By Michael Neill, CSE
Missional leadership is a means for an organization to keep focus on its purpose relative to those it serves. It’s more than a management theory—successful implementation can pay off in measurable business outcomes.
The formula is simple:
missional leadership + employee training = engagement, which leads to member savings
Here are the steps taken by $172 million Cardinal Community Credit Union, Mentor, Ohio, to save members money while increasing its own profitability through lending.
Step 1: Define and communicate the mission.
According to Cardinal Community CU's CEO, CUES member Christine Blake, CPA, the institution's mission is to “brighten our members’ financial future.” Blake, the rest of the CU's leaders and I challenged ourselves to figure out how to make these words tangible and get employees engaged in living the mission in their member interactions.
We identified refinancing members' higher interest rate loans as having the greatest potential to save the members money.
Step 2: Train staff.
Cardinal Community CU ensured all communications to employees avoided hints of "another promotion." "Every employee went through training on how to move from being transaction-oriented to proactively reviewing members’ accounts and making recommendations," Blake explains. "They also learned how to overcome objections.” Managers were trained on coaching skills so they could effectively support their staff.
Step 3: Capture results.
Rather than focusing on how many new loans had been made to members, Cardinal Community CU reported back to staff how much they had saved members in loan refinances.
Blake reports that the staff's efforts from June though December 2013 saved members $1.2 million! This missional effort has resulted in engaged employees who want to be significant in the lives of their members. At the same time, it has increased loan balances for the credit union.
Step 4: Celebrate stories and keep going.
Each branch lobby has a sign showing how much has been saved to date with a prompt that encourages members to ask a representative how they can save more.
Employees have become motivated by the positive response they receive to the simple phrase, "Hey, I think I’ve got a way to save you money." Employees like saying it, members like hearing it and it has become part of the culture.
Beyond the obvious member benefits, Blake has felt a change in staff morale. "Saying they feel empowered is not quite the right word, but they seem to have a greater sense of satisfaction in what they are doing for the members. This makes their service tangible, and gives them a sense of pride," she observes.
A missional leadership approach aligns visionary thinking with the service orientation embedded in credit union DNA. It creates an environment that allows the CU, its employees and its membership to thrive.
Michael Neill, CSE, is president of Michael Neill & Associates.
Learn more about how you can save your members money through a sales and service culture using ServiStar.
Mike Neill is on the faculty of CUES School of Growth and Profitability, slated for April 30-May 1 in Austin.
