Cues Podcast

In recent times, such high-profile sports figures as tennis player Naomi Osaka and gymnast Simone Biles have made headlines by announcing they were stepping back from competition to take care of themselves and their mental health. In this episode of the CUES Podcast, guest Dee Baker Amos applauds these actions. VP/marketing and communications for Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Amos also points out that taking care of your mental health isn’t—and shouldn’t be—reserved for world-class athletes. “We all have to work on it, famous or not,” she says. “And I want to actually repeat that because I think that it's something that people have to hear: We all have to work on our mental well-being, famous or not.” In the show, which is hosted by Tony Covington, CUES VP/new markets and a former pro football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks, Amos describes the importance of leaders sharing their own vulnerabilities since this helps create a safe space for employees. “Leaders must be willing to

A new ebook from Experian, Navigating in a New Era of Credit Risk Decisioning, suggests that one out of three consumers remain concerned about their finances at this stage of the pandemic, while at the same time, some individuals have more cash than they had when the pandemic started—and now they’re ready to spend. In this episode of the CUES Podcast, Harry Singh talks about how credit unions might best serve their members with loans and other products considering this “two-lane” economy. SVP/decisioning products and solutions for CUESolutions provider Experian, Singh says this situation may get even more pronounced as government stimulus aid ends. He says financial institutions need to consider three areas in their response:1.      Data and advanced analytics: Credit unions need to create a “comprehensive understanding” of members to be able to best serve them. Singh suggests they need to ask: “What are what are consumers doing differently? What are they adopting differently, such as in digital channels for

Pay increases found in the CUES Executive Compensation Survey this year range from 3% to 7%, depending on the position. Scott Hackworth says in this episode of the CUES Podcast that these figures are significant considering how much uncertainty is present in the overall economy right now. Even though no one knows what’s going to happen next, “this urge or this need to maintain consistency, especially amongst the top executives, that need has really risen and become more prominent than ever,” explains Hackworth, president of Industry Insights Inc., CUES’ partner in doing both the CUES Executive Compensation Survey and CUES Employee Salary Survey. “And because of that, there’s the increase in compensation.”Hackworth said that the pandemic has shown many employees and executives that working from home works for them, at least some of the time. He says credit unions that want to attract and keep top talent will need to consider flexible work in their offering compensation programs.“Some of those pieces, the welln

Ancin Cooley, CIA, CISA, is originally from New Orleans and likes to think that he’s a decent gumbo cook. He even distributes his mom’s gumbo recipe to audience members when he speaks, which he will do at CUES’ Directors Conference in Florida this December.Principal of Synergy Credit Union Consulting, Chicago, Cooley says in this episode of the CUES Podcast that “one of the things that's unique about gumbo is that you combine a lot of different ingredients to make an amazing, flavorful dish.”Similarly, he notes, governance isn't just composed of any one ingredient. “It's made up of enterprise risk management,” Cooley explains. “It's made up of board relations. It's made up of interactions that happen between the board and the CEO. It's comprised of different ingredients. But when combined together and seasoned properly, it makes for an amazing credit union.”In this show, Cooley touches briefly on some top “ingredients” for a great dish of governance. These key considerations incl

What do you say when you hear from another credit union interested in talking about a merger?Hopefully, you don’t say “Yeah, we’ll talk so long as our chair and our CEO are the surviving leaders after the merger.”To Deedee Myers, Ph.D., MSC, PCC, the fate of the chair and CEO is the wrong thing to think about first when considering joining up with another credit union.“We shouldn't be talking about who the survivor is, you know, the CEO or the board chair,” says Myers, CEO of CUESolutions provider DDJ Myers, Phoenix. “It should really be about the synergies between the two organizations to unlock parallel value for the membership. It really should be what is the membership going to see in terms of additional value, what's going to go on in the community, not just about the chair and the CEO. It has to be about how we're going to add more value.” Myers and her business partner, Peter Myers, share lots of ideas about mergers in this episode of the CUES Podcast, including:tips for paving the way t

