Article

From John: Talent and Technology Top 2019 Worry List

African American business man looking worried with colleagues blurred in the background
John Pembroke Photo
Late President/CEO
CUES

2 minutes

Three suggestions for actions that will ease your mind.

I regularly travel to visit credit union leaders and I always ask them: “What’s keeping you up at night?” Looking ahead to 2019, I’m not at all surprised that so many of them respond with “talent development” and “technology.”

Hiring the right talent at a price you can afford is tricky in today’s tight labor market. Keeping up with constantly changing technology—and staying competitive in this fintech world—is difficult today and will only get more challenging in the new year.

I have three suggestions for what credit union leaders can do to address these key concerns:

1. Make sure you’re getting good value for your talent development spend. CUES’ new 2019 group memberships allow anyone on your team to join. That really brings down the cost per person. Group membership also provides discounts to all CUES members who participate in any of our industry-leading education programs, be it an institute, school or management training program, or online course

2. Use good tools for supporting talent development. For example, CUES Learning Portal is designed to help CUES members at all levels of a credit union engage with learning by allowing them to track their activity and share it with others. The portal also allows managers to assign learning content to their team members and track its completion. Another important tool to hiring and retaining talent is data about what people should be paid, available from the CUES Employee Salary Survey and the CUES Executive Compensation Survey.

3. Know when to outsource. While our organization is 100 percent dedicated to credit union talent development, I still advise members that it’s important to know when to rely on outside expertise. Both talent development and technology can sometimes get a boost from outsiders. Our own CUES Consulting offering is designed to help credit unions build strong talent development programs, while our partnerships with Cornerstone Advisors, LEO Cybersecurity and Think|Stack: Goma are in place to help members and other credit union leaders succeed with technology strategy and cybersecurity.

As the new year rolls in, please let me know how things are going in your shop with the things you worry about most. I’m hoping that CUES offerings will help you get some sleep.cues icon

John Pembroke is President/CEO of CUES. Since joining the organization in May 2013 as chief operating officer, he has helped launch a new direction in CUES’ strategy, branding and culture. Pembroke has more than 20 years of experience in branding and financial services. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and is a member of the board of the Goodman Community Center, Madison, Wisconsin.

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