Cues Podcast

When it comes to funding an executive benefits plan, choosing the right investment for the right person and your credit union means knowing both the needs of your executive and your organization’s risk tolerance, says Ramsay Ellis, executive benefits specialist with CUESolutions Platinum provider CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wisconsin.Knowing your executive and your organization might be the easy part. Comparing various plans and funding sources can be tricky because various providers represent rates and returns in somewhat different ways, Ellis explains. Rates and returns are key things to try to compare benefits plans and funding investments “apple to-apples.” A second key consideration for making a good comparison of plans on an equal basis is overall expenses associated with a particular investment account.“The fee that’s being charged in a managed account is charged quarterly and is very transparent,” Ellis explained. “You see it coming out of the account and know exactly what the charge is, down to the p

True or false? The asset size of a credit union largely dictates the success of a security and education awareness program.According to CUES podcast guest Ray Murphy, CRISC, this statement is definitely false. “Regardless of size, each credit union can have a world-class information security program,” he says in this episode.Chief information security officer and cyber security advisor for LEO Cyber Security, a CUES strategic provider, Murphy previously built out the information security program at $106 billion Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Virginia. Before working at Navy FCU, Murphy’s tenure at Mobile Oil exposed him to every facet of information security—from desktop and mainframe to PCs, voice operations and even executive support.In the show, Murphy identifies some of the biggest challenges credit unions face every day: ransomware, which holds an organization’s system hostage in expectation of a ransom payment, and business email compromise, a particular type of phishing attack that tries to trick e

Stephen Comer believes simplifying the work of his company’s credit union clients so those client CUs can, in turn, make life easier for their members.Director of financial services and insurance sales at Hyland Software Inc., Westlake, Ohio,  Steve Comer talks in this episode about how to better connect all the “core systems” in a credit union to all the “content” needed to use those systems to do a good job for members. Hyland Onbase is a CUESolutions provider for enterprise information platforms and the sponsor of this podcast. In the show, Comer defines “core system” as the core technology tool used by each credit union business area. For example, the “core system” in lending would likely be the loan origination system. Comer defines content as “all of the information that makes it possible to do your business and do it effectively.” So, in the case of lending, the content could include an appraisal, the loan application, all the standard mortgage process documents, all the documents provided by the membe

Using data from the CUES Executive Compensation Survey is a great way to benchmark your credit union’s base salary and bonus packages—and make sure you’re paying within the strategy your organization has set forth, says Michael Becher, CPA. Some credit unions decide to pay at the market average, explains Becher, vice president of Industry Insights, Dublin, Ohio, which works with CUES to produce the survey. Other credit unions choose to be market leaders in compensation to help them attract and retain the best talent available.“With the way the economy is now, with job surpluses and the like, having this information (market compensation data) is just vital in terms of putting together a compensation package that’s competitive in today’s environment,” Becher says in the show. Becher and Industry Insights started working with CUES on both the CUES Executive Compensation Survey and the CUES Employee Salary Survey in 2014, working to improve the surveys year over year to provide the best possible data to credit un

2018 CUES Distinguished Director James Sackett joins the show to discuss his own onboarding as a millennial director at $1.3 billion Firefly Credit Union, Burnsville, Minnesota—and to offer additional ideas you can use for your own efforts.Now vice chair of the board at Firefly CU, Sackett’s interest in credit unions started early. His father was a credit union director while Sackett was growing up—and still is to this day. “There was always CUES swag and credit union swag around the house,” he quips. “I’ve always known about them (credit unions) and loved them. Taking next steps in my career, I knew I wanted to be involved in some way and also thought I had a lot to offer. When I moved to Minneapolis, I joined Firefly Credit Union … reached out and inquired about the board and started the process.”In the episode, Sackett shares quite a few reasons CUs can get by having younger board members: ·       Diversity of perspective—diverse thought generates more robust strategies·       Bench strength—longer tenured