Emerging leaders have a great opportunity to impact organizational cultures in a way that supports the evolution to modern leadership, says Laurie Maddalena, MBA, CPCC, PHR, in this episode.“They bring in these expectations and these values that I think are more modern,” says Maddalena, a certified executive coach, leadership consultant and founder of CUES Supplier member Envision Excellence LLC in the Washington, D.C., area, which provides coaching to participants in the CUES Emerge program. “We need more of this modern type of leader” who is focused on getting results through people rather than on just getting results at all costs.During the show, Maddalena talks about how generational, technological and family trends are pushing the evolution of leadership. “The reason … I bring those up is because those impact our workplaces … our cultures and what people expect now compared to 25-30 years ago,” she says. “And that type of leader doesn't work anymore, the traditional command and control, more results

When you can help members avoid being scammed—or at least help them overcome it, they’ll be grateful for your actions in the long run.In this episode of the CUES Podcast, Andy Shank talks about things credit unions need to keep in mind when it comes to preventing and mitigating fraud. Shank is VP/fraud and risk management for CUES Supplier member Harland Clarke, San Antonio, Texas, the sponsor of this show.“A lot of folks in the banking world kind of treat fraud as this, you know, scary little animal that we just try to shut in the closet and not talk about,” Shank says in the episode. “But if you don’t talk about it, and you don’t approach it, and you don’t, you know, really attack it head-on, you allow it to win.”In the show, Shank spells out his definition of payments fraud: “anytime a bad guy electronically finds a way to move funds from point A to point B without authorization and without setting foot in a branch.” This could include contact center fraud, social engineering, wire transfer fraud, account

Michael Bach lives in Toronto, a  diverse city, which has as one of its mottos, “Diversity is our strength.”Bach, CEO of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, added onto the city’s slogan. He made it: “If diversity is our strength, inclusion is our superpower” to illustrate that it’s not enough to have diversity.“We have to create spaces where people can not only exist but can be welcomed,” he says in Episode 114 of the CUES Podcast. “They won't face racism, violence, sexism, homophobia, etc.—and I think that … to make sure that our spaces are welcoming, we need inclusion as our superpower. It's our special strength, this thing we can do that will get the most out of our people, that will create higher levels of engagement and productivity. It is the secret sauce, if you will, on top of diversity … .”Bach defines “diversity” as being about difference and “inclusion” as being about creating a space where differences are welcome. Diversity “is about all of the things that make a person uniq

The U.S. economy may soon be poised for takeoff, according to Dan Berger, our guest on episode 113 of the CUES Podcast.The efforts of credit unions to serve members at a time of need will continue to be a key factor, says Berger, president/CEO of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, Washington, D.C.“I think that we got some more stuff to get through in 2021 in regards to COVID and cranking up the economy and getting more people and to be financially inclusive with the economy,” he explains. “I equate it to laying the runway in 2021 so you can really take off in 2022. But I'm so pleased with this industry, in the CEOs I speak to across the country, in the jobs that they're doing. I mean, it's really been an incredible effort across the board, and I don't see it stopping.“The stories I hear from across the country with, you know, skip-a-pay programs and workout loans and things along those lines,” he continues, “ … that’s the difference between us and the big banks. W

Governments around the world have spent more than $14 trillion to try to offset the economic damage of the pandemic, says Bryan Yu, in the latest episode of the CUES Podcast.“In Canada, I think we moved pretty quick,” says Yu, director and chief economist with Central 1 in Vancouver, British Columbia, which leverages its scale, strength and expertise to power progress for more than 250 credit unions and other financial institutions. “We had seen the implementation of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit, which was largely providing funds for households who were negatively impacted by the pandemic and lost jobs, about $500 per week. So, a significant amount.“We also, of course, see the wage subsidy programs in Canada as well,” he adds in the show.  “So employers who lost substantial amounts of business were able to tap the subsidy in order to keep individuals employed.”He estimates that the Canadian government will now have to deal with a $380 billion deficit after the outlay. “But we're also, of cours

