES on June 22,
Pembroke sees continuing to build CUES’
image in the marketplace as a primary focus.
He’ll know he’s achieved this goal when a
vast majority of credit union leaders answer
“CUES” when asked the following question:
“What talent development partner helps you
reach your greatest potential, supporting the
success of your credit union and the industry
as a whole?”
“I’m proud of what we’ve done in such a
short time at CUES: a new brand, strategy,
culture and offerings,” says Pembroke, who
took the helm from Dawn Poker, CUDE,
CUES’ SVP/chief sales and member rela-
tions officer. Poker had served as interim
CEO since the departure of Chuck Fagan
in March.
“I am looking forward to evolving the
CUES brand. A strong CUES translates to
stronger credit union leaders and stronger
CUs that can improve their members’
financial lives.”
Pembroke brings a notable background
in branding and new product develop-
ment. His experience includes more than
20 years in marketing, branding, and
e-commerce, including as chief marketing
and product development officer at CUES
Supplier member PSCU (www.pscu.com), St.
Petersburg, Fla., and chief operating officer
at Vault Financial Group (www.vaultfinan
cial.net), Silver Spring, Md. He has held
leadership roles at Cox Enterprises, Kellogg,
Kraft Foods, and Procter & Gamble.
At PSCU, Pembroke launched numerous
offerings to meet the needs of CUs—from
mobile banking to contactless cards
to member loyalty rewards to prepaid
cards. He also helped CUs understand the
importance of effectively marketing to
Millennials, and established a new product
development group. During his tenure, the
PSCU brand evolved from one of shared
CU values to one of providing CUs with
confidence and peace of mind.
Pembroke holds a bachelor’s degree
in finance from the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where
CUES’ CEO Institute I: Strategic Planning
(cues.org/ceoinstitutei) is held, and an
MBA in marketing and policy studies
from the University of Chicago’s Booth
School of Business.
In addition to continuing to evolve
CUES’ external brand, Pembroke has his
sights set on the continued evolution of
the CUES internal culture, based on core
values developed by staff members them-
selves. These include providing “Wow”
service, pursuing learning relentlessly,
and having integrity in every action.
“I am a big believer in culture” as key to
employee engagement and retention, he
says.“If staff love working at CUES, our brand
will be supported by the best people doing
their best work. Our members and their
talent development will benefit from that.”
Evolving the Brand
New President/CEO John Pembroke wants you to think
of CUES as your ‘go to’ source for talent development.
By Lisa Hochgraf
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES senior editor.
Resources
Read more about Pembroke’s new
role and other CUES news at cues.
org/news-room/press-releases.
Read more about the evolution of
the CUES brand in “Brand, Elevated.”
at cues.org/elevated.
CUES used JMFA Recruitment
Services for its CEO search. Learn
how you can do so at cues.org/jmfa.
Get to Know Pembroke
Favorite sports teams: Bears, White
Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and the
University of Pennsylvania Quakers
Favorite tech toy: Sonos (www.
sonos.com), an app that allows
streaming control of music
through multiple devices
Favorite music group:
Earth, Wind & Fire
Favorite book: Season of Life by
Jeffery Marx
Favorite play: “Rent”
Favorite movie: “The Matrix,” for its
truly creative story and action
Favorite brand: ESPN; it delivers the
best sports content through many
different channels
Favorite thing to do on the weekend:
play highly competitive fantasy
football with the same 10 guys for
almost 20 years
J
24. 24 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
E
MV (or Europay, MasterCard
and Visa) is imminent,
regardless if America’s No. 1
retailer or our favorite corner
store is ready. Or not. Hopefully,
your member communication
strategy is poised for the
upcoming changes.
Knowing Your Members
A well-crafted message that resonates with members will focus on their needs first.
Where do they shop? Are they global travelers or is their payment space limited?
This information will help determine if your message should focus on the transac-
tion, the card’s added security or both. You may also want to prep the member on
card mechanics so transactions go smoothly, preventing frustration and defection
from your card.
