Credit unions across the nation and around the world are in the midst of reviewing what went right in 2012 and also what needs to be improved. It is vital that credit unions go through this process of introspection, self-critiquing, and quality assessment. For many credit unions, this kind of analysis is conducted during a Strategic Planning session. The issue is that not every credit unions employee gets to attend those meetings. But they still need to be informed about the credit union’s performance.
Here are 3 suggestions on how to make this process more meaningful:
Start with the positives. When reviewing performance, a lot of businesses make a mistake by starting the discussion on what went wrong. That’s not a very good way to begin. Think about it- do you like it when someone starts a conversation with you by telling you that you didn’t get the job done? Of course you don’t. Your employees don’t either. Now you might be thinking, “Well, we eventually get to the good things…” That may be true but, unfortunately, your people will still be thinking about the bad things and may miss the well-deserved accolades that you are rendering to them. If, however, you start the discussion by focusing on all of the positive aspects of performance, your people will be bolstered and encouraged and will be more receptive to the next part of the discussion that will deal with areas of improvement and shortcomings.
