MIAMI BEACH, Fla.–A panel of diverse experts offered their thoughts on everything from becoming agile to overcoming legacy systems to dealing with all the related people issues during CO-OP Financial Services’ THINK 19 Conference here.
Participating as panelists were Doug Ferraro, CEO of Belco Credit Union; Pam Brodsack, CTO with CO-OP; Nick Calcanes, CIO with CO-OP; Brad Leimer, cofounder of the consultancy Unconventional Ventures, and Taavi Kotka, the first-ever CIO for Estonia.
The Q&A was moderated by Jean Chatzky. Here’s a look at the questions posed and the responses given:
Chatzky: How should CUs be thinking about incorporating agility in their organizations?
Calcanes: As we reinvented ourselves and thought how to be agile with our contact center, we were willing to invest more and we doubled down on it. We have two call centers, one in Dallas and the other in Des Moines, and we explained to (call center agents) how important they are to the process. They understand what they bring to the table for our credit unions and for our culture. We send our teammates to credit unions to train with them so we deliver their brand. We’re able to deliver technology that some of the biggest CUs can’t afford.
Chatzky: How have you at your credit union become more agile?
Ferraro: Becoming agile started with IT, and they helped to educate us on thinking quicker and being more nimble. Then the rest of the organization began to evolve. Our indirect lending department recognized that just 30% of our loans were being made automatically, while Wells Fargo was at more than 90%, so dealers were sending deals to them. We locked our people in the room and said we’ve got to fix this, and by the next day 63% of our loans were being approved automatically. We want to get to 83% in next six weeks. The entire organization has to be more responsive and nimble.
With employees, it’s really a matter of getting people comfortable with being uncomfortable. I hate to say this as a CEO, sometimes it requires top down. And when they are forced to deliver faster, it’s amazing what they can do.
Chatzky: You can make changes mandatory when you are a government, but not necessarily when consumers have a lot of choice. How do you bring this mandatory thinking to the table?
Kotka: There are two wheels. One is the customer base that is used to doing things this way. The other wheel is the thinking that different things have to happen. What we see a lot of are excuses, such as customers aren’t used to it. But there must be an understanding this is a crucial element and this must be put in place. It’s important to understand the cornerstones and not delay the decision.
Chatzky: How can credit unions and CUSOs reduce dependence on legacy systems?
Brodsack: My advice is to create a technology roadmap and marry that to your business strategy. Look to the next three to five years and how technology can support your business objectives. Then start interviewing systems and how technology can come into play. Chances are, you’re going to need multiple systems. It’s about bringing disparate systems together to achieve your goal. You also want to think about getting your employees involved early. You want to do things with people, not to them.
Calcanes: The way not to do it is to fire people and then hire a bunch of new people. If people choose to go on a journey with you, and some will choose not to, you can coach and mentor them. We had a lot of people wearing new hats. We literally interviewed a thousand people and asked, ‘What do you do every day?’ And then we got everyone on the same team. It takes some trust. A year later, it’s very powerful thing. We are much more efficient, and we can measure what people contribute and we can set goals.
Kotka: We actually studied this. We understood we were not rich enough to afford legacy. Even if you keep legacy as it is, it’s much more costly than new iterations. IT can be agile nowadays; the question is can you be agile nowadays.
Chatzky: Do you think credit unions have what it takes to become leading edge digital organizations?
Leimer: Having worked inside credit unions, I see how fast they can be. The challenge isn’t just the new technology, it’s killing sacred cows. It’s getting rid of the things that are holding us back. I think credit unions are in a great position to do things faster; they have nowhere else to go but to expand.