“Just like any product launch, determining member needs comes first,” says Art
Harper, Ph.D., director of solutions consulting for card payment solutions for CUES
Supplier member PSCU (www.pscu.com), St. Petersburg, Fla. Harper suggests forming
an internal committee to assist with need determination, and to speak with member-
facing employees.
“Find out from your staff where member concerns lie. Also use your payment and
member data to help determine your message. For example, if members are experienced
travelers they may need the chip cards sooner and require less technical instruction, and
you can promote ease of use outside the U.S. If your members shop closer to home, your
message may focus on card mechanics and enhanced security,” he says.
For $900 million/73,000-member IBM Southeast Employees’ Credit Union (www.
ibmsecu.org), Delray Beach, Fla., the process included plenty of member education
before mass issuing the chip cards in July.
“Notifications in statements and newsletters, instruction on our website, and a detailed
card carrier were all part of our strategy,” says CUES member Nicole Heffelfinger, VP/
operations for IBM Southeast ECU. “The card carrier included information on how the
cards work at both mag-stripe and chip-enabled terminals and their enhanced security
benefits.” She recommends simple language and graphics to convey your message and to
start communicating at least 30 days before the chip cards are issued.
How far should a CU go in explaining EMV technology to members? There are mixed
reviews. Most CUs seem to be avoiding specific EMV jargon, instead focusing on
member benefits and the card’s enhanced security and, to a lesser extent, on the transi-
tion occurring at terminals.
“The key is to uphold your position as a leader in technology and advocate for your
EMV Communication
Strategies
Whether your credit union has already made the switch or not,
staying in front of members with the right message is important.
By Stephanie Schwenn Sebring
25. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 25
Marketing
members’ financial well-being,” adds
Heffelfinger. “What may vary is how
far you explain EMV technology and
implementation.”
Conduct an Internal Launch First
Tom Davis, SVP/finance and technology
for CUES Supplier member CSCU (www.
cscu.net), Tampa, Fla., recommends getting
the chip cards into the hands of friends
and family first. Let them troubleshoot
for a 60- or 90-day period. He also likes a
balanced approach to communicating the
change. “Incorporate all communications
channels, including in-branch, digital,
newsletter and the card carrier itself.”
Davis, who has developed two
educational campaigns at CSCU to assist
its member-CUs, adds that it’s wise to start
the transition sooner rather than later.
He estimates that by the end of 2015, 70
percent of U.S. credit cards and 41 percent
of debit cards will be EMV compliant.
Like any new product launch, expose it to
staff first. This gives a CU time to fine-tune
its strategy and message before the card is
introduced. “Get your own people using
and familiar with the technology,” affirms
Heffelfinger. “Have feedback sessions and
use this as an opportunity to review your
educational materials and revise if needed.”
IBM Southeast ECU used a similar
strategy with the launch of Apple Pay. “We
announced it internally first and offered
training classes, depending on each
employee’s position,” says Heffelfinger.
“After training was complete, we released
it to any employee with an iPhone 6. Four
weeks later we released it to all members.”
However, the impact of Apple Pay is
much smaller than chip cards will be.
“Only a small percentage of members
have an iPhone 6, and there are even fewer
merchants that accept Apple Pay,” says
Heffelfinger. “However, EMV will impact
every member who uses a credit or debit
card for point-of-sale transactions.”
Are You Planning a Mass
Reissue or Natural Transition?
Your message and channels will also vary
depending on how you plan to reissue your
Marketing
26. 26 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
Marketing
cards. If it’s by expiration date, members
will receive the chip cards at varying
intervals, impacting segmentation strate-
gies and channels you choose for your
message. Additionally, take into account
that certain members may see your EMV
messaging and wonder why they haven’t
yet received a chip card.
“Besides the chip card expense, which is
certainly more expensive than mag stripe
cards, it’s equally important to weigh the
ramifications of not choosing a mass issue.
