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Successful marketing and business development increasingly require a strong focus on community service and relationship-building. That’s according to two industry leaders honored during the 2021 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Virtual Conference. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features John Kenjar, the 2021 Marketing Professional of the Year, and Kristin Lleweyln, the 2021 Business Development Professional of the Year. As vice president of marketing & community outreach at $1.3 billion asset US Eagle Federal Credit Union in Albuquerque, N.M., Kenjar led the organization’s recent rebranding efforts, which contributed to 21% asset growth in a single year. His approach to marketing extends beyond products and services to financial well-being and community service. Llewelyn, affinity partnership manager at $27 billion asset BECU in Tukwila, Wash., credits networking and relationship-building for her success. She explains how engaging with select employee groups and understanding their needs creates effective partnerships.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrated why it’s critical to bring the human element into human resources (HR). This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features two award-winning HR leaders:  Karen Maxfield, chief HR officer at Commonwealth Credit Union in Frankfort, Ky., and Josh Harden, director of training and resources, at Colorado Credit Union in Littleton, Colo. They discuss the role of HR during the pandemic and offer advice for other HR professionals. The CUNA HR & Organizational Development Council named Maxfield the 2021 Professional of the Year and Harden the 2021 Rising Star during the CUNA HR & Organizational Development Council Virtual Conference in April.

Achieving a high-performance culture, especially during challenging times, requires employees to be engaged, enabled, and energized. That’s the word from Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, co-founders of The Culture Works and co-authors of more than a dozen books on leadership, including the best-selling “All In,” “The Carrot Principle,” and “The Best Team Wins.”  In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Gostick and Elton explain why communication must increase exponentially during a crisis.  If communication is lacking, they say, employees fill the void with rumor, innuendo, and fear.  Gostick and Elton also share highlights from their research on workplace culture and engagement and address unique challenges for financial institutions, what makes employees excited to come to work, signs your corporate culture is lacking, and more.  They addressed a 2020 CUNA CEO Council virtual roundtable on culture during the age of coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The challenges of social distancing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have launched the contact center to the forefront of credit union member support. The contact center serves as the ideal channel to provide crucial services and personalized assistance to members and businesses dealing with hardships.This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Terri Panhans, vice president, contact center solutions, for Harland Clarke. Panhans shares essential strategies for delivering empathy throughout the service experience to deepen member connections and strengthen credit union brands.She manages all aspects of Harland Clarke’s contact center solutions, including development and deployment of solutions that help clients acquire, grow, and retain their customer bases.

The onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed the value of a more personalized consumer experience. Sometimes that experience is created through technology, while at other times, the human touch or empathy makes that point of contact valuable for the consumer. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast, the latest in a series focused on service culture, explores how creating personalized experiences has become table stakes for credit unions in today’s marketplace. Jayne Hitman, national program manager for Creating Member Loyalty (CML), a development strategy program from CUNA focused on increasing employee engagement and the member experience, describes how credit unions can create these experiences through team building, soft-skill training, and attention to detail. Building on that approach, Paul Robert, CEO of FI Strategies, a strategic partner of CML, says one of the keys is viewing your employees not as assets, but as partners in serving members. When employees are valued, they value the credit union and share that goodwill with members, Robert says. This benevolent cycle forms the basis of personalized member experiences, leading to higher levels of member satisfaction and serving the credit union philosophy. 

Financial institutions covered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) with deposit insurance are subject to comply with Affirmative Action Program obligations under Executive Order 11246, the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistant Act (VEVRAA), and Section 503. With credit unions prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work, and the Biden-Harris Administration’s interest in enforcing measures related to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), credit unions should remain proactive and ensure they are in full compliance. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Chris Lindholm, vice president of compliance at OutSolve. He outlines steps to take to ensure compliance, shares commonly overlooked details to take note of, and explains the consequences of noncompliance. Lindholm has been involved in affirmative action planning for more than 20 years, assisting clients with OFCCP audit support, training, and Equal Employment Opportunity compliance, including implementation of Federal Affirmative Action Plans for thousands of federal contractors. This episode was recorded on March 2, 2021.

