6 minutes
From Idea to Reality
The most prized professional accoutrement John Janclaes carries everywhere he goes is not some sleek electronic device but a simple journal and pen. The president/CEO of Partners Federal Credit Union says his journal is a treasure chest of ideas he has scooped up from meetings, conferences, conversations, and other sources—and the medium for developing those ideas into workable solutions.
Journaling is “an indispensable part of my executive tool box, and it can be a real game changer if you commit to learning how to use it,” Janclaes, a CUES member, says. Over the 25 years he has been jotting down personal and professional notes, he has developed a system to capture both qualitative and quantitative data and action steps, using diagrams to fit together the components of an idea. He uses a series of icons to organize his journal entries: a light bulb to highlight an idea, a star to denote an action item, and a telephone handset as a reminder to contact specific people to plan and implement a new strategy.
As just one example, a few years back, Janclaes was reflecting on the impact of technology on $1.4 billion Partners FCU, Burbank, Calif., its 110,000 members’ expectations and how CU staff could guide members in using new automated services. He drew in his journal the “waves of change” breaking over his staff and jotted notes brainstorming how to improve personal service and operations by integrating people, processes, and technology.
Those entries led to the creation of a new position, a “Tech Dude” who could guide employees to learn about and embrace online and mobile services and share their enthusiasm and newly developed expertise with members. (Read more about Tech Dude.)
Janclaes was introduced to journaling by an early mentor, the late author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn. It is now possible to maintain an electronic journal, but Janclaes prefers his familiar paper journals, which he orders by the dozen. He can easily write notes, diagram, draw and even tape in articles and documents—plus review his entries from multiple years, side by side.
Like any skill, journaling as a path to innovation takes practice. “A journal provides a flexible palette to develop ideas,” Janclaes says. “I’ve penciled an idea and reworked it over months before bringing it into its real form. My experience from 25 years of journaling is that the discipline evolves over the years. My cycle time to capture a seed of an idea, iterate it, and then act on it is shortening using this process.”
Karen Bankston owns Precision Prose, Stoughton, Wis.
Teller Traffic Continues Decline
If you’re wondering how trends in branch traffic at your credit union compare with those of other financial institutions, the 2015 Teller Line Study from FMSI offers a benchmark:
Transaction volume at CUs and community bank branches since 1992 has decreased 45.3 percent while the cost of employee salaries and benefits has increased 90 percent on average.
The combination of rising labor costs and an 18.5 percent drop in the average number of transactions processed per teller hour translates into labor costs for basic teller transactions increasing from an average 48 cents in 1992 to $1.12 today.
In the past five years, average monthly volume per CU branch has dropped about 1,000 transactions to 7,200.
CU branches shows a steeper decline in average monthly volume from 2011 into this year, 12.2 percent for CUs vs. 1.9 percent for banks, though the average CU branch was still processing about 2,100 more transactions per month than the typical community bank branch.
Along the same lines, staff productivity, as measured by average transactions processed per teller hour worked, declined 7 percent at CU branches over the last five years, compared to 3 percent at community banks. The FMSI study calculated the average 2015 productivity rate for CUs at 16 transactions per teller hour, compared to 13 for community banks.
For now, check deposits remain the most common branch service, accounting for 26 percent of all transactions, followed by cash withdrawals (22 percent), cash deposits (11 percent), and loan payments by check (5 percent).
Good Neighbor, Great Office
When the local transit authority began looking at allU.S. Credit Union’s current headquarters as the site for a new station, the CU went shopping for its next location. The $37 million credit union serving 3,700 members found a nice spot in the heart of Salinas, Calif.—and an opportunity to be a great neighbor.
By prepaying its 40-year lease on the city-owned lot, allU.S. CU effectively fronted the local library (the CU’s new neighbor) $1.4 million for a much-needed expansion. “We have plenty of equity, so why not use it for a good purpose?” says CEO Patrick Redo, a CUES member.
The arrangement afforded the credit union “great PR,” Redo says, as well as a prime location in the heart of the retail district and the opportunity to introduce a new model of “dialogue banking.”
The CU’s current office is located next to a Laundromat, which draws 50 to 60 people a day in foot traffic. In contrast, the library serves up to 1,000 people daily, and the new allU.S. CU office will offer its meeting room for community use, which will further increase exposure for the CU, which recently expanded its membership. The credit union also plans to offer financial education for local residents in partnership with its new neighbor, especially for the largely unbanked immigrants who live and work in the area.
The new office will feature a more open design, replacing the traditional teller counter with pods equipped with cash recyclers. Employees bearing tablets will greet members at the door, guide them to pods or private offices, and continue the interaction by plugging the tablets into docking stations, Redo explains.
“We sent our staff out to visit banks in the area to see what they liked and didn’t like,” Redo says. “They came back and said, ‘We don’t want to do anything they’re doing.’”
CUES Supplier member La Macchia Group, Milwaukee, which designed the new office, also did some secret shopping and came up with a concept “that offers a consultative, member-friendly environment that will set the credit union apart from competitors,” says VP/Planning and Real Estate Ben La Macchia.
“We really wanted to take their brand and reflect it in the design,” he adds. “There’s a lot of natural light, and the building will take advantage of high traffic counts and the retail presence in the downtown. It makes the best use of the real estate, and the stone exterior pays tribute to the surrounding landscape.”
All in all, the new office will be a big shift from current quarters in a converted Sizzler restaurant. “Our slogan is Positively Different,” Redo notes. “Our new approach to banking and our partnership with the city will show that in action.”
Letter to the Editor
I just finished reading your wonderful article about member onboarding [“Warm Welcome” June 2015]. I think it is one of the most thorough and useful pieces of coverage on the topic of onboarding I have ever read. Thanks so much for mentioning Onovative.
Michael Browning
Co-founder and CEO
Onovative