This includes sending potentially mixed
messages to members and staff,” adds
Davis, who has seen about a 60/40 split
among CUs. (Sixty percent are electing
to go with a mass issue and 40 percent by
expiration date.) Some are doing a blend
of both, or a hybrid reissue, designating
certain segments first for the chip card.
“For example, issuing chip cards first to
members who travel abroad may make
sense,” says Davis. “Credit unions that have
experienced higher than average fraud
should also seriously consider a mass issue
and be upfront why.” To help offset some of
the cost, CSCU is currently covering EMV/
chip enablement for its member-CUs.
The Most Challenging in
Communicating EMV?
Davis believes one of the most important
things to communicate is that members
will need to break their swiping habit.
“Explain the mechanics and the
8-second wait time after insertion—don’t
let the store clerk become the expert
rather than you.” He says not to assume
members will see the change as turnkey
or simple; instead, expect members will
make mistakes at point of sale, such as not
keeping the card inserted long enough.
IBM Southeast ECU used graphics to ease
the transition from swiping to inserting.
“A dynamic card carrier (used to present
the new card by mail) is essential since all
cardholders will have it in their hands at
some point,” confirms Harper. “Create the
text or graphics based on your members’
needs; use this as the place to reiterate card
mechanics and the wait time.”
Harper offers that it’s not just important
to provide pertinent information but to
make it timely as well. “It’s about pulling
together all of the variables of EMV, as they
are appropriate to your members. This
includes how to insert the card or when to
swipe; how to determine which merchants
have chip technology; and, for members
who travel abroad, realizing the immediate
benefits they gain.”
Should Members Care About
the Liability Shift?
In October, the liability shift for POS fraud
will be charged to the participant that is not
EMV compliant. Specifically, it will be the
card issuer if the card is not EMV or chip-
enabled, or conversely, the merchant if the
terminal is not chip-enabled. Harper says
that yes, members should care about the
upcoming shift, but only as it pertains to
greater security in the process overall.
“CUs have long carried the liability
burden for members, and now merchants
will finally share that responsibility. EMV
gives all credit unions another tool in
their arsenal for fraud prevention. The
most perceptive credit unions, however,
will use EMV as a way to solidify member
loyalty and leverage their reputation.”
Members don’t necessarily need to
know the finer points of the liability
shift, just that you’re taking every
measure to protect their accounts
and that the capacity for fraud will be
reduced, agree Harper and Davis. Staff,
depending on their role, will need a
greater grasp of the topic and to be
prepared for more in-depth discussion.
Both PSCU and CSCU have EMV micro-
sites to support their member-CUs’
communications efforts, with videos, webi-
nars, Web banners, newsletter articles and
statement inserts. All can be shared and
personalized at the member level. Visa and
MasterCard have a plethora of materials
available for use as well.
Protecting Members
and Your Brand
While considering all EMV variables, take
into account your CU’s business model and
take steps to protect it. “Implications can
vary depending on how quickly you plan
to implement EMV and whether members
expect it,” elaborates Davis. “The last thing
anyone wants is a negative PR experience
because of a slower reissue plan. Instead,
use EMV to reinforce to members that
you care about their data, and to build
confidence and loyalty in the payment
system.” He cautions that if a financial
institution doesn’t issue chip cards right
away, consumers may feel it doesn’t care as
strongly about protecting their data.
Heffelfinger concurs: “If you don’t make
the shift at once, you put your reputation
at risk. We decided on a mass reissue, so
all members would know their transac-
tions were secure.”
Harper adds that creating a safer payment
space benefits everyone. “But CUs are in a
unique position to heighten their reputa-
tion as leaders in protecting their member
data. The key is getting them through the
transition period.”
“Get members hooked on your solu-
tions,” concludes Heffelfinger. “While
EMV alone may not make a member
want to use your card, how you posi-
tion yourself, as a security advocate and
leader in technology, can. EMV is a big
step, but it’s only part of the story. Things
are changing dramatically in the entire
payment ecosystem, and as chip tech-
nology impacts payments, credit unions
don’t want to come late to the show.”
