DES MOINES, Iowa–Just weeks into his new job as the business development manager for a regulatory compliance firm, Jason Harpenau recognized the need to start a conversation about the problematic lack of compliance talent available to the movement. The result is a new white paper from PolicyWorks that speaks to the “arduous demands” of compliance.
Harpenau said the onslaught of calls and emails from exasperated credit unions across the country made clear the need for the white paper.
“I’ve talked with countless credit union executives, each experiencing the same problem,” said Harpenau, who recently enlisted the help of PolicyWorks colleague Brian Godwin to draft the white paper on the subject. “It is difficult to find experienced, well-rounded talent. It’s creating a lot of problems for cooperatives trying to meet the arduous demands of regulatory compliance.”
Godwin, director of compliance services for Policyworks, said he had encountered similar stories from his credit union clients for many years. He agreed to join in the effort to begin a dialogue with the release of a white paper, according to the company.
The paper addresses some of the issues related to the compliance talent gap, including the added difficulty of retaining compliance talent. It includes commentary from the front lines, such as this perspective from Gary Fillman, director of risk advisory services for Centris Federal Credit Union in Omaha, Neb.:
“The challenge we face in a market like ours is large employers can pay top dollar for compliance expertise,” Fillman said. “When you’re looking for someone who can hit the ground running, you have to be prepared to compensate that person at a competitive rate to keep him or her for the long term.”
Also sourced for the paper is human resources expert Lindsay Biggins, a CareerBuilder major account executive. Biggins not only contributed her commentary to the paper, she also shared hard-numbers evidence that skilled compliance professionals may soon become even harder to find and retain, PolicyWorks reported.
“A new job isn’t the only reason individuals with compliance experience may leave the cooperative,” the paper states. “Coined the Silver Tsunami, the mass exodus of Baby Boomers from a wide swath of professions is sure to have an impact on the credit union industry’s network of compliance specialists. In fact, CareerBuilder data indicates well over half of the individuals who hold a compliance officer position are over 45. Nearly 28% of them are over 55.”
Also included in the paper are thoughts on filling the talent gap with outsourced skills. Paul Emanuels, vice president of lending and collections for Valley First Credit Union in California, for example, explains in the paper how the combination of in-house and outsourced expertise has been invaluable to the evolution of his cooperative’s strategic compliance effort.
To download the white paper, “Talent Gap Complicates Credit Union Compliance,” visit http://www.policyworksllccompliance.com/talent-gap.