As is always true with the economy, there is both good and bad news at once.On episode 111 of the CUES Podcast, Steve Rick says some of the good news is that the jobless rate has dropped back to a rate of 6.3%, after spiking to 14.7% at the height of the pandemic shutdown last year.Director and chief economist at CUESolutions Platinum provider for executive benefits CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wisconsin, Rick says economists believe that 4.5% is the “long-run natural employment rate” in the U.S. He is forecasting reaching that rate again by the end of 2022.“We do believe we will reach herd immunity, probably by the fourth quarter of this year … where … 75 to 80% of our population has been vaccinated and is … immune,” he says. “So, we're hoping by the end of this year to have the unemployment rate down to 5.5%.”Some of the bad news Rick cites includes the hard hit taken by retail businesses during the government-mandated shutdowns early in 2020. Many stores, restaurants and movie theaters have been severe

“For some reason, people just love pineapples,” says Bolun Li in this episode of the CUES Podcast. As a result, pineapple emojis are the points in Zogo, the gamified smartphone app that Li co-launched in 2019 to better teach personal finance to members of Gen Z.CEO of CUES Supplier member Zogo Finance, the sponsor of this show, Li says that pineapples tested extremely well during the app’s development.“We tested so many different emojis for the points,” he explains. “We have no idea why people love pineapples, but they love pineapples. So, we’re like, we’re going to use pineapples” for the point system.A 2019 graduate of Duke University, Li first learned about personal finance through a high school program that was delivered by a bank. He describes that offering as “boring” and “inadequate.” In contrast, the app he and his co-founders (all members of Gen Z themselves) have launched aims to teach members of Gen Z about personal finance in a way they find fun. Zogo offers more than 300 bite-sized learning modul

There’s a growing trend of credit unions hiring chief diversity officers, says Renee Sattiewhite, CUDE, CDP, president/CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition.“It is amazing that so many credit unions are calling or asking about what should they do, what should they be looking for,” Sattiewhite says in this episode. “I’m happy to report that the credit unions that are larger are doing that. And then some of the credit unions are calling us because they don’t have a chief diversity officer (wondering), ‘What can they do in lieu of that?’”Why is this trend good news? “I think that it’s a good sign with the industry that they’re looking at having someone who is certified, who’s got the information, who’s got the intellect and the skill to help lead the organization in their DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) journey,” Sattiewhite explained.Hiring a chief diversity officer that isn’t certified is troubling, she explained. “It’s quite important to have the knowledge behind you so that you can talk ab

When people join a board, they don't always get the opportunity to understand what exactly the job entails—and what a board is really for, says Matt Fullbrook in this show.Manager of the David and Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation at the University of Toronto and a board effectiveness researcher and consultant for Fullbrook Board Effectiveness, Fullbrook says providing an opportunity for better understanding of those two things is at the root of board education.Fullbook explains that board education also goes a step further to answer the question, “How do we take that role as a director and turn it into something that has the potential to create something of tremendous value for the organization?”It’s very difficult for anyone to create good answers to these key questions themselves, says Fullbrook, who will serve as academic director for the new High Performing Board Digital Series from CUES that starts April 13. The reality of director education, he explains, “is it gives direc

It’s interesting that as the unpredicted, unprecedented year of 2020 was closing, Rodney E. Hood identifies this quote as a professional mantra he lives by: “Proper preparation and planning can prevent poor performance.”Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board, Hood says in this show, taped Dec. 8, that this quote he learned in high school helps him remember to always put his best foot forward and get “things done with professionalism, duty and integrity.”“As long as I stay focused on those Ps … it gets me through,” he says.For 2020, putting the best foot forward meant helping the federal agency he leads support credit unions on two important fronts: the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to boost diversity, equity and inclusion in the credit union industry after the killing of George Floyd in May.Hood talks in the show about key things the National Credit Union Administration did in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including:Staying open, even though the staff is working from home for safetyAl