When it comes to your EMV strategy,
Steps to Communicating EMV
1.
2. Craft your messages based on member and staff needs.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
come later).
8.
and MSRs.
9.
10.
27. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 27
Currency is a credit union-focused marketing firm. We are a Canadian firm founded in 1990.
100% of our clients are in the credit union movement. Our business success comes from
our great people and the goals we focus on. This means we are credit union members, sit on
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such as the CU Water Cooler Symposium. Our two core programs aim squarely at connecting
credit unions with young adults. It’s a Money Thing is a financial literacy program that
provides credit unions with customized content they can share on the most popular digital
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“I wish I would have seen these videos
in high school personal finance class.”
“I think they do a really good job of keeping
the information short and easy to understand.”
“The videos were very
concise and easy for the
viewer to understand.”
“I particularly liked the humor.
Helped retain interest and
attention to the subject matter.”
We recently showed a number
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Here’s some of the glowing
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CUES Premier Supplier Member Spotlight
CONTACT:
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President & Creative Director
877.230.1516
tmcalpine@currencymarketing.ca
Founded: 1990
Headquarters: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Member since: 2010
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Facebook.com/currencymarketing
Twitter: @currencyupdates
28. 28 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
Why Natural Integration Is
Best for FedEx Employees
Credit Association
$408 million/67,500-member FedEx Employees Credit Association (www.fecca.
com), Memphis, Tenn., serves a single sponsor, the FedEx Corporation, which
has more than 300,000 workers globally. “The motivation for launching EMV
technology is to meet member demand, enhance security and to take advantage
of the liability shift,” says VP/Electronic Payments Floyd Brummett.
With a portion of the organization’s members living or traveling abroad, Brummett
says it’s important to keep EMV at the forefront with members. His institution plans
a staggered reissue of cards based on expiration date beginning in October of 2015.
While member demand is driving the launch, Brummett is concentrating on
educating members about the POS experience at chip-enabled terminals. He is also
positioning his institution as a leader in technology, intent on making the transition
seamless for members.
“Being upfront in your internal and external communications is a must,” he adds.
“But when speaking to members, avoid industry expressions like EMV. We’re using
the term ‘chip card’ instead.”
FedEx Employees Credit Association is stating clearly what will happen, when,
and how the technology will impact POS and the terminals members use. “It’s also
important to communicate the eight-second wait time and to not remove the card
before the transaction is complete. It’s a transition period, and we’re preparing
members to expect that any terminal may or may not be chip-enabled.”
EMV education can also help keep your card top of wallet. “If a member
experiences difficulty using your chip card, either from a lack of knowledge
or simply by using it incorrectly, they may get frustrated and try a different card,”
continues Brummett. “The worst case scenario is they keep using that other card,
viewing your card as the ‘one that didn’t work.’”
Brummett developed a timeline for EMV implementation that began with staff
education, a beta testing group and newsletter teasers. He plans to continue to
promote the card at special lobby events and through digital channels. “Visa also
has excellent tools for member education, including webinars and FAQs,” says
Brummett. His favorites are the “how-to” videos (www.visachip.com).
He adds that the size of a CU’s card portfolio may impact how a CU rolls out the chip
cards. He plans to offer the cards for new applications and by reissue date, with the
expectation that all cards will be fully transitioned in two years. “Cost is one reason
we’re gradually introducing the cards. But we also want to be sure the technology
single format used by all the debit networks on the chip card technology).
start early, communicate often, and
use all available channels. Study your
payment data. And remember to listen
to staff and members. Their insight can
help define your approach and message.
Chip Cards for
Security-Savvy Members
After a successful beta launch, $830
million/38,600-member Los Angeles
Police Federal Credit Union (www.lapfcu.
org), Van Nuys, Calif., distributed 12,000
chip-enabled Visa Cards in March 2015,
staggered over four weeks.
