Member Rewards Programs, Retention Factors for Key Employees Revealed in New Council White Papers

CUNA Councils
September 11, 2008 | COMMENTS

Learn how to create consumer rewards programs that deepen member relations and what benefits to offer key employees to keep them at the credit union in two new white papers from the CUNA Councils.

“Credit Union Rewards Programs That Enhance Member Relationships,” by the CUNA Operations, Sales, and Service (OpSS) Council, discusses how to break through the clutter and confusion of consumer rewards programs and develop a program that deepens member relationships. The paper outlines the reasons for rewards programs and the various types of programs available, using tips and credit union case studies as examples.

Denise Wymore, a veteran credit union consultant who helped created a member points program used in about 20 credit unions, says credit unions need to combine “head and heart” when it comes to what kind of program they offer. “Let’s say you have 30,000 aggregate points and as a reward, you get unlimited ATM use,” she states. “I don’t really feel the reward. I’m not consciously aware, every time I use the ATM, that I’m not being charged by my credit union. And if I’m being charged by the ATM but not by the credit union, that’s negative. I’m not feeling the love.” The rewards, she says, should connect with both parts of the member.

The second white paper, “Retaining Key Employees” by the HR/TD Council, investigates strategies and retention factors employed by credit unions – beyond the obvious attractions – for recruiting and keeping officer-level employees. Executive benefits programs and coaching, advanced educational opportunities, and organizational culture are all addressed as prime retention factors in this paper.

Tips for identifying key employees during the interview process are also given. For example, Lee Alderman, assistant vice president of employee relations and development at Redwood CU in Santa Rosa, Calif., identified two traits that the credit union’s star employees all share. They are all good relationship-builders/networkers with members and staff, and they take responsibility for their own learning.

“These are the type of people we want to hire,” said Alderman. “We redesigned our education and hiring process based on what we learned from these 10 individuals. We added behavioral questions on our interviews to recruit their type of individual.”

CUNA Council members are entitled to complimentary copies of these white papers; non-members may purchase the white papers for a price of $50 per copy.

The papers are available online in the white paper section of each council site - select the OpSS tab for the rewards programs paper or the HR/TD tab for the employee retention paper.