The nature of leadership is changing as cultural and demographic forces transform the workplace. To maximize the potential of their teams, leaders must create more inclusive environments that encourage the expression of different cultures, contexts, and perspectives. In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, global workforce expert Dr. Shirley Davis explores how leaders can foster inclusive work environments and create productive and rewarding team dynamics that reward top performers. Today’s workplace calls for leaders to be not only culturally intelligent but culturally humble, says Davis. This requires an ability to listen and to begin to understand other perspectives. With that understanding, employees will engage more deeply and are more likely to align their values to the organization’s meaning and purpose. Culture is everyone’s responsibility, but it starts with an organization’s leaders. Davis suggests leaders start with “The Platinum Rule”: Don't treat everybody the way you want to be treated. Treat them the way they want to be treated. 

When Angie Bastian studied the snack aisle in the grocery store, she noticed an important omission: No representation of women except for foods geared toward weight loss. That led to an aha moment: “We’re going to celebrate the feminine,” says Bastian, entrepreneur, co-founder, and the namesake of Angie’s Boomchickapop. “We’re going to be loud and proud and come from a position of empowerment.” This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features conversations with these business leaders:Angie Bastian, who transformed a garage popcorn business into one of the nation’s fastest-growing brands of natural popcorn, shares lessons in effective branding and how she cut through marketplace clutter with an emphasis on female leadership and empowerment.Gian Paul Gonzalez discusses his philosophy of being “All In” and the power of commitment.Antonio Neves describes how finding your edge drives personal and professional growth.

Cheryl Deborde has served as the Members Choice CEO for five years following a 29-year banking career. From the start, she eschewed advertising for hands-on community involvement. “I don’t want to spend money on a billboard,’” she says. “We want to make a difference. We support the local sport teams and the area schools with scholarships—that’s our advertising. “We want to be known for taking care of people in our community,” Deborde continues. “When I look at people helping people, it's not just writing a check, it's about rolling up your sleeves and making a difference in people's lives.”

“He gave me a chance.” It’s what Nick Kessenich hopes members will say when asked about the impact he had on their financial lives. It’s also what $28 million asset Members First Credit Union in Madison, Wis., would say if credit unions could talk. For nearly 40 years, Kessenich led the credit union as it grew from an organization run out of a basement and a briefcase into a community-based credit union that serves more than 3,000 members. “The credit union was my life. What I’m proud of the most is when somebody thanks me because no one else would give them a chance,” Kessenich says. “I gave them a chance, they took it, and they succeeded.”

Bill Lawton’s path to credit unions was almost a birthright. His grandfather served as a credit union board member in the 1950s; his mother worked for the Michigan Credit Union League; and his father, George Lawton, served as manager of Community Financial Credit Union when Bill was growing up.  “It was only as I got a little older that I appreciated the background of those stories,” recalls Lawton. He serves as president/CEO of the same credit union his father ran in Plymouth, Mich. Bill started at the credit union in 1974 at the age of 14, filing ledger cards. Eventually, he took on a more substantial role, leading the credit union’s transition into the computer age in the early 1980s and building the organization’s information technology infrastructure. Through the years, his role expanded. He took over as CEO in 2004. Today, the credit union holds $1.1 billion in assets and serves 79,500 members. One of Lawton’s employees, marketing coordinator Kristen Todd, offers her own take on Lawton’s role at the credit union: “He’s not only just the backbone of Community Financial Credit Union—he’s the heart of it, too.” 

In her first credit union job, Val Mindak worked in almost every area of the organization. This paved the way for a career in the movement and sparked Mindak’s passion for community involvement. Today, the president/CEO of $275 million asset Park City Credit Union in Merrill, Wis., says her extensive credit union experience shaped her leadership style. Since Mindak became CEO in 2009, Park City has seen overall growth of more than $200 million in assets.“Effective leadership means moving people toward a common vision,” she says. “We can contribute so much more when we work together.”

The events of 2020 have affected consumer behavior in many ways, and the payments landscape is no exception. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has driven significant changes in consumer payment preferences. Through its 2020 Eye on Payments study, PSCU set out to gauge those payment preferences among credit union members and customers of other financial institutions and explore how they have shifted over the past year.  This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Tom Pierce, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at PSCU, and Norm Patrick, vice president of Advisors Plus Consulting at PSCU.  Pierce and Patrick discuss key findings from the study and share takeaways that credit unions can use to better serve their members and optimize their product and service offerings. 