This episode’s guest has a professional mantra that aligns well with CUES’ mission of developing credit union CEOs, executives, board members and future leaders. Eric Earle, executive benefits advisor for CUESolutions provider CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, Wisconsin, says the idea he lives by in his work is: “People make good decisions when they’re well informed.”In this episode, Earle talks about how more credit unions are establishing benefits plans to help retain existing CEOs and C-suite executives—and to recruit new ones when necessary.“Competition for executive talent has intensified in recent years and as a result we have seen a number of credit unions put executive benefit plans in place,” he says in the show.During the episode, Earle describes board oversight of a credit union’s executive benefits. “A credit union’s board of directors is ultimately responsible for the establishment of an executive benefit plan,” he notes. “However, many boards will task their personnel committee with the responsibility

Jimese Harkley, CUDE, CUES’ VP/membership, previously our guest on episode 67, returns to the show to talk about the 90-day free trial of CUES Unlimited membership that’s available through Oct. 31 to HR and training professionals. The free trial is designed to boost knowledge about what CUES membership benefits can do for your credit unionCUES’ 2013 Next Top Credit Union Exec, Harkley is passionate about the new CUES membership structure and how it helps credit unions and professionals in the industry. In the show she talks about why $2.5 billion Provident Credit Union, Redwood City, California, added 400 people to its roster of CUES members. “CUES and what we have to offer for our membership just stood out” to the CU’s VP/training, Harkley says. The CU made “CUES U a benefit for staff, just like retirement benefits and health care benefits.” It also is making CUES benefits and learning and development “a huge part” of its onboarding process.In all, “it’s been extremely enlightening to see how orgs are excite

A lot of work and preparation goes on before a credit union board interviews a candidate it is considering as a possible next CEO. The board has considered multiple resumes, decided what questions to ask (and which director will ask them), and oftentimes spent time consulting with an executive search consultant. The candidate has gathered a wealth of experience, gone through such key development opportunities as CEO Institute, and committed to taking his or her career to a whole new level. If you are the interviewee, how can you hit the ball out of the park in your interview for the top job? In this episode, you’ll get guidance from Deedee Myers, Ph.D., and Peter Myers. They are CEO and SVP, respectively, of DDJ Myers, Phoenix, CUESolutions provider for succession planning, executive recruitment, leadership coaching. Both Deedee and Peter have supported many CEO searches.Deedee emphasizes early in the show that the point of a first-round interview is to get the second-round interview. “It’s not to get the job

Many mainstream credit unions have long thought that community development financial institution status wasn’t something they could or should consider. Our guest, Jamie Strayer, ICUDE, would beg to differ.Founder of CU Strategic Planning, Tacoma, Washington, Strayer says CDFI status is a great thing for CUs’ ROA, members and communities, as well as for U.S. taxpayers. Strayer knows a lot about it because she has helped CUs get $103 million in CDFI funding in the last 10 years.“That funding produced $5 billion in loans that the credit unions otherwise would not have done,” she explains. “High-yield lending with every penny covered by loan loss reserves drives ROA. “And this is where is gets really good,” she adds. “That ROA allows them to grow faster. They can accept more deposits while preserving their net worth. When they approve those loans, people tell their friends and family, ‘That credit union gave me a loan. You should go there.’ The organic growth occurs without spending more money on marketing. This

Our guest, organizational scientist Jerlando F. L. Jackson, Ph.D., lives by the mantra, “Organizations are made up of people. It is the people and their decision-making that we want to change.”The Vilas distinguished professor of higher education and the director and chief research scientist of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jackson starts off the show by defining the difference between “diversity” and “inclusion.” Diversity, he says, includes the full spectrum of human differences, such as race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic situation and political beliefs. He also says it’s valuable to consider lifestyles, family composition and education level.“Inclusion is very different,” he explains. “It is not simply compiling a list of diverse characteristics, but rather an ability to cultivate a sense of community. An inclusive organization promotes and sustains a sense of belonging. It values and practices respect for the talents, beliefs an

