Credit Union Recruiting: All You Need to Know
High-performing employees help you drive innovation, enhance your brand image and attract more members — it's a domino effect. While this may be common knowledge, knowing what to look for and ask may make the task less challenging. And, having a retention strategy in place before you hire minimizes staff turnover.
Our guide will help you discover how to recruit credit union employees for lasting success. Learn what characteristics to look out for in future employees and the best tips for talent retention.
The Importance and Benefits of High-Quality Employees
Taking the time to hire high-quality employees helps establish your credit union as a market leader. Here's why you should prioritize screening, interviewing and selecting top employees:
- Improved member engagement: Team member collaboration helps generate new ideas and enhance employee morale. Finding new ways to solve common problems can set your credit union apart.
- Increased profitability: When you recruit the brightest minds and the hardest workers, you offer premium solutions to your members. Increased member satisfaction boosts your bottom line.
- Enhanced culture: Effective team cultures start with shared values. Recruiting high-quality employees with similar values helps you fulfill your mission and increase credit union employee retention.
- High-performing leadership: Recruiting exceptional employees at the top sets a strong example for the rest of the company. In addition, they help acquire new members and ensure a continuous stream of business.
Characteristics to Look for When Recruiting
While hiring a diverse range of talent offers many benefits to your credit union, there are some characteristics all staff should demonstrate. Soft skills are particularly important as they indicate how well an employee will likely work within a team. Here's what leaders should look out for:
- Adaptability: In contrast to banks, credit unions often have a smaller team on payroll. Finding employees who can adapt to various roles helps to ensure maximum efficiency.
- Collaboration: Between official meetings and impromptu get-togethers, effective collaboration is essential for a strong credit union team.
- Growth mindset: With financial products and regulations continuously changing, staying up-to-date with the latest industry information is paramount. Candidates who seek out learning opportunities make good additions to your team.
- Communication skills: Credit union employees liaise with members and peers every day. Effective verbal and written communication skills ensure everyone receives clear instructions and the company is represented in the best light.
- Ethical values: Honesty and integrity are important qualities for any job, but they are especially relevant when working with finances in the credit union space. Asking candidates situational questions in an interview helps to assess this valuable skill.
- Emotional intelligence: The ability to recognize and label emotions correctly is a vital skill in the workplace. Employees with high emotional intelligence build meaningful connections with their team and members, aiding communication and conflict resolution.
- Member-centric approach: Your members keep you in business. Choosing employees who prioritize long-lasting member relationships helps to lay a foundation for long-term success.
Tips to Recruit Top Talent for Credit Unions
Adding high-performing employees to your team requires a comprehensive strategy. Here are five credit union recruiting tips to help you select the best:
- Prioritize empathy: Look for employees who are willing to put themselves in their member's shoes and offer effective solutions. As your staff will work with a range of members, they need to understand their specific needs and provide personalized advice. Ranking empathy higher in your assessment criteria will help you select top employees.
- Factor in career goals: High-performing employees continuously seek out ways to progress in their careers. When interviewing candidates, highlight ways for them to grow within your company and advance in their professional careers.
- Outline rewards: While financial perks are not the only reason employees take on new roles, they are a contributing factor. Listing benefits and incentives will help you attract top talent.
- Showcase current employees: Passionate employees offer an authentic example of the best fit for the company. Showcasing employee profiles on your social media or website helps encourage like-minded candidates to apply.
- Promote your culture: Define your company culture and the attributes that will help you achieve your corporate identity. By structuring your interview questions around credit union culture, you recruit top-performing candidates who are more aligned with your values.
- Partner with a credit union consulting company: Identifying soft skills in potential candidates requires some expertise. Credit union consultants offer helpful guidance to ensure accurate assessments and a better company fit.
Tips to Retain Top Credit Union Talent
From the screening process to the interview and selection stage, finding new employees is an involved procedure. Once you've found your desired candidates, use these tips to improve credit union employee retention:
- Invite feedback: Ongoing responses from team members help credit unions offer adequate employee support. Inviting anonymous or one-on-one feedback sessions opens a platform for helpful feedback.
- Provide learning opportunities: Partnering with a credit union consulting team helps you to offer tailored learning opportunities. Whether employees choose to update their knowledge via podcasts or workshops, ongoing learning programs help them expand their skills and increase job satisfaction.
- Internal service: Connecting with other departments ensures a more comprehensive employee experience. Hosting social events or structured team-building activities helps foster healthy relationships between employees for increased cohesiveness.
- Improve credit union culture: Positive work cultures help employees feel included and appreciated. By leveraging the appropriate programs, you can drive organizational change and nurture a strong culture.
Partner With ServiStar to Fuel Your Credit Union Growth
When consumers have so many credit unions to choose from, how do you distinguish your company from the rest? The answer is hiring top employees who add value at each customer touchpoint. If you're growing your team, consider these credit union employee recruiting tips to help you find the best professionals for the job.
At ServiStar Consulting, we take pride in enriching credit union culture. Our experts have extensive experience in the industry, giving them an in-depth understanding of how to retain credit union employees. Whether you're an established organization or just starting out, we will help you implement the best practices in coaching, training and hiring for long-term success. Schedule a call with us today for personalized advice and take the first step to establishing a team with a strong service culture!
