The War for Talent

From member-facing roles to the C-Suite, credit unions have felt the effects of the current battle to hire—and keep—talent. The high turnover creates instability, which plagues the finance and accounting departments in particular. When the books and reconciliations are off, the regulators come knocking. When the lending staff falls apart, credit unions lose out on their biggest source of revenue. And through all of this, member service can suffer.

Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a key factor for the employment crisis credit unions face now, but it’s not the only one. The low interest rates caused a mortgage boom, throwing another curveball at the financial industry. A massive demand for mortgage personnel, originators, underwriters and processors ensued, inflating salaries and pushing against credit unions’ bottom lines.

The pandemic has also created new situations that now must be taken into account. Thanks to the sudden mass movement to digital banking and contactless transactions, tech experts and digital strategists now find themselves in higher demand. At the same time, it’s becoming more difficult to find people with some of the more basic tech skills, like data input and use of desktop computers—perhaps a byproduct of a generation growing up communicating via text and swiping touchscreen devices.

Plus, now that people have had a taste of the “work from home” model—and performed successfully in it—they don’t see the reason to sacrifice flexibility and go back onsite if it’s not essential to their job. This forces credit unions to hire remote workers, possibly even located in another state, though they’d prefer that professional to be a local, onsite employee.

So, what can credit unions do to locate, entice and retain the people they need to accomplish their short- and long-term goals? Read more in this whitepaper from CUES Supplier member Shanley Search Partners, LLC.