The focus of credit union contact centers has changed a lot in 20 years. While once they emphasized helping members perform transactions, today they focus on helping members deepen their relationships with their credit unions. Our guest in this episode is Terri Panhans, VP/contact center solutions for CUES Supplier member Harland Clarke based in San Antonio, Texas. Panhans talks about how things have changed and what the changes mean in terms of the skills contact center agents now need, how to measure call center performance, and more. Special thanks to our episode sponsor, Harland Clarke.In the show, Panhans says the contact center of the past was “more transactional in nature, really more viewed as a back-office function—one that was necessary, but it wasn’t perhaps driving value or being a part of the strategy of the credit union. Now I see that it is evolving into an engagement center and members’ expectations really drive that. … Many times, they will define their impression of the credit union by the e

The lead faculty of the 2019 CUES School of Strategic Marketing joined the CUES Podcast recently to discuss marketing through the lens of their specialties. In this episode, Amy Herbig, Anthony Burnett and James Robert Lay talk about everything from paper brochures to physical branches to digital delivery. They respond to host James Lenz’s “outrageous” statements; offer up best practices grounded in many years of experience; and give a preview of what they’ll cover during the school, slated for July 15-18 in Cleveland. Herbig is CEO of The BA Group; Burnett is customer experience director with Level5; and James Robert Lay is founder/CEO of the Digital Growth Institute. To pique your interest for listening to the full show, here is an excerpt of the discussion surrounding the first exaggerated statement: “Transformation at credit unions is only possible through technology delivery.” Listen to episode 69 to hear the rest.Herbig says that for a CU to successfully transform, it must have technology delivery capab

Jen Kuhn, CEO of Servistar Consulting, Franklin, Tennessee, describes how the good behavior of leaders and managers is key to employee engagement, which in turn is key to the success of credit unions. In this episode, she describes leadership behaviors that promote engagement—and those that promote disengagement. 

Why did CUES restructure its memberships for 2019? According to Jimese Harkley, CUDE, the change was made for two key reasons: to simplify membership and to enable more credit union leaders and potential leaders to benefit from CUES membership. Learn all about it in this episode of the CUES Podcast, also available on CU Management magazine’s podcasts page. 

In this show, Lynette Cupps, CIE, VP/organizational Development with $1.3 billion MAX Credit Union in Montgomery, Alabama, describes her excitement at being named 2018 CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec. Cupps also talks about her project—how to support non-profit organizations by partnering to provide training for their staff and volunteers; this year’s competition process; and where to go for information on participating in next year’s contest.

In this show, Kathleen O’Connor, Ph.D., defines what employee engagement really means. An associate professor of management at the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a visiting faculty member at London Business School, O’Connor also defines a framework for how to think about engagement. She explains why engagement is worth pursuing and ways credit union leaders can boost engagement among their team members. O’Connor will present a related session at CUES Symposium: A CEO/Chairman Exchange, Jan. 27-31 in the Bahamas.  

A charitable donation account is a tool some credit unions use to be more strategic with their charitable giving. These accounts can help credit unions have more funds available to donate while also strengthening the credit union’s financial situation. In this episode, CUNA Mutual Group Executive Benefits Specialist Andy Roquet describes two steps to setting up a CDA, best practices for CDA programs, and how and when to talk with your board about these accounts.

To use analytics to create an exceptional member experience, credit unions need to know the potential impact of using descriptive, predictive and prescriptive data. SVP/Sales and Solutions Consulting for CUES Supplier member PSCU, Brian Scott talks in this episode about how data forms the foundation of the member experience —and can guide CUs on their next steps in using data to help members.

If you chase perfection in something, you might just catch excellence. John Pembroke describes how the newly restructured CUES memberships will help CUES members--and therefore their credit unions--reach their full potential. He also talks about three key CUES events coming up in the next few months.

Due diligence is a good idea before any credit union purchase. But the National Credit Union Administration actually requires a formal pre-purchase analysis before you buy investments to fund your employee and executive benefits plans. How is this best done? In this podcast, CUNA Mutual Group’s Greg Smyth gives insights and guidance.