Employee universities for credit unions of all sizes

A great feature about “employee universities” is that credit unions don’t all have to follow the same blueprint, says Holly Baumel, director of staff development at $620 million Blackhawk Community Credit Union in Janesville, Wisconsin.

“The … resources dedicated to the development of the staff and support from leadership are bigger factors to its success than the actual size of the credit union,” Baume says. “The program could easily be scaled to fit the size of the institution.”

CUES member Erica Kemp, AVP/branch strategy at $1 billion Credit Union 1 in Anchorage, Alaska, suggests that once a credit union acquires a growth mindset and “has the numbers to support it,” it should be looking to expand the skill sets of staff with robust training programs.

“Fast-growing organizations cannot always wait to find already skilled talent when they need to expand,” she says. “So, utilizing a training program earlier can help to set up current staff to be prepared.”

 

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