“Our membership is law enforcement
personnel of Los Angeles and their fami-
lies. Identity protection and security are
particularly important to them, espe-
cially as they see fraud as a daily part
of their job,” says VP/Marketing and
Business Development Manny Padilla Jr.,
a CUES member.
In fact, information security was rated
the No. 1 concern by members in the CU’s
2014 member survey. “It’s critical to know
your members and to meet their needs
and expectations,” continues Padilla. In
his case, with a close-knit law enforce-
ment community, issuing the chip cards
to all members in a mass reissue was the
only alternative. “By the nature of their
jobs, our members connect with each
other every day; we couldn’t have some
members carrying the new chip cards and
others not.”
Padilla explains how he devised a full
communications plan for the rollout,
which included several newsletter articles
describing the added card security. Updates
ensued so members could follow the status
of the chip card launch. “We shared with
members the EMV’s heightened level
of safety, and how transactions at chip
machines would soon surpass the stripe,”
explains Padilla.
“EMV gave us the opportunity to reiterate
the many steps that we, as a credit union,
already take in protecting our members’
identities. We also tied the messages with
our ID theft protection service using a series
of emails, starting about three months
before the issue date.” This focus was partic-
ularly successful with the CU’s members.
When the rollout occurred, Padilla reit-
erated that the chip card would reduce the
potential for fraud. “We also stressed that
activation was needed and that in three
weeks, their current card would no longer
be valid.”
29. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 29
Marketing
Resources
www.pscu.com/EMV www.cscu.net/emv.
cues.org/0815revamp, cues.org/0815emv and
cues.org/0815emvstaff.
cues.org/102014applepay, cues.
org/0215tokenization, cues.org/0515cardrewards, cues.org/060115emv, and cues.
org/063015payments.
With 25 years of marketing and communications experience estab-
lished and managed the marketing departments for three CUs. As owner of Fab Prose & Professional
Writing, her focus is on assisting CUs and industry suppliers with their communications needs.
Transamerica Financial Solutions Group
delivers a seamless, one stop experience
for:
AT1122756 (2/15) MKTG6.249
www.TransamericaFinancialSolutions.com
Contact us today at:
Achieve additional fee-income opportunities.
Balance the odds in your favor.
LAPFCU’s Communication Plan
• A mailer went out to all cardholders.
• The introductory piece was inten-
tionally simple and printed in bulk, not
only for the card reissues but also for new
cardholders.
• Inserts were included with statements
and “take-ones” placed in branches.
• An explanation sheet was used in
staff training.
• Timely content was featured promi-
nently on the CU’s website and remains
under the credit card tab (www.lapfcu.org/
emv-chip-visa-credit-cards).
For any product launch, Padilla believes
in 360-degree communication, which
leaves no channel left untouched. “For
EMV, we used letters, emails, on-hold
messages, ATM screens, statement inserts
and messages, online and Web channels
and the card carrier itself,” states Padilla.
“The messages of protection not only
promoted chip technology but strength-
ened our position as a leader in security.”
Most challenging for the CU was
ensuring members were hearing the
correct message at the correct time.
“We stayed on point but had to be sure
members were getting the right message.
That message was that their cards were
being replaced to increase security, not
because of any fraudulent activity, which
is generally the reason a member would
get an unrequested replacement card.”
Padilla is happy to report that the
conversion is complete, and thanks to his
CU’s comprehensive communication,
there was little disruption. It’s also a help
that in LA, retailers have done a good job
converting to chip-enabled terminals.
Padilla recommends CUs be proactive
and upfront about the chip technology,
and to use as many channels as possible to
get the message out.
30. 30 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
M
azuma Credit Union (www.
mazuma.org), headquartered
in Overland Park, Kans., has
built a successful rebranding
campaign on the strength of a succinct but
powerful phrase: “Bank Happy.”
“We started with a simple idea,” explains
Andy Dickhut, Mazuma CU’s brand
manager. “And that was that Mazuma is
always at its best when members leave here
a little happier than when they came in.
From that core idea, we developed a whole
new brand with a new personality and a
new approach to serving our members—
and of course, a new logo and new website
to go with it.”
