Podcasts

There’s a growing trend of credit unions hiring chief diversity officers, says Renee Sattiewhite, CUDE, CDP, president/CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition.

“It is amazing that so many credit unions are calling or asking about what should they do, what should they be looking for,” Sattiewhite says in this episode. “I’m happy to report that the credit unions that are larger are doing that. And then some of the credit unions are calling us because they don’t have a chief diversity officer (wondering), ‘What can they do in lieu of that?’”

Why is this trend good news? “I think that it’s a good sign with the industry that they’re looking at having someone who is certified, who’s got the information, who’s got the intellect and the skill to help lead the organization in their DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) journey,” Sattiewhite explained.

Hiring a chief diversity officer that isn’t certified is troubling, she explained. “It’s quite important to have the knowledge behind you so that you can talk about the unconscious biases, that you can talk about the DEI-specific things so you can help the organization move past that,” Sattiewhite emphasizes. “You need to really vet the people that you’re looking at for candidates, making sure that the organization is not just checking a box.

“It’s not a project. It’s a journey. It is not a sprint. It is a marathon,” she adds. “And I think people need to see it that way. They think that, ‘We came up with a DEI plan, so we’re good.’ No, that does not make you good. Can you execute on that plan? Can you change that plan when it needs to be changed? Are you open to making sure that everyone is included in that plan? … DEI is not just a race issue; it’s more than just that.”

What should credit unions look for in a chief diversity officer? Sattiewhite says the key lies in “making sure that that person has the right spirit—the spirit of change, a spirit of helping, a spirit of openness, preferably someone who has experience and understands the needs of a multicultural membership or a multicultural staff and employees. I think that to think that just because you have a plan that you’re done is an unrealistic expectation,” she says. 

“The organization didn’t get to where it is overnight. So the DEI journey, it’s going to be … unfortunately sometimes painful. You have to have a lot of grit, a lot of gumption. You have to have someone who is fearless and really wants to effect change not just in the organization but in the community that they serve.”

The show also gets into:

• The idea that the African American Credit Union Coalition is inclusive and anyone can join
• More about AACUC’s work and educational offerings
• The connection between credit unions, the motto “people helping people” and eradicating racism
• How to set your chief diversity officer up for success

Links for this show:

• African American Credit Union Coalition
• AACUC’s Commitment to Change, Credit Unions Unite Against Racism program
• Sattiewhite’s CUES article, Diversity Insight: Red Versus Blue
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cornell Certificate Program
• Complimentary CUES Memberships for participants in AACUC’s mentorship program
• DEI Resource Center from CUES
• CUES content collection on diversity, equity and inclusion

 When people join a board, they are not always given an opportunity to understand what exactly the job of director entails—and what a board is really for, says Matt Fullbrook in this show.

Manager of the David and Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation at the University of Toronto and a board effectiveness researcher and consultant for Fullbrook Board Effectiveness, Fullbrook says providing an opportunity for better understanding of those two things is at the root of board education.

But Fullbook explains in the show that board education also goes a step further to answer the question, “How do we take that role as a director and turn it into something that has the potential to create something of tremendous value for the organization?”

It’s very difficult for anyone to create good answers to these key questions themselves, says Fullbrook who will serve as academic director for the new High Performing Board Digital Series from CUES that starts April 13. 

“The reality” of director education, he explains, “is it gives directors an opportunity on the one hand to be in a room, whether it’s virtual or in person, with other people who are going through something like what they’re going through, so you feel like you’re not alone. But second of all, you get to learn from their successes and mistakes.

“But also, you get access to people, educators and so on who have been thinking about this and have created and explored solutions that you may never have thought about that give you an opportunity to bring that back into your credit union.

Director education “gives you a whole new toolkit to bring back to your board and think about ‘How are we going to implement this in a way that is going to empower our credit union to be better for its members on an ongoing basis?’” he says.

“It opens up a whole universe of new tools and insights and opportunities for your board to do things in new and better ways.” 

Fullbrook emphasizes the importance of applying director education. “The potential value of education as a director is really undermined if you don’t go back into the room and make an effort to ensure that it has an impact. That takes discipline to think about ways it might impact your performance as a director and the performance as a board as a whole.”

Putting board education into practice can’t just be a book report, where the director who attended the education says “I learned a, b, c and d.” Instead, Fullbrook suggests, the director should say something more like, “I’d like to have a conversation about how we can take what I learned and use it to make our board better. Here are my ideas.”

The show also gets into:

• Why Fullbrook rejects the term “best practice” when it comes to governance
• Fullbrook’s short definition of what board governance is
• Why board education must be ongoing—not an event but a journey
• The value of being curious about how you might improve on your current board practices
• Details about the High Performing Board Digital Series that starts April 13
• Fullbrook’s new podcast, One Minute Governance

Links for this show:

• Fullbrook Board Effectiveness
• David and Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation
• High Performing Board Digital Series
• Matt Fulbrook in the CUES Podcast episodes 24 and 85
• Most recent Matt Fullbrook video for Unlimited+ members: Provocative Considerations for Board Chairs

It’s interesting that as the unpredicted, unprecented year of 2020 was closing, Rodney E. Hood identifies this quote as a professional mantra he lives by: “Proper preparation and planning can prevent poor performance.”

Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration Board, Hood says in this who that this quote, which he learned in high school, helps him remember to always put his best foot forward and get “things done with professionalism, duty and integrity.”

“As long as I stay focused on those Ps … it gets me through,” he says.

