Unemployment is low, minimum wages are getting higher … 2018 was a challenging year for credit union HR professionals, so it’s no surprise CreditUnions.com featured a number of articles and blogs on the topic this past year.
As we inch toward 2019, it’s time to revisit nine of our most popular HR-related pieces from 2018. Based on page views, here are your favorites.
Whether executives choose to believe it or not, every organization — including their own — has a culture. “It’s a living, breathing thing,” says Carson Utecht, senior vice president of people, First Commerce Credit Union ($589.0M, Tallahassee, FL). It’s also something that must be fostered through the hiring process, a tactic the Florida cooperative takes seriously. Inspired by Zappos, the credit union offers new hires $1,000 to quit during orientation if they have any misgivings about fit.
When the head of training at Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union ($5.3B, Harrisburg, PA) told her employer she planned to retire in six months, the Keystone State cooperative took the opportunity — and the time — to closely evaluate the role of training as an HR function. At the time, HR was split into two teams: functional and training, creating a tension within the overall department. To alleviate these pains, PSECU re-imagined and re-organized its HR department. See how.
In January, Orange County’s Credit Union ($1.6B, Santa Ana, CA) brought together 40 employees for a good ol’ gab fest. The roundtable meeting was the first in a new quarterly gathering of member service representatives designed to facilitate peer-to-peer learning, best practice sharing, and network building. The roundtables, which take place at the credit union’s headquarters, each cover a different topic. Branch managers select one rep from each of Orange County’s four MSR levels to attend the three-hour interactive meeting, and MSRs complete pre- and post-event assessments to demonstrate what they’ve learned.
Changing job titles — the titles themselves, not the people holding them — is not really a new thing at credit unions. But there’s a new wave of them that are interesting and promising. These new titles have a distinct focus on the member. They’re aspirational. And they clearly show what the credit union values and is trying to achieve. So, what are they?
By the end of January 2018 — approximately one month after the signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% — a who’s who of major U.S. employers had promised bonuses, increases to their minimum wages, and enhancements to 401(k) programs, family leave, training, and charitable contributions. Tax cuts help, sure, but another factor driving this newfound largesse is the job market itself. How are credit unions tweaking benefits packages to attract and retain employees?