Being Happy
The “Bank Happy” campaign,
which launched in April 2014,
has infused Mazuma CU with
a memorable identity that has
boosted brand awareness throughout the
Kansas City metro area.
The rebranding effort made such a favor-
able impression on 2015 CUES Golden
Mirror Awards judges that Mazuma CU
pulled off the rare feat of winning the
competition’s two top prizes. Mazuma CU
received the CUES GMA Brand of the Year
while Dickhut was named CUES GMA
Marketer of the Year. The campaign also
picked up first-place awards for rebranding/
brand building, public/community rela-
tions, social media and radio.
Mazuma CU has infused its new
upbeat personality into
every aspect of its
“Bank Happy”
campaign.
“The person-
ality traits we
identified are
‘quirky,’ ‘fun,’
‘dynamic,’
‘confident,’
‘aspiring’ …
those are the
things that we
adhere to in every
piece of communication that we do,”
Dickhut says.
Being Quirky
A unique vocabulary was developed
to complement Mazuma CU’s new
personality. Employees are known as
“Mazumans,” and whenever they want to
put a unique spin on a new initiative, they
challenge each other to “Mazumafy” it.
The word “Mazumafy” also is featured in
the credit union’s blog, mazumafykc.com,
which transcends the typical financial
institution blog by covering such off-beat
topics as “12 KC-Inspired Tattoos” and “21
Signs You’re a Kansas City Hipster.”
One of the key ways Mazuma CU shows
its quirkiness is through the antics of its
new spokesperson, Mazuma Mike. “Once
we had the idea for this happy, fun and
quirky brand, we decided to put a face to
it, which is how the strategy for Mazuma
Mike was born,” Dickhut explains.
Portrayed by a local improv actor, Mazuma
Mike appears in the credit union’s TV and
radio commercials and also has a strong
following on social media channels like
Facebook (www.facebook.com/MazumaMike )
and YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/mazu-
macreditunion). With his positive attitude
and self-deprecating humor, Mazuma Mike
embodies all the traits of the “Bank Happy”
brand. “We compare him to Phil Dunphy of
“Modern Family”—a funny, upbeat guy who
has a unique view of the world around him,”
Dickhut says.
One of Mazuma Mike’s TV commercials,
Mazuma CU
Finds its ‘Happy’
CU and its brand manager win top CUES GMA honors.
By Diane Franklin
31. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 31
Marketing
CU Management
CU Management
Visit cues.org/cumanagement to get yours today.
Does the pass-along take too long?
Resources
View the complete list of CUES GMA
winners at cues.org/gma.
Diane Franklin is a freelance writer based
in Missouri.
for example, shows him awkwardly trying
to socialize at a dance club and losing out
to the competition at a school bake sale.
The one thing that Mike has going for him,
however, is his love for Mazuma CU, and
his goal is to inspire others to love it as well.
“Nobody else in our market is using a
spokesperson as a marketing vehicle in this
manner, so this has become a great way
for us to differentiate and humanize our
brand,” Dickhut points out.
Employee Effect
Mazuma CU employees—aka
“Mazumans”—also play an important
role in humanizing the brand. They
energize the in-branch experience by
doling out high fives and spontaneously
breaking into dance. Instead of wearing
business suits and dress shoes, they dress
casually in Mazuma T-shirts and sneakers.
They also regularly take part in the Happy
Brigade, Mazuma’s community involve-
ment initiative. As part of this program,
Mazumans travel around town in a
custom-wrapped van performing “random
acts of happiness” for senior citizens,
underprivileged youth and others in need.
Plus, through the CU’s 40 Hours for Good
program, each Mazuman is given 40 paid
hours per year to volunteer in Kansas City.
Brand Awareness Up
Thanks to the “Bank Happy” campaign,
Mazuma CU’s brand awareness has
increased in Kansas City by 7 percent in
less than a year, as measured by the Cvent
Brand Awareness and Attitudes Survey
(http://tinyurl.com/prpn39y). Tangible
return on investment is reflected in
robust growth over a 15-month span in
which Mazuma CU has seen its asset size
rise from $470 million to $524 million
and its membership increase from 53,500
to nearly 56,000.
