By Frank J. Diekmann
Some stuff found in the Reporter’s Notebook while on the road and in the skies over America. And in no particular order:
- Michael Cochrum of CU Direct, which is hosting its Drive Conference this week, recently shared an interesting observation with CUToday.info. Cochrum said that through his work with credit unions over several years he has learned that the industry does not do well with analytics.
“The sad fact is that hackers can often get to the information that a credit union has better and faster than we can internally as a business user,” Cochrum said.
- There’s a great piece on small credit unions that was done by The Wall Street Journal that you can find here.
- As security expert Jim Stickley made clear recently in remarks to credit unions, all the firewalls for which you could possibly budget are largely useless when a credit union’s employees unknowingly (but often helpfully) open the doors for cyber-crooks. CUToday.info has the story here.
Stickley acknowledged that one of his recommendations to increase security may not be warmly embraced by staff—especially those that feel compelled to update their status on social media every time a clock moves—but he urged credit unions to give the idea consideration.
“This is controversial, but not every employee needs Internet access or server access. Limiting who can receive email or browse on the Internet (from their CU workstation) makes sense,” said Stickley. “They will object, but they already have one of these (phone) devices. Let them use that and not your network.”
It Seems Certain Things Are Uncertain
- I don’t know how anyone can ever get to the Great Well of Clichés, given how it must be surrounded by a thirsty army of PR flacks, all desperately pressing forward. Received, yet again, three press releases this week that made reference to “managing in uncertain times” and “navigating uncertain waters” and “Leading during an uncertain era.” Really, when has there been a time when business executives were sitting around idle and content and observing how “certain” everything is?
- CUToday.info has provided plenty of coverage of crimes against credit unions. But what about credit union guests? At the Encore Hotel in Las Vegas for the NACUSO Conference, one hamburger plus one order of French fries plus one iced tea came to a tidy $53 when ordered via room service. The bill included a chutzpah-ish $7.50 “in-room dining fee.” That’s right; if you order room service, you’re charged for using it. Turns out that “resort fee” is just the beginning at hotels. What about a $15 in room sleeping fee? Or $12 in-hallway walking fee? It seems the possibilities here are endless. Credit unions really have a lot to learn.
- A recent headline in CUToday.info read, “Leasing Volume Has Soared Over Last Eight Years.” Let me be the first to say it: Obamacar.
- Hard not to be struck by the screaming irony of this headline in CUToday.info: Credit Unions Participate In Financial Lit Day on Capitol Hill. Because I think for all of us, when we think of financial literacy, Congress is what first comes to mind.
- Educational Credit Union and Quest Credit Unions have merged to form Azure CU. Seems like a missed opportunity to simply merge the names and serve anyone who is on an Educational Quest.
- Credit unions are heavy employers of part-time staff, especially on the front lines, yet those same employees are often left feeling they are only of “part-time value.” To help respond to those perceptions, Sirmar Campbell Twohill, chief human resources officer with the Chicago-based staffing and recruiting firm LaSalle Network, recently shared these five tips in Inc. Magazine:
- Create an onboarding program—While it doesn't need to be as long, or in-depth as a full-time employee's onboarding process, consider creating an informal version for part-time help for immediate engagement. For instance, a lunch with their team on their first day, having their workstation set up, running through the corporate culture, etc.
2. Showcase career progression. If a manager wants full-time engagement, they should treat part-time staff as full-time employees. Have them meet with different people within the company who have been promoted to showcase that career progression is possible.
3. Encourage feedback. Give them an opportunity to voice their concerns, feedback, or opinions for change. Show you care, and they will do the same in return.
4. Providing them perks, too. Whether it's surprising them with extra tickets to a sports game, or including them on the company holiday gift list, including part-time staff will make them feel like a member of the team. It can also be as little as praising them as you walk by their desk.
5. Invest in them. Set goals and schedule one-on-one meetings just as a manager would with full-time staff. To get maximum engagement, managers should hold them accountable to meeting deadlines and remind them that their contributions effect the company's overall success.
- Called to jury duty recently, we were first directed to a long line to “validate parking” by large, yellow signs and several announcements. As we slogged through the line the announcements that we were in the "validate parking" line continued, as did the couldn’t-be-missed-in-the-dark signs that this was the line to validate parking. And what did I hear from more than one person as we arrived at the front of that line? “Oh, this is to validate parking? I don’t need that.” And these people, my friends, were there to decide the fate of others.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info or followed at @FrankCUToday.