How credit union leaders are creating the post-pandemic office

Against the ebb and flow of the pandemic, credit union executives are trying to decide how to entice employees back to in-person work.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many banks and credit unions to take inventive approaches for staffing physical locations, from restaurant-style pagers at Landmark Credit Union in Brookfield, Wisconsin, to a yearlong agreement by Machias Savings Bank in Maine for employees that establishes a concise framework for what is expected of them by the bank.

Credit union leaders who favor flexibility should understand that remote work is only one facet, Andrea Cooper, director of talent for the Madison, Wisconsin-based insurance firm CUNA Mutual Group, said at the organization's Discovery 2022 conference this month.

"Flexibility can come in so many different kinds of shapes and sizes," Cooper said.

In being more transparent with employees across the organization, credit union leaders can create a better sense of inclusion and belonging, Cooper said.

"One of the things we've learned is when we put words to what you might call that employee value proposition or the 'we' of who we are, it starts to articulate the secret sauce of working for you. … Then you can attract talent that wants to be part of that, while also investing in the talent that's with you already," Cooper said.

The issue of whether or not to force workers return to the office has left executives divided on which course of action is best for the needs of employees and the institution. The lockdown saw bank branch numbers steadily decline as the depositories shifted assets to bolster digital endeavors such as platform upgrades and online service. 

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Against the rise of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in December, credit unions and banks made difficult choices about how to safely continue member-facing services while employees in quarantine.

For institutions that continued expansion efforts during the pandemic, new locations meant new opportunities for building staff morale.

Stephanie Teubner, president and chief executive of the $1.8 billion-asset Blue Federal Credit Union in Cheyenne, Wyoming, explained that after completing development on the new headquarters, she sought out employee feedback to further determine how employees could connect with one another.

"We really believe that we want to have our people together, so in designing our headquarters, we asked employees: 'What do you want, what does connection look like and what would the ideal headquarters look like?' " Teubner said. "We believe that our members and employees deserve a community of authentic connections [and] we want to help them create authentic connections. … On both sides of it, our employees and our members."

With the credit union's workforce spread out mostly across Wyoming and Colorado, it created a "headquarters association" tasked with organizing remote team-building functions such as lunches and online musical interludes for employees to showcase their talents, Teubner said.

"If you're not intentional with creating connections in a remote environment, I believe that it can get lost, and we know our employees want connectivity. … But it's also part of our strategy, so we do that for our employees and you know, it bleeds over into how we connect with our members," Teubner said.

The Pew Research Center found that out of 5,889 U.S. adults surveyed, 64% of respondents say working from home has granted them more balance between their jobs and personal life, while 60% say they are less connected with their co-workers.

Mike Wilson, chief experience officer for the $6.6 billion-asset Members 1st Federal Credit Union in Enola, Pennsylvania, said communication is a key tool for dismantling misconceptions of hierarchies surrounding front-line workers as opposed to back-office staff.

"Authenticity and intentionality are so critical if you're going to openly embrace [and] talk about your culture. … We have 1,200 associates that work here — about half back office and half at our branches — and you have to be able to talk about these things, otherwise there's this perception of a front office versus back office," Wilson said.

After noticing that branch workers' paid time off policies were disparately affected if they or a loved one was sick during the pandemic (compared to those working remotely, who had more flexibility to deal with the illness), leaders at Members 1st revamped the benefits accordingly to prevent employee burnout, Wilson said.

"At Members 1st, we openly talk about this concept of a culture of 'we,' and the concept of 'we' is greater than me. … At the fabric of everything that we do as a credit union is: Are we finding a way to make things easy, are we finding a way to help our members, are we finding a way to help each other and are we making our communities that we serve a better place?" Wilson said.

By allowing employees at all levels the opportunity to voice concerns and suggestions on workplace improvements, credit union executives can cultivate a true environment of belonging.

"It's not the headquarters or the corporate offices making decisions," but instead "we're collectively saying, What does flexibility look like here?" Cooper said. "Having that sense of choice, I think, creates a pretty significant amount of commitment that helps with retention."