The news that Mazuma CU had won
the two top CUES GMA honors has made
the happy environment at the CU even
happier. “We were blown away,” says
Dickhut. Of his personal achievement of
winning the CUES GMA Marketer of the
Year, he adds, “I couldn’t be more honored.”
However, he stresses that the CUES GMA
honors are really a testament to Mazuma
CU’s entire creative team, which includes
Brand and Social Media Specialist Kim
Funari and Graphic Designer Katie McNeil,
as well as the creative work provided by
CUES Supplier member BYM Agency (www.
bymagency.com), Overland Park, Kans.
“My team works hard at being unique
and original,” Dickhut says. “It’s an
awesome accolade for them to see that
their work is turning heads and people are
recognizing it as something different.”
32. 32 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
C
redit unions are in the
enviable position of
doing a great job of engaging
employees. Those who become
enamored of the industry’s
unique culture and mission
often become employees for life.
Whether they start on the teller line or in some other function, many find credit
unions offer clear career paths with plenty of support from leaders and HR profes-
sionals to help them navigate those paths.
CUES member Angela Howorth, SVP/human resources at $549 million/50,169-
member Generations Federal Credit Union (www.mygenfcu.org), with 233 full-time
equivalents in San Antonio, is a clear example of this.
Howorth began working for Generations FCU in 1996, taking on a part-time posi-
tion while working on her human resources degree. She initially worked in the
lending vault, and then moved into a part-time HR assistant role. The rest, she says,
is history. “I love working for this credit union—I love the people. I think that’s
what makes it so enjoyable to come to work every day.”
Howorth is not alone. Many credit union employees are passionate about the work
they do and the members they serve. That passion provides credit unions with the
opportunity to identify and groom their future leaders, guiding them from the
front lines to the corner office.
Typical Career Paths
According to Mary Hoffman, VP/human resources at $600 million/32,000-member
Sb1 Federal Credit Union (www.sb1fcu.org), with 80 FTEs in Philadelphia, the role of
teller is a common starting point for those who eventually move into other posi-
tions. “What I’ve seen is that a lot of people come in as a teller or a member service
rep,” says Hoffman. “They’ll see what they like, and we’ll see what they’re good at.”
It’s a process that has worked well at Sb1 FCU, she says.
It’s a good route for employees to travel because it allows both the credit union
and the employee to get a sense of skills and best fit.
This route also provides an important education along the way, giving employees
Credit Union
Career Paths
How HR and managers can guide employees
toward the right job.
By Lin Grensing-Pophal
33. SEPTEMBER 2015 | cues.org/cumanagement 33
Human ResourcesHuman Resources
“a good, broad background of the
internal workings of the CU.”
At Generations FCU, says Howorth,
those same career paths are in place.
“Within our specialty areas—support
departments such as HR, marketing and
finance—we have also identified paths
for individuals to move up in those
fields of interest.”
Internships sometimes provide an
inroad to those roles, she says. “Here in
our department, we’ve had three indi-
viduals we hired as HR interns who have
now become permanent.”
While there’s no guarantee that an
internship will turn into a full-time
role, it provides an opportunity for both
the intern and the credit union to assess
fit, she says. And, she adds, “Most of
them have worked out.”
Not all employees traverse along these
typical pathways, though, and there are
always those positions that will be filled
from external sources. Hoffman herself
is an example of that. She’s been in the
HR world for 30 years in a wide range of
roles outside of credit unions—first in
a temporary services agency, then for
a cancer research center, then a trust
company, and now for Sb1 FCU, where
she’s been for five years.
There’s a balance to be struck, but
credit unions are fortunate that many
of their staff members start on the
front lines—often as tellers or customer
service representatives—and are posi-
tioned to move into other roles based
on their interests and capabilities.