What does it mean to be CEO-ready? How can candidates know when they’re ready? How can boards know a candidate is ready for the top slot?Some key things candidates should have if they’re really ready to lead an organization include a deep understanding of cross-functional leadership, solid knowledge of the business and how to work with people; and experience with effective board governance, explains Deedee Myers, Ph.D., MSC, PCC, president/CEO of DDJ Myers Inc., a CUESolutions provider based in Phoenix. “Cultivation (of a CEO) … is not an overnight phenomenon,” she explains in the show. “So we want to set it up and have these different milestones and testing places along the way to test our internal candidates and to test ourselves. Are we ready?”DDJ Myers SVP Peter Myers adds that he wants to distinguish between being ready to get the CEO job and being ready to do the job exceptionally well. “Make sure you self-assess,” he advises, “why you want to get this job…. Find someone you trust to give you unvarnishe

The pandemic came to the fore while CUES and Industry Insights were fielding this year’s compensation and salary surveys. But fortunately, great data was still collected that can form an excellent foundation for credit unions making decisions about executive compensation and staff salaries.“It provides us a great base for moving forward, for understanding the true impact of COVID, says Michael Becher, vice president of Industry Insights, CUES' partner in producing CUES Executive Compensation Survey and the CUES Employee Salary Survey. “This data is very, very relevant” and can support decision-making about pay levels now and after the COVID-19 pandemic.Becher says the increases in pay for staff and executives highlighted by the CUES surveys are bigger than those reported across all industries in the U.S. WorldatWork has reported increases for staff and executives of 3% to 3.3% for the last few years. “CU increases have been more in the 5% to 8% range,” he adds. CUES Executive Compensation Survey reports

Even before the pandemic, credit unions were the most empathetic collectors around. While credit unions clearly need members to pay their loans and credit cards, they have always approached collections with an eye for helping the member through financial difficulty and educating them about personal finance.Enter the pandemic and many members were suddenly unemployed. Credit unions were on the financial front lines, working on ways to help, says Jeff Mortenson, VP/client services for the Financial Institution Group at CUES Supplier member SWBC, San Antonio, Texas. SWBC is the sponsor of this show.“They clearly understood up front that they need to figure out how to help their members,” Mortenson says in the show. But they quickly discovered that calling their members every couple of days wasn’t helping them. “So they took a step backwards … and said, “Wait a minute. What’s best for our memberships and how can we help them?’ …“They were proactive with it,” he adds. “Being proactive with it has been very success

Laurie Maddalena’s vision is to create a place where people love to come to work. Gallup has found in its most recent workforce study, she says, that only about 34% of American employees feel engaged at work.“Most people don’t enjoy their work and I think a lot of that has to do with leadership, the quality of leadership we have in our organizations,” says Maddalena, CEO of Envision Excellence, a leadership consulting firm that provides leadership development programs for managers and executives, keynote speeches, team building and leadership assessments.As antidote, Maddalena recommends leaders look to be “modern” leaders, focused on facilitating people doing the work, not fixing problems themselves. Modern leaders get to know their employees and place high value on the people side of the business, she says. New leaders sometimes struggle with taking a modern leadership approach because they have been promoted because they are technically adept—not because they have leadership skills. So instead of leading i

In the Tampa Bay, Florida, region, migration from Spanish-speaking countries has increased more than 200% in the last two decades and that number continues to rise, creating social and economic change in the area, according to Lindsey Walker, executive assistant with $259 million/32,000-member Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, Tampa Bay, Florida, and the 2020 CUES Emerging Leader, the first-ever winner.That growth was driven by part by Tampa being a top destination for people from Puerto Rico escaping Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Other Spanish speakers have come to the Tampa area from Columbia, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.According to Walker, a national survey found these individuals prefer having documents available in their native language. “There’s always room for misinterpretation when you speak dual languages,” Walker explains in the show. “This is especially true for older Spanish speakers. They often bring a grandchild or friend with strong English skills to help them.” If they don’t, they sometimes sign