For 2020, putting the best foot forward meant helping the federal agency he leads support credit unions on two important fronts: the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to boost diversity, equity and inclusion in the credit union industry after the killing of George Floyd in May.

Hood talks in the show about key things the National Credit Union Administration did in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including:

• Staying open, even though the staff is working from home for safety
• Allowing remote board meetings and annual membership meetings
• Continuing offsite regulatory examinations
• Recognizing the challenges of lending in these times and supported the making of small-dollar loans, loan modifications and forbearances
• Supporting small and low-income-designated credit unions that are on the front lines in serving people who have been marginalized or underserved

He also expresses his vision for the inception and next steps of NCUA’s Advancing Communities through Credit, Education, Stability and Support program, also known as ACCESS.

The show also gets into:

• Why Hood loved studying Latin and what modern day language he’d like to speak fluently (and why)
• How the pandemic-impacted economy compares to the Great Recession in 2008 and why Hood thinks credit unions are better positioned for success now than they were then
• What Hood thinks would be good next steps for NCUA to take as credit unions ride out the pandemic

What does it mean to be CEO-ready? How can candidates know when they’re ready? How can boards know a candidate is ready for the top slot?

Some key things candidates should have if they’re really ready to lead an organization include a deep understanding of cross-functional leadership, solid knowledge of the business and how to work with people; and experience with effective board governance, explains Deedee Myers, Ph.D., MSC, PCC, president/CEO of DDJ Myers Inc., a CUESolutions provider based in Phoenix. 

“Cultivation (of a CEO) … is not an overnight phenomenon,” she explains in the show. “So we want to set it up and have these different milestones and testing places along the way to test our internal candidates and to test ourselves. Are we ready?”

DDJ Myers SVP Peter Myers adds that he wants to distinguish between being ready to get the CEO job and being ready to do the job exceptionally well. “Make sure you self-assess,” he advises, “why you want to get this job…. Find someone you trust to give you unvarnished feedback. Ask them, ‘What do you think are the primary and secondary reason I’m vying for this job?’ … Boards and members and staff want someone that is going to put their needs far above and beyond (the executive’s) own self-interest needs. One of the primary jobs of the CEO is to get the best out of their staff.”

The show also gets into:

• How candidates can become more CEO ready
• Must-dos for candidates interviewing for the CEO slot with a credit union board
• No-nos for candidates interviewing for the CEO slot with a credit union board
• The current CEO’s role in the CEO succession planning process
• What boards can expect from the CEO succession planning process
• The value of having a specific structure and process to follow when undergoing CEO succession planning
• The answers to two questions from CUES Podcast listeners

Links for this episode

• CUESolutions Silver provider DDJ Myers Inc.
• DDJ Myers’ previous episode of the CUES Podcast, How to Smash a CEO Interview
• 2020 CUES Outstanding Chief Executive profile of Garth Warner, CCD, president/CEO of Servus Credit Union, Edmonton, Alberta
• CEO Institutes hosted by CUES
• CUES Executive Compensation Survey

The pandemic came to the fore while CUES and Industry Insights were fielding this year’s compensation and salary surveys. But fortunately, great data was still collected that can form an excellent foundation for credit unions making decisions about executive compensation and staff salaries.

“It provides us a great base for moving forward, for understanding the true impact of COVID, says Michael Becher, vice president of Industry Insights, CUES' partner in producing CUES Executive Compensation Survey and the CUES Employee Salary Survey. “This data is very, very relevant” and can support decision-making about pay levels now and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Becher says the increases in pay for staff and executives highlighted by the CUES surveys are bigger than those reported across all industries in the U.S. WorldatWork has reported increases for staff and executives of 3% to 3.3% for the last few years. “CU increases have been more in the 5% to 8% range,” he adds. CUES Executive Compensation Survey reports increases on all of the 22 positions it covers, including increases in base salary, bonuses and total compensation.

“It shows the strength of the credit union and financial services industry,” Becher says, “ … and it’s just a nice thing if you’re in the credit union space.”

During the show, which is supported by a commercial from CUES Supplier member Harland Clarke, Becher also describes how the CUES survey has been looking at the pay situation for women since 2018. The survey finds that 47% of credit unions with less than a billion dollars in assets employ a female CEO compared with 39% of credit unions with more than a billion dollars in assets. Not surprisingly, the pay for CEOs at smaller credit unions is typically lower than the pay for CEOs at larger credit unions. 

Becher also says eight positions covered by the survey have a higher rate of women: HR executive, chief member solutions officer, marketing executive, retail branch executive, compliance exec, chief operations officer, regional branch management executive and chief operating officer.

 “We’re still pretty early in collecting this type of information,” Becher says. “We’re looking forward to continuing to collect this information.”

Laura Lynch, products and services manager at CUES, says in the show that the surveys provide important data to help credit unions see if they’re competitive with their peers. Only with the data can they choose to pay executives and employees at a particular level, whether that’s at market, above market or below market. 

“A lot that goes into compensation package and the data is an important part of that,” Lynch says. “We’ve been known for providing that competitive data for many years. 

“There are lots of tools where they can create that peer group,” she adds, referring to the reporting tools included with both surveys that allow credit unions to “slice and dice” the data to help them make decisions.

Links for this episode:

Michael Becher at Industry Insights

CUES Executive Compensation Survey

CUES Employee Salary Survey

Commercial sponsor: CUES Supplier member Harland Clarke

2019 compensation podcast