By Ray Birch
EUGENE, Ore.—Saying it cannot “stand pat” and compete in the future, one credit union has restructured its entire organization.
The company-wide changes completed last year at SELCO Community CU are what will allow the credit union to build scale and quickly grow in what is fast becoming a digital banking world, according to CEO Bob Newcomb.
Newcomb told CUToday.info the overhaul in the senior and mid-level management team has created the kind of structure needed lift the weight being created as organization grows dramatically. Newcomb said the $2.5-billion SELCO Community intends to reach $5-billion in assets by 2025.
In the first phase of the reorganization, a number of staff members were affected (see list at the end of the story).
“Change is always constant, but what's unusual now is the pace of change,” said Newcomb, noting how COVID-19 has accelerated the advancement of many elements of the financial services business. “The bottom line is that with all this going on, and to remain relevant in this rapidly changing world, we have got to find ways to do things faster, cheaper and better. That’s our new mantra. It is not sexy, but that truly captures what we need to do.”
Continuous Evolution
Newcomb emphasized the 85-year-old credit union always wants to be in a position to continually evolve, noting phase one of the reorganization is just that, and change within the credit union will be ongoing.
SELCO did not eliminate any staff, but it did cut out some positions, developed new roles, changed responsibilities for many, and developed new training programs to support the moves. Newcomb said the adjustments are in line with how consumer banking habits are evolving.
“The world we're heading into is different,” said Newcomb, pointing to the emergence of fintechs and their influence not only on the financial services but on consumer preferences. “Skillsets, and your skillset needs, are changing. We are clearly looking at, on a measured basis, progressively building our talent base to shift more toward digital banking. We are reallocating resources to lean in that direction, building out our digital capabilities.”
The ING Model
At the same time, the CEO underscored SELCO can’t simply abandon its 20-branch network.
“That’s clearly a component of all this. Our senior management levels down through our mid-level management positions have been recast in a way that puts more emphasis on digital first,” Newcomb explained. “We're building out what we're calling our virtual branch, which is really designed to be kind of the ING version of credit unions.”
The Dutch-banking group ING, which offers a range of services globally, has aggressively shifted away from a traditional model to a more agile model of management and digital delivery of services.
Similarly, Newcomb said SELCO is all too aware more and more retail financial services are moving to self-service model.
“We are working to create more synergies between our back office teams and our physical components…,” Newcomb said.
Many of the new staff education programs will focus on cross-training to create greater synergies, according to Newcomb, who explained roles that were traditionally separate will become much more integrated, with cross-functional responsibilities to create a “deeper bench” with a greater ability to “plug and play” among different roles.
And that includes succession planning.
Newcomb said SELCO believes the new strategy will lead to greater efficiency and lower costs for the organization. Moreover, he said it will also provide the engine to drive greater scale. The CEO stressed that an organization that simply gets bigger without a true plan for how it will drive scale will not be effective in the long run.
“You cannot fabricate scale. This organization, having the right people in the right positions with the right skills for today, will allow us to do the heavy lifting that is coming,” he said.
Bigger Roles
While no staff were eliminated, Newcomb said some employees have been called on to play much bigger roles.
“There are a few positions, particularly in our upper middle level management, where we really called on some of our rising stars to do more,” he said.
Newcomb said costs related to an increase in salaries resulting from the reorganization won’t be that much greater than prior to the restructuring.
“Overall, the additional costs are marginal,” he said.
Making a decision to do such a large restructuring is never easy, said Newcomb, who added market pressures made the choice clear.
“This has been well received,” said Newcomb. “Not only has this made us a stronger credit union it has created additional headroom for people to advance. This was the right thing to do.”
The SELCO Reorganization
Changes to SELCO Senior Management Team
- Tiffany Washington promoted to executive vice president of Finance & Operations. Areas of oversight include Finance & Accounting, Team Member Experience, Member Experience, and Marketing
- Kirk Letourneau promoted to senior vice president of Information Services & Technology. Areas of oversight include Information Services, Information Technology, Information Security, Digital Solutions, and Strategic Execution
- Steve McIntire promoted to senior vice president of Enterprise Risk & General Counsel. Areas of oversight include Legal Services, Enterprise Risk Management, Collections, Administration & Facilities, Investment & Retirement Services, and Insurance Services
- Craig Carpenter received a title change to senior vice president of Lending & Business Banking. Areas of oversight include Commercial Lending, Direct Consumer Lending, Indirect Consumer Lending, Mortgage, Cash Management Services, and Lending Administration
Changes to Other Positions
- Christi Shaw promoted to assistant vice president of Team Member Experience. Areas of oversight include Human Resources, Payroll, and Talent Development
- Babs Manion moved to vice president of Member Experience. Areas of oversight include branches, Loan and Service Call Centers, Membership & Account Administration, and Operations Support
- Lee Anne Brockelman promoted to director of Operations Support
- Jeff Stevens promoted to vice president – controller
- John Ryan promoted to director of Information Services
- Steve Liu promoted to director of Information Technology
- Joel Hennessy promoted to software engineering manager
- Christi Oakerman promoted to director of SELCO Investment & Retirement Services.
- Dan Budzko moved to director of Enterprise Risk Management