The past year of living with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has presented many challenges for credit unions. But in the face of difficult times, numerous credit unions have used the modification of in-person operations to reimagine business strategy, product and service delivery, and the member experience. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Derek Everett, general manager of credit union solutions at Fiserv. Everett explains that credit unions now have a unique opportunity to rethink operations and strategy. That includes technology optimization, process improvements, creation of new products and services, and other priorities that can lead to a better member experience and accelerated growth. Everett shares specific solutions credit unions should explore, from digital banking to in-branch technologies, and outlines potential next steps for credit unions that have already started putting enhancements in place. He also previews Fiserv’s sessions and other exciting plans for the 2021 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference. 

At their very best, credit unions serve at the hearts of their communities. In this podcast, Cathie Mahon, president/CEO of Inclusiv, describes how her organization promotes financial inclusion and builds more inclusive economies through community-owned financial institutions. Inclusiv is a national network of community development credit unions formed by and for low-income communities to serve disinvested and underserved populations. Membership is open to credit unions designated as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) or Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) and to credit unions primarily organized around the mission of promoting financial inclusion. Inclusiv operates on DEI principles, with programs that empower disenfranchised communities and promote cooperative solutions among credit unions. Mahon explains that DEI is critical to everything that Inclusiv does—and emphasizes that it’s also everything credit unions are about.

CUNA News continues pre-conference interviews with some of the speakers addressing the 2021 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference. This episode features:Former New Jersey governor and 2016 presidential candidate Chris Christie on the 2020 election and the future of the Republican Party.Former Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on next steps for the Democratic Party and opportunities for bipartisanship.Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and health-care policy.To hear more from this year's GAC speakers, listen to the first part of the CUNA News Podcast's interviews with author, speaker, and social-change agent Kevin Carroll; former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster; and award-winning journalist, documentarian, and author Soledad O'Brien.

As the upcoming generation of consumers enters the financial services marketplace, credit unions should prepare to meet their expectations. Younger generations select financial institutions based on a very different set of criteria than their parents used.  They look for convenient, digital-first, personalized experiences—and they’re willing to walk away if a financial institution doesn’t deliver them.  In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Jamie Cosgrove, head of financial services at Podium, explores what the modern member expects from financial institutions, including the importance of a mobile-first, cashless transaction experience.  He also shares how credit unions can build trust with these members and explains how their preferences fit into growing consumer acceptance of digital banking due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  Cosgrove says there are many tools available to move credit unions in the right direction, and they can provide feedback much more quickly than ever before.

The 2021 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference is right around the corner. This year’s GAC takes place virtually from Tuesday, March 2, to Thursday, March 4, and, as always, features an unmissable lineup of speakers. This episode features pre-conference interviews with some of the thought leaders who will share their expertise at GAC:Author, speaker, and social-change agent Kevin Carroll on advancing sports and play as a vehicle for creativity and change.Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster on leadership, resilience, and strategy.Award-winning journalist, documentarian, and author Soledad O'Brien on the current social, political, and media landscape.To hear more from this year’s GAC speakers, look for an upcoming episode featuring interviews with former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, and former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.

It’s been almost a year since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic triggered nationwide lockdowns, remote work arrangements, and other massive challenges across the country. Through it all, credit unions have adapted and innovated to continue to serve members—but it hasn’t been easy. Fortunately, credit unions don’t have to go it alone. Groups like CUNA Strategic Services (CSS) work with credit unions to identify their business challenges and find solutions through industry providers. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Barb Lowman, president of CSS. Lowman shares what credit unions should know about CSS, including how it works with providers and the changes CSS has made to serve credit unions effectively during the pandemic. She also highlights some of the ways providers have supported credit unions and suggests a few solutions credit unions should consider in the days ahead.

The most impactful moments don’t always appear on a resume or LinkedIn profile. “Sometimes the best things that happen to people to improve their life and to help them make great decisions are those things you would never hear about unless you are willing to deeply ask and get curious,” says Antonio Neves, speaker, author, and host of “The Best Thing” podcast. Neves will be the emcee at the 2021 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference, which will be held virtually March 2-4.