By Karen Hodgkiss
My father-in-law was a civil engineer by training and was an all-around handy guy. Whenever he advised my husband and me on household repairs, he reminded us, “You gotta have the right tools.”
In human resources, the best tool is data, the timelier the better. Many HR professionals are taking advantage of the new generation of online staffing resources that are continuously updated and allow users to search for data and create customized reports. These robust databases provide all the information credit unions need to benchmark against comparable organizations to stay competitive, increase efficiency and improve member service.
Roger Harmer is an HR generalist at California Coast Credit Union in San Diego. He has come to rely on an interactive, online database as an indispensible tool in doing workforce staffing analysis. He explains, “The last time we did a complete review of our workforce was in 2010, right after our 2008 and 2009 merger of three credit unions. We did not lay off anyone during the merger, but we were able right-size the new organization through attrition only.”
For California Coast CU, this was not just a one-time exercise. They are scheduled to do a complete review again this year, and may likely keep up an ongoing schedule. Harmer explains, “We can’t just waive our magic wand to know how many people to hire. Currently, we have about 457 FTEs, and while some may think that is fine, others think it should be less. In HR we use real-time data to recommend how many FTEs should be staffed in each department, so senior management can make good decisions.”
HR professionals can do their jobs with confidence when they have solid evidence to support staffing levels and compensation plans. Interactive staffing databases are just the right tool for the job.
Karen Hodgkiss is a freelance writer.
CUES Interactive Staffing Guide provides frequently updated, comprehensive data with a dynamic, customizable reporting system. Credit unions are invited to participate and purchase today.