HR professionals like Howorth and
Human Resources
34. 34 CREDIT UNION MANAGEMENT | SEPTEMBER 2015
Hoffman play a key role in helping to
connect employees and their managers
with the opportunities that can help
them learn and grow.
The Role of HR
“Credit unions, like any employer,
can help employees understand two
things,” says Bryan Dik, Ph.D., a
professor of psychology at Colorado
State University in Fort Collins, Colo.,
and co-founder of jobZology™ (www.
jobzology.com), a career services firm
based in Fort Collins:
• opportunities potentially available
to them within the company; and
• strengths they have that would help
them forge a path that fits them well.
The first, he says, “is easy to accom-
plish.” The second might require some
outside assistance, “such as coaches or
consultants who can offer high-quality,
scientifically validated assessments that
can be used to help employees under-
stand how they are unique—in terms
of their values, interests and person-
ality, for example, and interpret what
that means in terms of their career
decision-making.”
These issues require careful consid-
eration and conversation. With open
lines of communication, credit union
leaders, their HR staff members, and
employees can engage in discus-
sions to help identify interests and
opportunities.
HR can serve as a starting point for
leaders and associates seeking opportu-
nities to learn and serve, suggests Sandy
Geroux, M.S., chief entertainment officer
and founder of WOWplace International,
LLC (www.thewowplace.com), which works
with organizations to “rekindle employee
engagement and deliver exceptional
customer experiences.”
For example, she says, “They could
post information about projects going
on in different departments, allowing
for a forum for sharing associates’
hidden talents and interests and the
ability to identify where they might
like to volunteer in order to learn more
about those duties and skills.”
Although these activities must be
coordinated and aligned with existing
work responsibilities, simply encour-
aging associates to ask their colleagues
for help on different projects can be
helpful, Geroux says.
“An added bonus is that when asso-
ciates actually volunteer to do extra
duties, without extra pay, to increase
their own personal knowledge and
skills, that is a possible indication of
the cream rising to the top—and they
may self-identify as future leadership
candidates who can be developed and
promoted from within,” she adds.
These connections can also be
formalized.
Sb1 FCU, for instance, offers a cross-
training program through which
individuals may be nominated by their
managers to sit with staff in different
areas of the credit union to learn how
their jobs connect with other jobs.
“It’s very helpful for people to be able
to see that inter-connection,”
says Hoffman.
The Role of Managers
Managers also have an important role
to play.
“I see managers and supervisors as
mentors to their staff,” says Hoffman.
“They should be taking every opportu-
nity to teach their staff and, first of all,
to assess what their staff is good at and
areas they may be struggling with.”
As managers and supervisors identify
gaps, she says, “They should be making
us aware.”
Those conversations ensure both that
employees receive the information and
training needed for their current roles,
as well as opportunities to expand or
augment their competencies.
Howorth also sees managers and
supervisors as key drivers of career
discussions and employee development.
“First and foremost, it’s their role to
coach and develop their employees to be
successful in their jobs and also to help
prepare them for future progression, if
that’s what they choose,” she says.
Beyond this, she adds, managers are
in a good position to observe employees
and recognize both strengths and areas
of opportunity for improvement.
HR plays a role in helping to address
the latter—and in providing access
to training to build skills that posi-
tion employees to move into new and
different roles in the future.
HR is there to support both managers
and employees, ensuring training and
opportunities are available for them—
both internally and externally.
Generations FCU recently launched
a university itself, says Howorth.
“We call it ‘Generations of Learning
University,’” she says. Courses are
offered as part of the credit union’s
onboarding. There are also technical
classes for front-line staff members,
classes on products and various
optional programs.
“It’s been very, very well received by
the staff because a lot of them are inter-
ested in moving up in the credit union,”
says Howorth. But, she adds, employees
need to be playing a role in their own
development as well.
“What I’ve seen is
that a lot of people
come in as a teller
or a member service
rep. They’ll see what
they like, and we’ll
see what they’re
good at.”
–Mary Hoffman
